The Thief Lord
Cornelia Funke
 The Thief Lord follows the story of two brothers, Prosper and Boniface (Bo), who run away to Venice, Italy after their mother's death. They are taken in by a group of orphans who live in an abandoned movie theater - the Stella, and are led by a proud "orphan" named Scipio, who declares himself the Thief Lord. He appears to steal valuables from wealthy homes and palaces and the orphan gang sells them to a sly old shopkeeper, Ernesto Barbarossa. The runaway boys' aunt and uncle figure out where they are and set a detective, Victor Getz, on their trail. Victor recognizes the boys on the street and manages to initiate a conversation with innocent little Bo, to find out where they stay. When the rest of the children see him, they cause a distraction and run away, taking his wallet with them, from which they discover his identity. In his search for the theater, Victor visits the home of Dottore Massimo, the owner of the Stella, where he sees Scipio, who immediately leaves to warn the others. When Victor arrives at the Stella, the children ambush him, tie him up, and lock him in the boys' bathroom. During an argument, Victor tells them the truth about Scipio. When Prosper confronts Scipio, he learns that Scipio is indeed Dottore Massimo's son, and all the loot he "stole" from wealthy houses was actually stolen from his own home. Furious, Prosper leaves and tells the others what he has learned. While they are gone, Victor escapes, leaving a note that he will not reveal their location if they do not steal the precious lion's wing. The children leave that night to steal it and meet Scipio inside Ida Spavento's house. When they are in an ensuing argument, Ida comes back from a walk and demands to know who they are, using an old revolver. When they explain, Ida tells them the story of the wing, which came from a magical merry-go-round. It has the ability to change a person's age. She agrees to let them have the wing if they let her accompany them to the exchange, in hopes that she can find the wonderful merry-go-round. The next night, all of the children go for the deal except Hornet and Bo. They join Ida and Scipio, meet with the Conte and his sister, Morosina, and make the exchange, but narrowly escape being shot when they try to search for the merry-go-round. When they return to the theater, Hornet and Bo are gone, leaving a note that there were police at the door. They angrily confront Victor, who swears he did not do it and informs them that the lire they received are fake. While searching for Hornet and Bo, they find her at an orphanage and a disguised Victor and Ida manage to get her out. They spend a restless night at Ida's house, but Prosper cannot sleep and wanders outside, where he meets Scipio. The two return to the island to demand payment, but end up locked up in a stinking stable there, and are forced to spend the night on the island. Meanwhile, Victor receives a phone call from Esther, informing him that she had Bo, but that he had run away from them and she no longer wants anything to do with him. Victor finds Bo at the Stella and takes him back to Ida's, where they find Prosper missing. On the island the next morning, Scipio and Prosper meet the Conte and Morosina, who are both young children, having gotten the merry-go-round to work. Scipio demands a ride and comes off an adult, looking very much like his father. Just as he gets off the merry-go-round, Barbarossa arrives, and demands a ride on the merry-go-round. However, while Barbarossa becomes a five-year-old boy, he accidentally breaks the merry-go-round, infuriating the Conte. Scipio and Prosper leave after promising the Conte that they will not talk about the merry-go-round, and is forced to give the Conte all the money in his shop safe as repayment. The next day, when everyone at Ida's home finds Prosper, Scipio, and Barbarossa they do not recognize Scipio or Barbarossa and Prosper cannot explain, but Ida understands what happened. Scipio sets up a meeting between Barbarossa and Esther,to which Barbarossa consents to live with after learning that Esther is rich. Esther adores Barbarossa and his manners and decides to adopt him. Prosper, Bo, and Hornet decide to live with Ida and go to school, while Mosca and Riccio live in an abandoned warehouse. Scipio decides to work for Victor and sends his father a letter saying that he is safe and happy, but will not come home. Eventually, he and Prosper take another trip to the Isola Segreta only to find that the Conte and Morosina have disappeared. Esther eventually catches Barbarossa stealing her jewelry and other possessions and sends him off to boarding school, where he becomes a menacing bully; he forces other children to do things for him like his homework, encourages them to steal, and intimidates them to call him "The Thief Lord".