A Bandit’s Tale: The Muddled Misadventures of a Pickpocket

In March 1887, eleven-year-old Rocco leaves an Italian village for New York City after his impoverished parents sell him to a padrone. Forced to beg and work as a street musician, he lives in harsh conditions. He meets boys from Bandits’ Roost, who teach him pickpocketing, and the money from crime changes his circumstances. Rocco also meets Meddlin’ Mary, an Irish girl working to help New York City’s horses. Troubled by the city’s treatment of children and animals, Rocco reconsiders his path and tries to shape his own future.