Funke, Cornelia. Dragon Rider

  In this adventurous book, The Dragon Rider, a dragon, a boy, and a brownie (which is a cat-like creature) discover that humans and their destructive machines are trying to drive dragons out of their magical land. These three creatures embark on a journey to find a peaceful home in the Rim of Heaven in the Himalaya Mountains . A ruthless dragon hunter, Nettlebrand, continuously sends spies to find these creatures to dine on them. I really liked this because the author did not use complicated details to tell this exciting story, which had many cliffhangers and faraway places. If you like books with magical creatures then read The Dragon Rider which shows courage and friendship in their quest to find a true place called home.
--Andrew S.

Funke, Cornelia The Thief Lord

This is a story of a small band of children in Venice, Italy that all live together in an abandoned movie theatre. They “adopted” two new members- Prosper and “Bo” (short for Boniface,) whose aunt is desperate to find the two- at least Bo anyway. The aunt had custody of both boys but she only wanted Bo, who is five, and had no intention of keeping Prosper, who is 12. Like a good big brother, Prosper had no intention of ever leaving Bo. Their mother had been in love with Venice and told the children millions of stories about it, and so rooted that deep love in her two children. The frantic aunt hires a detective named Victor to find the two- and so the small “family” lead him on a wild goose chase all over Venice- while their leader (a mysterious thirteen year old who is referred to sometimes as the Thief Lord, sometimes as Scipio) accepts a dangerous mission from an old man. Soon, however, the truth comes out about Scipio- and nothing about it is good.   I would recommend this book because if you enjoy a thick plot (and spine) full of thrilling twists and turns, you will enjoy this book VERY much.--Rebeka D.