Rachel Lyash - The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke, was absolutely amazing! The amount of imagery and sensory images that she uses throughout this novel is quite impressive. What really blows me away are her capabilities of creating such vivid imagery of Venice without going over the heads of younger readers. She finds the perfect combination of simple words to very effectively paint a clear mental image of characters and their surroundings. "Without saying a word, the woman reached into her bag. She had ash-blonde hair and a pointed nose. Her mouth didn't look as if smiling was its favorite activity. The man was a giant, at least two heads taller than Victor. His nose was peeling from sunburn and his eyes were small and dull. Doesn't look like he can take a joke either, Victor thought, as he committed the two faces to memory." The description of the characters Aunt Esther and her husband not only creates a very vivid picture how of these two stern people look, but also gives you some really interesting insight into what they are like as people. Esther's mouth didn't show sign of much laughter and that says a lot about a person.

I also thought that the novel did a good job of combining fiction, adventure, and real life issues to help the readers really connect with the characters. Real life aspects were present in this clearly fiction piece. I like how the author incorporated tourists into the story because they made it feel a lot more possible. Something about the familiar feel of travel and tourism made the Venice in the book feel like the real Venice, Italy - that and all of her imagery of course. Most children reading this novel will probably not be runaway orphans hiding out in Venice, but you don't need to be to relate to the characters. Each character had very distinct characteristics that set them apart, and made them important, in the book. My favorite character is Ida Spavento. "She's a bit weird," Riccio had told him, "and she smokes like a chimeny. But she's really nice." In fact, my favorite characteristic about Ida is the fact that she smokes like a chimney; it makes her seem more like an adult despite her childlike fascination with the merry-go-round. She's got a great imagination, however, just like the children.

The theme for respecting people of all ages seems to be the main theme in this adventure novel. There were quite a few different cases of adults and children all being treated with disrespect. Cornelia Funke did an excellent job of getting the importance of respect across without outright saying it and without over-killing the topic.