Boniface Schroll is slowly adjusting to life with his uncle in Graab, a small German town in the Black Forest. His uncle, the town mayor, is kind enough and he runs an amusingly efficient household, but he is not the sort of man who is easy with his feelings. Boniface is also making a friend, Christian, an unusual boy who draws the schoolmaster's wrath with his quiet defiance of authority. Boniface discovers that Christian is the son of the Robber Knapp, whose nefarious reputation among many in the village far outweighs the severity of the crime that earned him his name: he was accused of stealing to feed his family. Boniface, whose own father died a year-and-a-half before, is intrigued by the warm, respectful relationship he witnesses between Robber Knapp and his son. Is this man really a criminal? When Robber Knapp is accused of stealing yet again, Boniface realizes that he alone can prove him innocent. Boniface starts a chain of events that impact life for the entire village, his own most certainly of all, in this in this charming novel set in 19th century Germany. Author Joseph Holub's skillful, witty characterizations of village characters and village life, as well the sweet tenor of a narrative that unfolds entirely through Boniface's naive eyes, distinguishes a story told with humor and poignancy about a young boy's longing for a place to belong, a family. (Ages 10-13) Winner, CCBC Batchelder Award Discussion

When Boniface Schroll, a shy orphan, is left all alone in a cold, dark forest, a big man in a black hat rescues him. The next day he awakens in his Uncle Emil's house. Boniface, who wants a place to call home, likes the people in the small farming village. But when he hears about the many robberies committed by a man wearing a big black hat, Boniface wonders if he should risk telling his uncle what he knows about the mysterious man. An ALA Notable Children's Book. A "School Library Journal" Best Book of the Year.