Thief Lord Book Assignment

13 December 2010
Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2000. 345
Reading Assignment
A3. The Thief Lord is about two brothers, who live with their aunt and uncle. When Esther and Max want to adopt Bo after their mother's death so the boys decide to run away to Venice, Italy. The boys arrive in Venice and are taken in by four other orphans: Hornet, Riccio, Mosca, and their mysterious leader, Scipio, or "The Thief Lord." The children survive by selling the things that Scipio steals from wealthy houses to an old shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa. Prosper and Bo settle in to their new life; unbeknown to them, however, Esther and Max have deduced that they are in Venice, and they enlist the services of Victor Getz, a detective,
When Riccio, Prosper and Mosca return to the hideout they find Hornet and Bo missing; in their place, Hornet has left a note saying that there were police at the door. Knowing that Victor was the only person who knew about their hideout, the children go to confront him, but Victor swears he did not give up their secret, and reveals that there are posters with Prosper and Bo's picture all over Venice, and that someone likely saw Bo and called the police after recognizing him. He also informs them that the five million lire they have received is fake. Despondent, Prosper leaves to search for Bo, and Riccio and Mosca decide to stay with Ida for the time being. They later learn that Hornet is in an orphanage called The Merciful Sisters, and Ida and Victor go there and manage to free her. Riccio goes searching for Prosper and brings him back to Ida's house. That night, Prosper is unable to sleep, and when he goes outside, he finds that Scipio has come looking for him. Scipio convinces Prosper to join him on a voyage to the Isola Segreta, where the Conte lives, in order to demand either payment or a ride on the merry-go-round. When they arrive, however, they are discovered by the dogs, and a mysterious young girl forces them to sleep in the stables that night. Meanwhile, Victor receives a phone call from Esther, informing him that Bo has run away and that she no longer wants anything to do with him. Victor goes to the Stella and finds Bo. When he takes him back to Ida's, he finds Prosper missing and everyone in the house frantic to find him. The next morning, Scipio and Prosper are taken to an office and meet with a young boy, and it is revealed that the young boy and girl are actually the Conte and Morosina, and that they have gotten the merry-go-round to work. Scipio asks for a ride on the merry-go-round, and the Conte grants him his wish. After his ride, Scipio has indeed become older and now closely resembles