Funke, Cornelia. 2002. The thief lord. New York: The Chicken House. ISBN: 0-439-40437-1.
Summary
Prosper and Bo are two young boys who have runaway from home. When their parents died, their mean aunt and uncle only want to adopt Bo who is the cute one�the baby. Prosper does not want to be separated from his brother so the two run away together to Venice. Venice holds a special place in their hearts because it is a place their mother loved to tell them about. In Venice, the two boys join a gang of homeless children. These children steal from tourists and commit other small crimes. Their leader is a young man�slightly older than the children he leads. He calls himself the Thief Lord. He comes to them only at night. (The children leave in an abandoned movie theater.) Meanwhile, their aunt and uncle have hired a private investigator, Victor, to find the children. As the children go about their daily adventures, Victor comes closer and closer to catching the children. In a unique twist, Victor is actually captured by the children and in his captivity he becomes their friend and advocate. Though many stumbling blocks and problems appear in the course of the novel, everything is happily revolved in the end. Prosper and Bo are adopted by a nice old woman, and the aunt and uncle fall victim to poetic justice by adopting a horrible brat.
Analysis
The Thief Lord is above all else a page turner. It has a fast pace. The characters are always racing from one adventure to the next. Danger and mystery lurk everywhere. There are surprising twists, turns, and plot developments. I did not find it predictable�perhaps others did. That being said�I did have some difficulties with the text. The characters were not that well developed or believable. As a reader, I came to like most of the characters. I cared about what happened to them. I was not bored by the characters (or the plot line). But at the same time, I had a hard time believing them to be true to life. Perhaps that is mostly because of the plot. In the plot, the reader has to really suspend his disbelief. Everything just happens to always work out perfectly for the children. The children always have their say; they win the victory. For example, Scipio, the thief lord, is a young man�mid teens perhaps�who does not get along with his father. He hates living with his father. He hates having to listen to his father. He hates the fact that he can be bossed around. He wants to be an adult. He wants to be independent. He wants to never have to see his father again. In a miraculous twist of fate, Scipio is able to magically become an adult. He returns back to Venice determined to have nothing to do with his father. He continues on in his rebellion. He won't see his father. I think this is wish fulfillment. I would imagine that many young teens dream of escaping from their problems�or their parent's control. However, I don't find it realistic. The magical element is a merry go round (carousel) that can either make you older or younger. Without the carousel, I think the book would have worked better in my opinion. The carousel transforms the bad character into a small child. The bad guy loses his ability to hurt others. It is this character that is the brat that Bo's aunt adopts. What slightly irritates me about the novel is how perfectly perfect everything fits together and concludes at the end of the novel. There are too many coincidences for me to say that it is a good book. However, at the same time I am forced to admit it is an enjoyable read. I do not regret the hours spent reading the book. It does have memorable characters and a memorable plot. I just wouldn't necessarily rate it as one of the best books I've ever read. (I've certainly read worse!)
The Thief Lord is set in Venice. The children are living on the streets and running and hiding in the canals. The book introduces Italian words throughout the text; there is a glossary in the back of the book. To be honest, I must admit that I didn't necessarily pick up on how this was modern-day Italy. I read the first two chapters without really picking up on the time of the novel. Perhaps in my mind, I was thinking Victor was a Sherlock Holmes type of private investigator and the children were orphans like Oliver Twist. I don't know. I just remember being pleasantly surprised that it was set in contemporary times.
Conclusion
While I have certain reservations about the novel, I did enjoy it overall. I wouldn't necessarily give it an unlimited endorsement or recommendation, but I think there are many people who would enjoy this novel. It is very entertaining. It is very fast-paced. I just wish that some of the plot twists had remained untwisted and more realistic.
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