The Several Lives of Orphan Jack

For young Jack, life is tough at the Opportunities School for Orphans and Foundlings. But Jack is good at staying out of trouble.

But when Jack turns twelve, he is given the biggest opportunity of all, and suddenly his life is nothing but trouble.

Jack is made an apprentice to a bookkeeper, which at first sounds like the job of his dreams. Taking care of books -- what could be better for a lad whose most treasured possession is a grubby, torn dictionary that he received from the Benevolent Ladies Auxiliary one year for Christmas. But Jack soon learns the hard way that bookkeeping does not involve keeping books safe. Life becomes a misery, and he decides he has no choice but to run away.

But Jack is a clever and resilient boy, and he takes to the traveling life like a creature of the field. Then he arrives in the market town of Aberbog. Lacking worldly merchandise, he becomes an ideas peddlar, selling whims, concepts, plans, opinions, impressions, notions and even fancies. After a rocky start, the dour Aberbogians take him to their hearts, and Jack must decide whether it is time to settle down, or continue his life on the road.