The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

A. Bibliography

Funke, Cornelia. 2000. The Thief Lord. Hamburg: Cecilie Dressler Verlag. ISBN 0-439-40437-1

B. Plot Summary

Faced with separation after their mother's death 12-year-old Prosper and 5-year-old Boniface, known affectionately as Prop and Bo, flee their child-loathing aunt who has agreed to take in Bo but not Prop. They escape to Venice, city of their mother's dreams and numerous bedtime stories; and although Venice is visually everything their mother told them, the brothers soon realize they are not equipped to survive on their own. On the brink of starvation Prop and Bo are rescued by a group of street children led by the masked and booted Thief Lord. Living in an abandoned movie theater and buying what they need with money earned from pawning what The Thief Lord steals, Bo and Prop are happy until Prop realizes a private detective, hired by their aunt, is closing in on them. In the midst of dodging the detective Prop, Bo, and their friends become entangled in the theft of an object which, according to legend, has the power to make one older or younger; depending on ones wishes.

C. Critical Analysis:

Although the author is German The Thief Lord is set in Venice, Italy. Funke brings the culture and scenery of Venice to life through descriptions of the food; olives, red-pepper salami, and pastries, the architecture and scenery; sculptures of winged lions, dragons, and angels with small pen and ink illustrations scattered throughout the book, and everywhere one looks; in the gutters, blowing in the wind, and floating in the Canal Grande; vaporett or water bus tickets, the mode of transportation used by everyone to get around the city. First published in Germany in 2000 and winner of the 2003 Batchelder Award for a children's book considered to be an outstanding book originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country, and subsequently translated into English and published in the United States the Thief Lord will remind both adults and teens of the powerlessness of childhood and empowerment of good friends. Teens will especially enjoy the exploits of Scipio, Bo, Prop, Hornet, Riccio, and Mosca; mere children who live by their wits and outfox the adults at almost every turn. A glossary of Italian words used in The Thief Lord with their English translation is included at the back of the book.

D. Review excerpt:

Publishers Weekly: "Wacky characters bring energy to this translation of an entertaining German novel about thieving children, a disguise-obsessed detective and a magical merry-go-round. After their mother dies, 12-year-old Prosper and his brother, Bo, five, flee from Hamburg to Venice (an awful aunt plans to adopt only Bo). They live in an abandoned movie theater with several other street children under the care of the Thief Lord, a cocky youth who claims to rob "the city's most elegant houses." The Venetian setting is ripe for mystery and the city's alleys and canals ratchet up the suspense in the chase scenes. Ages 9-12."

E. Connections

Read-alikes for reader's advisory suggestions:

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults LS5653

This post marks the beginning of reviews written as class assignment for Multicultural Literature for Children and Young Adults/Summer 08 at Texas Woman's University.

The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer

Fourteen-year-old Enola Holmes' mother has disappeared. Enola's initial search of the grounds at Ferndell Hall, the Holmes family estate, has turned up one fact; Lady Eudoria Vernet Holmes walked into the woods early in the morning and simply vanished. Enola, desperate to find her mother, wires her older brothers Mycroft and Sherlock for help.

Unfortunately, when the brothers arrive, their anger at Enola's lack of schooling in the social niceties of Victorian England far outweigh any concern for their missing mother. Enola, whom the brothers have not seen for ten years, has been allowed to run wild. Riding her bicycle around the village, showing her ankles, and obviously not wearing a corset; she is a disgrace to the Holmes family name and must be made into a lady without further delay.

Enola, however, has other ideas. The ladies of Victorian England have no rights, no voice, and are expected to dress in nightmarishly uncomfortable clothing. Following clues her mother has left for her, and using the same talent for reasoning, deduction, and disguises as her brother Sherlock; Enola plans her escape.

