A bandit's tale : the muddled misadventures of a pickpocket

Format:

Book

Title:

A bandit's tale : the muddled misadventures of a pickpocket

Author:

Hopkinson, Deborah author

ISBN:

9780385754996

9780385755009

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2016.

Physical Description:

290 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

General Note:

"A Junior Library Guild selection"--Jacket flap.

Summary:

In March of 1887, Rocco, an eleven-year-old from an Italian village, arrives in New York CIty where he is forced to live in squalor and beg for money as a street musician, but he finds the city's cruelty to children and animals intolerable and sets out to make things better, whatever the cost to himself.

Subject(s):

Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction.

Child labor -- Juvenile fiction.

Child abuse -- Juvenile fiction.

Immigrants -- Juvenile fiction.

Italians -- New York (State) -- New York -- Juvenile fiction.

Animals -- Treatment -- Juvenile fiction.

Conduct of life -- Fiction.

Child labor -- Fiction.

Child abuse -- Fiction.

Immigrants -- Fiction.

Italians -- New York (State) -- New York -- Fiction.

Animals -- Treatment -- Fiction.

New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile fiction.

New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 19th century -- Juvenile fiction.

New York (N.Y.) -- History -- 19th century -- Fiction.

New York (State) -- New York.

Genre:

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	J Fic Hopkinson, D. 2016	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Newberg Public Library	J FICTION HOPKINSON	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Eleven-year-old Rocco finds himself alone in New York City after he's sold to a padrone by his poverty-stricken parents and forced to leave his small Italian village. While working as a street musician, he meets the boys of the infamous Bandits' Roost, who teach him the art of pickpocketing while posing as a newsboy. 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, an Irish immigrant who has a big mouth and an even bigger heart, he begins to reexamine his life--and take his future into his own hands.

Author Notes

DEBORAH HOPKINSON has written many award-winning author books for children. Her most recent picture book for Schwartz & Wade Books is Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig. Her most recent historical fiction from Knopf is The Great Trouble, A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel, which has been featured on more than a dozen state award lists and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Visit her online at DeborahHopkinson.com, and follow her on Twitter at @deborahhopkinson. She lives in West Linn, OR.

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-7-As this lively, fast-paced novel attests, the streets of late 19th-century New York City were especially cruel to young immigrants trying to improve their chances of upward mobility. Eleven-year-old Rocco, newly arrived in New York after a misunderstanding caused by an obstinate donkey, is sold to a cruel and miserly padrone who sends "his" group of children to perform as street musicians. Anxious to fill his hungry belly and escape his wretched living conditions, Rocco joins a group of pickpockets, and although he's increasingly uncomfortable about taking people's money, he's able to justify his actions until he meets Meddlin' Mary, a young Irish girl who, with her father, is devoted to caring for the city's mistreated and overworked horses. Through his encounter with Mary and her father, Rocco is immersed in a new world, and he meets historical figures, including Jacob Riis, who were instrumental in social reform movements dedicated to improving the lives of children and animals. In a picaresque style, Rocco narrates his own journey from a street bandit to a prison escapee and ultimately to a young man dedicated to improving the lives of other immigrants. VERDICT A strong choice for fans of Rodman Philbrick's The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Scholastic, 2009) and 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.-Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Rocco Zaccaro, the delightfully earnest narrator of this picaresque novel, never intended to become a "true guttersnipe" on the streets of 1880s New York City. Then again, he never intended to leave Italy until the day his family could no longer afford to care for him. After 11-year-old Rocco is sold into a life of slavery in this strange city, he joins a band of pickpockets to save enough money to break free from his destitute conditions. Rocco's drive to prove himself and return to Italy steers him into a number of bad decisions, yet his heart guides him to fight injustices against both children and animals on the rough city streets: "As to whether I was good or bad, it should be quite apparent to you by now that I was far too muddled to know." While Hopkinson (The Great Trouble) covers heavy topics including immigration, child labor, and animal welfare, Rocco's conversational voice resounds with humor, compassion, and an inspiring energy for change. A dynamic historical novel ideal for both classroom studies and pleasure reading. Ages 8-12. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

In an Italian hill town in 1887, a man approaches Rocco's father and offers to take his disgraced 11-year-old son, an accused bandit, to America. There his new employer cuts the boy's lip to create a distinctive scar and sends him out to beg. Rocco intends to make something of himself, but he is unprepared for the hardscrabble life in the slums of New York City. He becomes a self-described guttersnipe, liar, and pickpocket. Escaping from a boy's prison, Rocco finds temporary work with a good-hearted blacksmith, but it takes more than that to turn his life around. Rocco needs all his wits, determination, and courage as well. Hopkinson, whose Shutting Out the Sky: Life in the Tenements of New York, 1880-1924 (2003) also explored immigrants' lives, offers an eye-opening novel written from the point of view of a child who adapts, survives, and works for a better life. Incorporating several historical figures as characters, this thoroughly researched historical novel paints a vivid portrait of an unprotected street child during the period.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2016 Booklist