Section 1: Chapters 1 – 13
Vocabulary
- dapple: marked with spots or rounded patches
- inquisitive: curious or inquiring
- flabbergast: surprise greatly or astonish
- defiant: open resistance; bold disobedience
- impertinent: not showing proper respect
- smug: having or showing an excessive pride in oneself or one’s achievements
- pompous: affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn or self-important
Comprehension Questions
- Victor’s new clients are Max and Esther Hartlieb and they want him to find their nephews Prosper and Boniface who have run away. (pg. 10)
- Prosper and Bo have made friends with a girl called Hornet and they like her because she took them to her hiding place and became their friend. (pg. 20/21)
- The children call an old movie theater, The Star Palace home. (pg. 21/22)
- Scipio claims to have stolen some jewels, which he had already sold as he had debts to pay, but has some silver spoons, a medallion, and a pair of sugar tongs for the gang to sell. (pg. 33)
- In Barbarossa’s shop Riccio is curious as to whether Barbarossa dyes his ginger beard and when he checks the bathroom he finds a bottle of dye. (pg. 40/41 )
- Riccio thinks it’s great being young as you don’t stand out so much and your stomach fills up more quickly. (pg. 53)
- Victor is annoyed while hobbling home because Prosper had literally walked into him and he had let him get away like an amateur. (pg. 54)
- Scipio decides that he will do the job that Barbarossa mentioned and everyone but Prosper and Horner agree with his decision. Pg 58/60)
- While Prosper sits on the topmost step late at night he decides that he must tell all the gang about the detective as they are at risk of being caught as well as he and Bo. (pg. 63)
- Hornet proposes that they cut Prosper’s hair short and dye Bo’s hair black so that Victor the detective won’t recognize them. (pg. 66)
- Barbarossa tells Riccio that the Conte has one condition for the job, the Thief Lord must meet the him in person. (pg. 70)
- In order to spy on the children at St. Mark’s Square, Victor dresses as a tourist and wears a baseball cap, glasses and carries a camera. (pg. 71)
- The Conte challenges the Thief Lord to break into and steal an item from #11 Campo Santa Margherita as soon as possible. (pg. 79/80)
- Victor is able to gain information from Bo by attracting the pigeons with seed, which catches Bo’s interest in the birds, he then engages in easy conversation with Bo who tells Victor that he and his friends live in an old movie theater. (pg. 85/88)
Section 2: Chapters 14 – 27
Vocabulary
- wretched: in a very unhappy, unfortunate state
- scrutinize: examine or inspect closely and thoroughly
- pestilence: a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague
- rapt: completely fascinated by what one is seeing or hearing
- gingerly: in a careful or cautious manner
- baffle: to totally bewilder or perplex
- recoil: suddenly spring or flinch back in fear, horror or disgust
Comprehension Questions
- When Prosper returns with Bo, Scipio scolds him for not doing as he is told. (pg. 91)
- Prosper is so worried that Victor might be following them because )
- Hornet distracts Victor by throwing herself on him and screaming, “Let me go,” and as this takes place Prosper and Bo escape. (pg. 100)
- The letter that Scipio receives from the Conte, surprises the children because there is a photo of an old wooden wing. The Conte had told the truth they were not going to steal anything of great value. (pg. 104)
- Prosper doesn’t want Bo to help with the burglary because it is dangerous and wrong. (pg. 107)
- Victor vows to find the children. (pg. 110)
- While visiting Dr. Massimo, Victor discovers that Scipio is Dr. Massimo’s son. (pg. 114)
- When Victor discovers the children’s hideout he is jumped on, bound and gagged and put into the men’s bathroom. Pg 126/127)
- Bo tells Victor that he doesn’t need his aunt to take care of him because he has Prosper, Scipio and Hornet who look after him. (pg. 133)
- Riccio gets into the Casa Spavento by crashing into the housekeeper and then offering to carry the shopping bags into the house for her. (pg. 141/142)
- When Hornet, Prosper and Riccio are in Victor’s office the phone rings and Hornet answers it. It is Proper and Bo’s aunt. Hornet tries to convince Esther that the boys are no longer in Venic, but Esther demands that Victor meet with them in two days. (pg. 145/146)
- When the children go to Fondamenta Bollani 223 they discover that Scipio lives there. (pg. 156/157)
- After breaking into the Casa Spavento the children discover that Scipio has broken into the house as well. Pg 170)
- Ida Spavento tells the children that the old lion wing was part of a merry-go-round that was given to an orphanage 150 years ago. It was supposedly magic, making those children who wanted to become adults age, and older people to become young again. (pg. 178)
Section 3: Chapters 28 – 41
Vocabulary
- atmosphere: the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet
- tarpaulin: heavy duty waterproof cloth, originally of tarred canvas
- lagoon: a stretch of salt water separated by the sea by a low sandbank or coral reef
- cuff links: a device for fastening together the sides of a shirt cuff, often decorative
- embroider: decorate by sewing patterns onto cloth with thread
