In Cornelia Funke’s THE THIEF LORD, two brothers, recently orphaned, are runaways. Prosper, who is twelve years old, has brought five-year-old Bo to Venice from Hamburg to escape an aunt who wishes to adopt only the younger child. A small gang of homeless children living in an abandoned movie theater befriends them. Their benefactor is a mysterious masked youngster named Scipio who calls himself THE THIEF LORD. His irregular visits provide them with clothing, shoes, and goods they can convert to cash for other necessities. Scipio brags of his thieving escapades and brings them precious objects they sell to a shady antique dealer. Even though Prosper is worried about their life of crime and his little brother’s growing admiration for Scipio, he is even more concerned about their Aunt Esther who believes they are in Venice and has hired a detective to find them. Funke’s plot is as thick and tasty as a rich minestrone soup. Her story has all the right ingredients for a good mystery yarn with a bit of fantasy tossed in to give it a unique flavor. The novel that won awards in Europe will delight a huge new audience in its English translation.
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