Both The Case of the Missing Marquess and its sequel The Case of the Left-Handed Lady will have you cheering for its intelligent and resourceful heroine; Enola Holmes. The author's use of coded-messages and clues combined with the heroine's refusal to conform to the outrageous strictures placed upon girls and women of the Victorian era will keep teens 6th grade and up mesmerized. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Springer, Nancy. The Case of the Missing Marquess. New York: Philomel Books, 2006.

Springer, Nancy. The Case of the Left-Handed Lady. New York: Philomel Books, 2007.

bookshelves of doom blog review

I chose to review this blog of the Canadian Library Association's list of the best young adult novels of 2007 because I thought it would be interesting to keep track of what Canadian teens are reading - and the name is cool. The blog includes a forum for teens to discuss the books.

The list includes:

Alison Acheson - Mud Girl (Coteau)
William Bell - The Blue Helmet (Doubleday)
Hadley Dyer - Johnny Kellock Died Today (HarperCollins)
Beth Goobie - Hello, Groin (Orca)
Maureen Hull - The View from a Kite (Vagrant Press)
Carrie Mac - Droughtlanders (Penguin)
Richard Scarsbrook - Featherless Bipeds (Thistledown)
Arthur Slade - Megiddo’s Shadow (HarperCollins)
Kathy Stinson - 101 Ways to Dance (Second Story Press)
Teresa Toten - Me and the Blondes (Penguin)

Here is a plot description of Featherless Bipeds and information about the author Richard Scarsbrook:

"Dak Sifter is playing drums in a great rock and roll band, impressing the girls, and generally having a blast. But then again, this is Dak Sifter; readers who know him understand that his life doesn’t run that smoothly. The second novel in the Dak Sifter Series, Featherless Bipeds finds Dak firmly centred in the minefield of youth with the temptations, seductions, and subterfuge that rock and roll, young love, and university life are sure to provide. While Featherless Bipeds is a novel about rock and roll musicians, love, poignant social politics, and the emerging value systems in youth culture, it’s also about Dak Sifter. Dak’s adventures still don’t make him the person he wants to be, and being a rock star will not change his relentless pursuit of Zoe Perry’s love.

Richard Scarsbrook is a Toronto writer, teacher, and drummer. His fiction and poetry have been published in literary magazines, anthologies, and journals. He has won the 2002 Lawrence House Centre for the Arts Short Story Competition, the 2001 New Orphic Short Story Competition, the 2001 Scarborough Arts Council Poetry Competition, the 1998 Hinterland Award for Prose, and the 1997 Cranberry Tree Press Poetry Chapbook Competition."

I am not familiar with any of the books or the authors. It would be interesting to know if anyone else knows about these books.

The link is:

http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2007/03/canadian_librar.html

Boneville.com Blog Review

Boneville.com is a blog for graphic novels and comics by Bone author Jeff Smith. He does of course hawk his merchandise, but he also provides information about graphic novels as literature. He includes a link to a guide for teachers and school librarians on using graphic novels in the classroom.

Many school and public librarians still consider graphic novels mere fluff and not worthy of being included in a serious library collection. Using the popularity of the Bone series of graphic novels and blogging Smith presents graphic novels as a legitimate form of literature; and anyone who has read even one of the Bone books will agree with him.

Besides the blog Smith includes a view of his studio, a discussion board, a forum for contacting the author and most impressive; the story of how, back in 1991, Jeff Smith started his own publishing house because no existing publishers would touch the story about the three Casper-like cousins and their adventures, especially in its comic book format. He succeeded because of the burgeoning power of the internet. "Grass roots support for Bone started on the Internet. It was one of the first comics to benefit from the new network of comics web chat rooms that were springing up all over the globe. For the first time in history, word-of-mouth could spread around the world at the speed of light." One of Bone's taglines even slipped into everyday computer speak; "Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures", a phrase used repeatedly to describe the vicious, not-so-smart giant rats that populate Bone's world, was adopted as on-line jargon to refer to inept end-users.

Boneville.com is a great introduction to the world of graphic novels and probably more than you will ever want to know about Jeff Smith.