- incredulous: unwilling or unable to believe something
- counterfeit: made in exact imitation of something valuable with the intention to deceive or defraud
Comprehension Questions
- After the children leave Ida Spavento’s house the children ask Scipio to go home because if he doesn’t go home his father will have the police search for him and the movie theater is a logical place to look. (pg. 184/185)
- When Prosper, Hornet and Bo visit Barbarossa he is in a bad temper because he is sick with a sore throat, headache and runny nose. (pg. 189)
- In talking with Bo, Barbarossa hopes to find out what the Conte had the Thief Lord steal. (pg. 190)
- When Victor tries to reason with Esther and Max Hartlieb he realizes that the Hartlieb’s have no understanding of children and don’t really like children. (pg. 198)
- When Ida and the children follow the Conte’s boat they are led to the Isola Segreta, the Secret Isle, a spooky island where the Valaresso family used to have an estate. (pg. 209)
- The entryway into Isola Segreta is guarded by two stone angels and two white mastiffs, which are as large as calves. (pg. 210 )
- When Prosper, Mosca and Riccio return to the theater they find a note from Hornet saying that someone had been at the theater door, possibly the police and that they were to meet at the emergency meeting place. (pg. 215)
- When Scipio walks through the gate to his house he is met by two policemen, Hornet and his father. (pg. 218/219 )
- Riccio, Mosca and Victor go to Signora Spavento’s house because they need her help in storing their stuff and finding Hornet. (pg. 230/231)
- Hornet is rescued from the orphanage when Ida Spavento pretends to be her godmother, and Victor pretends to be her lawyer. They concoct a story that Hornet had ran away several times because of parents silly quarrels. (pg. 237/238)
- Riccio convinces Prosper to return to Ida’s house with him by imitating Hornet’s voice showing her concern that he might jump into a canal. (pg. 243)
- While Prosper is sitting inside Ida’s boat Scipio approaches him and proposes that they go to the Isola Segreta and confront the Conte. He must either give them real money, a ride on the merry-go-round or they will take back the wing. (pg. 249/250)
- Some of the frightening things that Prosper and Scipio see on the Isola Segreta are, the two mastiffs, the rats in the shed that they are made to stay in over night. (pg. 253 & 257,)
- After midnight Victor receives news from Esther that Bo has run away and that they no longer want to adopt him. Victor decides to go to the theater to find Bo as that is the only safe place he knows. (pg. 259 & 261)
Section 4: Chapters 42 – 53
Vocabulary
- hearth: the floor of a fire place
- gape: to be or become wide open
- appraise: assess the value or quality of something
- anticipate: regard as probable; to expect or predict
- pensive: engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought
- intertwine: twist or twine together
- catastrophe: an event causing great and often sudden damage or suffering; a disaster
Comprehension Questions
- When Victor brings Bo back to Ida’s house he is given a new worry, Prosper has disappeared. (pg. 266)
- When Scipio and Prosper wake up the next morning the girl unlocks the shed because her brother wants to speak to them. (pg. 268)
- Prosper and Scipio discover that the Conte and his sister are not nobility, that they were servants as children to the Valaresso family. (pg. 271)
- Renzo and Morosina have been eager to find the lion’s wing because they wanted the merry-go-round to make them children so that they could enjoy what they had missed as children. (pg. 276)
- Scipio needs to change his clothes before he gets onto the merry-go-round because the merry-go-round will make him grow into an adult and his body will burst out of his clothes. Pg 277)
- Scipio looks familiar to Prosper after he jumps off the merry-go-round because he looks like a younger version of his father. (pg. 279)
- When Barbarossa takes hold of Morosina and won’t let her go Scipio takes advantage of his new look by pretending to be Dottor Massimo and telling Barbarossa that he is assaulting the contessa. Pg 281/282)
- Scipio convinces Barbarossa to take a ride on the merry-go-round to pay him back for tricking them with fake money. (pg. 282/283)
- While on the merry-go-round Barbarossa breaks the wing of the lion so ended the magic that the merry-go-round has. (pg. 287)
- The deal that Renzo makes with Barbarossa is that in return for all the money in his store and the safe he will not be taken to the police or to the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage. (pg. 292/293)
- Barbarossa doesn’t want to spend the night alone because it will soon be dark, it is raining hard, he can’t reach the fridge or his coffee pot. He is afraid. (pg. 299)
- Ida convinces Esther to complete the plan by saying it is necessary for Esther to come to the orphanage so that the boys can stay at the orphanage. (pg. 321)
- When Esther and Barbarossa meet and go on their excursion they get on very well as Barbarossa acts like an adult and can talk with Esther about art and has wonderful manners. (pg. 328, 331, 333,)
- When Victor encounters Scipio outside Barbarossa’s shop Scipio proposes that he work for Victor and do the tiring work of running around and shadowing people at night. (pg. 340)