I thought this book at in the beginning was slow and boring. I found myself falling asleep in the library reading it. After about 60 pages or so it began to pick up and I didn't want to put the book down. I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen. At first I didn't like Victor Getz. I didn't want him to catch the children. I really liked how he changed and ended up helping the children and became like a father. I was completely shocked when Scipio ended up being rich and stealing the things from his own house. He seemed like a very confident person until Prosper, Bo, and the others found out who he really was. Then he seemed to be a lot less confident. Hornet seemed more like the motherly type. She seemed to take care of everyone. Prosper tried to take care of his brother and think if his best interest. I liked how Bo seemed like a typical child. He acted like anyone his age would unlike Prosper, Hornet, Scipio, and the others. I also didn't expect the merry-go-round to work or for Barbarossa to break it. I really liked how the children formed their own family. They were runaways but they created a family and cared and looked after each other. I didn't expect Barbarossa to be working with the Conte but I liked how he got stuck as a small child. He seemed to get what he deserved. I also liked how the story talked about how children want to be grown up and grown ups want to be kids again. I think this is very true. When you are little you can't wait to grow up but once you do you wish you were back in the good old days.