The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old "Thief Lord," while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.

Hmm I was really enjoying this until the 3/4 mark.

Lets start with a little summary:
The Thief Lord is quite a mashup. There are multiple stories going on. Two boys running away from their Aunt. A gang of little thieves. The secret of their leader (the thief lord). A missing item and the man who has spent his whole life hunting it. The private detective hunting the boys. Most of the stories were flowing really well together. Then at the 3/4 mark the author introduced magic. It was an interesting concept, but it turns everything upside down and really messes with the story lines. The characters all suddenly accept the magic and its consequences. It just didn't match well with the first half of the story.

This one was short and unexpected. I enjoyed reading it. The characters are surprising in some ways and ordinary in others. It is plausible, and my boys got caught up in the story quickly.

The Thief Lord follows the story of two brothers who run away to Italy and are taken in by a group of orphaned children who are led by Scipio, who steals valuables and sells them to an old shopkeeper. The book is adventurous and mysterious and will surely capture the attention of children and adolescents. Just by the title I think children will become interested. A book about thieves? Or about a thief LORD? How cool is that! We don't hear a lot about that these days because stealing is morally wrong. That is a challenge about this book. Is it okay to allow children to read a book about stealing? However, it does teach children about poverty, about kindness, love, and forgiveness. The book has a nice message and is engaging throughout the whole read.