An orphaned teen in the notorious Five Points district of lower Manhattan in 1854, Pencil's cursed to scavenge the unforgiving streets where trust is a stranger. Even as slavery has divided the nation, the good Pencil comes across is as rare as a precious gem buried in the manure-strewn streets of Gotham. The shady adults who surround him believe he's a "hobbhadehoy," a youth who hasn't quite reached manhood. Despite years...