The link for the blog is:

http://www.boneville.com/

THE MISFITS by James Howe

Four friends, Bobby, Addie, Skeezie, and Joe are outcasts at their middle school. Bobby is overweight and poor, Addie is very tall, smart, and out-spoken, Skeezie is hygiene-challenged, and Joe is gay. They call themselves the "Gang of Five" even though there are only four of them because, they reason, there is probably another misfit kid out there who will need to join their gang and they don't want to have to change the name. Together, they decide to run for student council on the "No-name" ticket promising to outlaw name-calling at the school.

The Misfits is the story of how four friends choose to deal with all the problems being a misfit incurs. James Howe, author of the Bunnicula series for children, makes a smooth transition to young adult literature with this true-to-life tale of life at the bottom of the middle school food chain. Anyone who was or is a misfit will applaud The Gang of Five's efforts to ban name-calling. Teens and tweens ten to fourteen will laugh and cry over the Gang's list of names that need to be permanently retired. Included are: "Fat Boy, Blubber, Lardass, Faggot, Mutant, Homo, Tinkerbell, Greaser, Ree-tard, Scuz, Beanpole, Einstein, Nerdetaa" and the one on everybody's list, "Loser." (139)

Review excerpt from Publishers Weekly: "In this hilarious and poignant novel, Howe (Bunnicula; The Watcher) focuses on the quietest of the bunch, overweight Bobby Goodspeed (the tie salesman), showing how he evolves from nerd to hero when he starts speaking his mind. Addie (the outspoken girl) decides that the four of them should run against more popular peers in the upcoming student council election. But her lofty ideals and rabble-rousing speeches make the wrong kind of waves, offending fellow classmates, teachers and the principal. It is not until softer-spoken Bobby says what's in his heart about nicknames and taunts that people begin to listen and take notice, granting their respect for the boy they used to call "Lardo" and "Fluff." The four "misfits" are slightly larger than life wiser than their years, worldlier than the smalltown setting would suggest, and remarkably well-adjusted but there remains much authenticity in the story's message about preadolescent stereotyping and the devastating effects of degrading labels. An upbeat, reassuring novel that encourages preteens and teens to celebrate their individuality."
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Howe, James. The Misfits. New York: Atheneum,2001.

TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer

Bella Swan's mother has remarried and needs some alone-time with her new husband. Consequently, Bella has boarded a plane in sunny Phoenix, Arizona and flown to dreary, drizzly, over-cast, Forks, Washington to live with her father Charlie Swan, the sheriff of Forks. Expecting nothing but boredom, Bella's life becomes a whirlwind of adventure, danger, and sexual tension when she falls head-over-heels in love with brilliant, unearthly handsome, Edward Cullen. Although he tries to push her away, Edward and Bella are helplessly drawn to each other. What are a boy and girl to do when all they want is to be together, but true togetherness can come only with Bella's death?

First time author Stephenie Meyer creates a modern day Romeo and Juliet with Twilight; except in this case the Montague's are vampires. Sometimes rambling and in need of editing Twilight is nevertheless an innovative combination of romance, horror, and fantasy told from a teenager's point of view. Teen romance fans in grades nine through twelve will cheer for Bella and Edward as they struggle to stay together despite their seemingly insurmountable differences.

Review excerpt from Booklist: "Bella's life changes when she moves to perpetually rain-soaked Forks, Washington. She is instantly drawn to a fellow student, Edward Cullen, beautiful beyond belief and angrily aloof. Bella senses there is more behind Edward's hostility, and in a plot that slowly and frighteningly unfolds, she learns that Edward and his family are vampires--though they do not hunt humans. Yet Edward cannot promise that his powerful attraction to Bella won't put in her in danger, or worse. Recklessly in love, Bella wants only to be with Edward, but when a vicious, blood-lusting predator complicates her world, Bella's peril is brutally revealed. "
Ilene Cooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2005.