The Thief Lord Double Diary Entry Kristy Carter

"Esther Hartlieb arched her eyebrows. "Does it? Well, one thing's for sure, they're very strange names, and that's putting it mildly. My late sister had a fondness for anything peculiar. When she died three months ago, my husband and I applied for custody of Bo since we sadly do not have any children of our own. But we couldn't possibly have taken on his older brother as well. Any reasonable person could see that. But Prosper got very upset, acting like a lunatic, accusing us of stealing his brother-although we would have allowed him to visit Bo once an month." Her pale fave grew even paler." (p. 10)

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I read that and my face just flushed with anger. I can't imagine how a 12 year old boy would feel hearing that his aunt only wanted his younger brother and not him. He had just lost his parents and then he was told he would be separated from his brother as well. I think he had a right to act like a lunatic, although I think the lunatic in this story is Esther Hartlieb! She says that "anyone would understand" her decision not to take them both but I find that just horrifying. I wouldn't think is would be good for Bo to be taken from his brother as well and one visit a month isn't going to cut it in my opinion. It's like poor Prosper didn't even matter. How could you not want to raise both of your deceased sister's children if you have the means to do so? According to the text, the Hartliebs certainly were not hurting for money so they could have easily adopted both of the children. It seems she only wanted a cute 5 year old, like Bo was a toy. Oh well, at least Esther and her weird husband Max got what they deserved at the end of the book when they took Barbarossa home with them.