I had many favorite passages from the book but I chose one from page 180.
"'In return," Ida Spavento continued. ‘We will follow the Conte when he disappears with the wing. Perhaps we can find the merry-go-round of the Merciful Sisters. I’m saying we because I will be coming with you. That’s the deal.’ She looked eagerly at her visitors. ‘So, what do you say? I won’t ask for any share in your reward. I already make more money than I can spend with my photographs. I’d just love to see the merry-go-round once. Go on, please say yes!’”
I chose this passage because of the characterization of Ida Spavento. This is soon after Cornelia Funke introduces us to her character and while the children are still inside her house after they had broken in. I really liked the way Funke has Ida’s character transition back and forth from a gracious grown woman who didn’t turn the children in for breaking into her house to an excited and childlike character who wants to take a risky adventure to go see a merry-go-round. You learn that Ida is deeply connected to her past as an orphan and that is willing to take an adventure. In this passage Ida is a shining example of a person that has grown up but can still hold onto characteristics of a child. It gave me hope that if Scipio did use the merry-go-round that he would be able to do the same. I thought this was interesting because Scipio just wanted to grow up but he doesn’t realize how much he will miss being a child while at the same time Ida wants adventure and an opportunity to reconnect with her childhood by seeing the wing on the merry-go-round. It was a unique connection between the two characters who knew so little about each other.