Deborah Hopkinson

Award Winning Author of Fiction & Nonfiction for Children & Teens

A Bandit’s Tale

The Muddled Misadventures of a Pickpocket

A Bandit's Tale

What is this book about?

Eleven-year-old Roc­co is an Ital­ian immi­grant who finds him­self alone in New York City after he’s sold to a padrone by his pover­ty-strick­en par­ents. While work­ing as a street musi­cian, he meets the boys of the infa­mous Ban­dits’ Roost, who teach him the art of pick­pock­et­ing. Roc­co embraces his new life of crime—he’s good at it, and it’s more lucra­tive than bang­ing a tri­an­gle on the street cor­ner. But when he meets Med­dlin’ Mary, a strong-heart­ed Irish girl who’s deter­mined to help the hors­es of New York City, things begin to change. Roc­co begins to reex­am­ine his life—and take his future into his own hands.

Reviews

“A strong choice for … those who enjoy adven­tures about scrap­py and resource­ful kids who have to rely on their own smarts and the kind­ness of strangers to change their lives. (School Library Jour­nal, starred review)

“A dynam­ic his­tor­i­cal nov­el ide­al for both class­room stud­ies and plea­sure read­ing.” (Book­list, starred review)

A Bandit's Tale

author, Deb­o­rah Hop­kin­son
Knopf Books for Young Read­ers
ages 8 and up, 2016
ISBN 978–0385754996

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