Reviews: (by author)

Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord. English translation by Oliver Latsch. Scholastic, Inc. 2002. $16.95. ISBN 0-439-40437-1.

After their parents' deaths, two boys run away to the magical city of Venice, described to them by their mother. In Venice, Prosper and Bo live with band of child thieves in abandoned movie house. The funny, warm detective hired by their aunt to find the boy lends humor and compassion to the scenes in which he makes quiet contact with them. Fantasy is interwoven into the story when characters take a ride on a merry-go-round that can change one's age in the tradition of Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes. When the young Thief Lord loses his youth, the magic of youth is revealed as a fragile and fleeting treasure. This is the gentle moral of this story.

Winner of the Mildred L. Batchelder Award.

Recommended.

LS Spring 2003.

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