The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Prosper and Bo are on the run. Their mother is dead, and they have been entrusted to their grouchy aunt Esther and her husband Max. Aunt Esther is interested only in five-year-old Bo with his angelic golden curls. Her plan for twelve-year-old Prosper is a far away boarding school. Prosper must do everything possible to keep Bo and himself together even if it means traveling all the way from Hamburg, Germany, to Venice, Italy, the city of their mother’s dreams. Throughout their childhoods, their mother filled their own dreams with tales of this magical city with its winged lions, magnificent cathedrals, and winding canals. While in Venice, Prosper and Bo join up with a band of homeless runaways like themselves, Hornet, Mosca, Riccio, and their shadowy leader the Thief Lord. Together this band of thieves must outrun a detective hired by Prosper and Bo’s aunt and steal a mysterious object for an even more mysterious client. All of their adventures lead them to an enchanted island. What they encounter there will change their lives forever. Will Prosper and Bo be found and returned to their hateful aunt? What is the true identity of their mysterious client and the even more mysterious Thief Lord? Read Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord and follow this winding plot that is as tangled as the streets and canals of Venice.