Kevin O' Donnell may be poor right now, but he's not going to stay that way for long--not if he has anything to do with it. With his father unable to work and a little sister to support, Kevin needs to find work, any work.

But jobs aren't easy to come by in New York during 1881, especially for a twelve-year-old immigrant boy. So Kevin finds himself scrambling, desperately seeking ways to make a few dollars here and there. And he begins cutting a few corners. When he's discovered "borrowing" and reselling newspapers, he knows he's in for it — the workhouse, or maybe even jail.

That's why he's shocked when the elegant man who caught him offers him his dream job: a job on the man's newspaper. Now it's up to Kevin to make it work. But can he leave the slums behind him, or will his attitude doom him to remain a boy from the streets?