Katey on The Thief Lord

I liked the placement of The Thief Lord after Carnival at Candlelight. It has the same capturing element that the Tree House book had, but it is geared for an older audience. I am once again brought back to my upper elementary teachers reading to us in class. However, I was not sure about the characterization in Funke's book. The characters that were set up to be the enemy all seemed to become good. This made for interesting twists to the story, but it made things a bit confusing. For instance, Victor Getz, was first set up to be the snopping detective, who was out to get Prosper and Bo, until the kids caught him. Then, all of a sudden, he was on their side and helping them escape. This book pulled me in and captured my attention. I can see fifth graders being absolutely enthralled in the language and the suspenseful story line. I found myself wondering about what would happen next even after I had put it down. I also thought the children's characters could have been developed more. I like that details about them were revealed, but I thought Funke could have gone a little further in getting to know each child. On the other hand, I thought Scipio was a great character. He was portrayed in the beginning as a dark and almost creepy leader for the group of runaways and then when his true self is revealed the reader sees a whole other side to him. I liked that the book had a darker side to it, with the kids running around in the middle of the night and sleeping in a creepy old theater. I think this book is perfect for fifth graders.