Received via bookmooch.com

From the back: "Welcome to the magical underworld of Venice, Italy. Here, hidden canals and crumbling rooftops shelter runaways and children with incredible secrets...
After escaping from their cruel aunt and uncle, orphans Prosper and Bo meet a mysterious boy who calls himself the "Thief Lord". Clever and charming, the Thief Lord leads a band of street children who enjoy making mischief. But the Thief Lord also has a dark secret. And suddenly Prosper and Bo find themselves on a fantastical journey to a forgotten place. What they discover there will change the course of their destiny - forever."

I was recommended Funke's "Inkheart" series but as I couldn't find those I thought I would try another of hers first, and The Thief Lord was available. It is very definitely a children's book and I would say it's a bit borderline as adult reading but I enjoyed it nevertheless: a delightful story with strong characters, the lovely setting of Venice, and several intertwined story lines of child gang, the divide between rich and poor, a detective story and a bit of fantasy...with a quite unexpected ending!
On a very personal note, something weird happened while I read this book: one night we had been watching a film on iBBC called "The Magic Roundabout" and when I read on afterwards it turns out that the story also centers around a magic roundabout. Then the following nights two similar coincidences ocurred which was of course only due to personal happenings but it did give my reading of this book a rather spooky tiwst.

Picked up at the meet tonight for re-releasing elsewhere.

To be taken to the meet-up on Tuesday evening.

Hello!

If this is your introduction to Bookcrossing, welcome, and congratulations on finding this book! Enjoy reading the book,and I hope you will let us know what you thought - as few or as many comments as you wish. It is now yours to do with as you wish - keep it, pass it on, but please leave the label, so it can keep in touch with us. If you would like to know what happens to the book after it has left you, then do join - it's private and it's fun!
And if you do choose to join, please consider using me, rahar109, as your referring member.

Happy Bookcrossing!

Picked this up at the meetup as it looked interesting. It is actually one that I would think better suited to children than adults, although I enjoyed it myself. The taster for Inkheart at the end is very intriguing.....

Dear Finder of this book,

I'm so glad it has found a home with you. I hope you enjoy reading it and that you might take a few moments to jot down here what you thought about the book, or about finding it, or about bookcrossing.

If you decide to join bookcrossing, now that you have discovered the site, I'd be delighted if you would mention me - WistfulDragon - as the person who introduced you to the site.

Happy reading

WistfulDragon