The Thief Lord (Indies Choice Book Awards. Young Adult Fiction)
Imagine a Dickens story with a Venetian setting, and you'll have a good  sense of Cornelia Funke's prizewinning novelThe Thief Lord, first  published in Germany in 2000. This suspenseful tale begins in a detective's  office in Venice, as the entirely unpleasant Hartliebs request Victor Getz's  services to search for two boys, Prosper and Bo, the sons of Esther Hartlieb's  recently deceased sister. Twelve-year-old Prosper and 5-year-old Bo ran away  when their aunt decided she wanted to adopt Bo, but not his brother. Refusing to  split up, they escaped to Venice, a city their mother had always described  reverently, in great detail. Right away they hook up with a long-haired runaway  named Hornet and various other ruffians who hole up in an abandoned movie  theater and worship the elusive Thief Lord, a young boy named Scipio who steals  jewels from fancy Venetian homes so his new friends can get the warm clothes  they need. Of course, the plot thickens when the owner of the pawn shop asks if  the Thief Lord will carry out a special mission for a wealthy client: to steal a  broken wooden wing that is the key to completing an age-old, magical  merry-go-round. This winning cast of characters--especially the softhearted  detective with his two pet turtles--will win the hearts of readers young and  old, and the adventures are as labyrinthine and magical as the streets of Venice  itself. (Ages 9 and older)--Karin Snelson