Independent reading novel 2

NAME: Weston Bruffey DATE Febuary 2nd, 2010
TITLE The Thief Lord TIME 6:03 HOURS a lot.
AUTHOR Cornilia Funke PAGES - 345
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK 149



QUESTION 1: Explain how the author creates suspense in the book.

RESPONSE 1:
The author causes the reader the reader to always be waiting for whats next in the book in the suspenseful parts. She also makes you say "oh no" and gasp when ever their is a bad thing thats going to happen that you know about and the characters don't. She generally did a good job implementing emotion and character development into the book.
One part of the book that I found really suspenseful was when the Counte, a mystyrious character who offers the children 5 million lire, the currency in the book, to steal something from a woman. They are caught by her in the act of taking it, but the lady who catches them, is kind enough to work out a deal with them. There is a legend, that the wind belonged to a winged lion on a marry-go-round, and that this could turn kids, into adults, and vice versa. The woman allows them to make the transaction, as long as they can fallow the man home to see the marry go round, which came from the orphanage that the woman lived in for ten years.
As they stalk him back, they land on an Island that no one has known was inhabited for over a hundred years. They are watching them through a pair of binoculars, and the woman, who is looking for them, is startled by two large guard dogs who picked up their scent and she drops the binoculars into the water, and the people hear them. One of the people on the island pulls out a gun and starts firing on them as they quickly drive away to avoid being hit.
This was definitely a part that kept me on my toes as the story progressed through this part, and it definitly shows that she can make a part of her book that is suspenseful.

QUESTION 2: What in the book bothers or upsets you? Why?


RESPONSE 2:
In the book, Prosper (the main character) and Bo (his little brother) are being chased through Venice by their Aunt Esther. Prosper and Bo ran away because their aunt wanted Bo, but not Prosper. The brothers got along very well and shared a very close bond, that they knew that Esther was going to seperate.
Despite their running away, she continues to search for them, and plans on seperating them anyway. In the book, she admits to not even liking children, and plans to send Prosper to boarding school if he has to come in along with Bo, so they don't have to deal with him. It upsets me that the aunt and uncle could be so careless as to by passing the bond between the two, who every other character in the book next to them notices.