This book is short but very entertaining. It takes place pre-WWII, during the Great Depression. All the banks have closed their doors, and everyone's out of work.
Aaron Broom, age 12, came from a wealthy family who lost everything. His father becomes a Bulova watch traveling salesman, who is in the wrong place at the wrong time when a robbery at J & J Jewelers goes wrong. He is arrested for shooting one of the jewelers. Aaron sees the police bring his father out of the store in handcuffs. Aaron knows his father is innocent and sets out to find the real shooter with the help of a new found friend, Augie. They trail all the workers of the shop, break into apartments, and do fake interviews. And with the help of a lawyer picked out of the phone book, they are able to free Aaron's father.
One thing for sure, Aaron, is an honest young boy. When finding a wallet containing $75 in the gutter, he knows that the right thing to do is return it to the rightful owner. Friend Augie is against this, claiming it could be food in their bellies and a place to live for a while. Aaron replies, "I'm no Boy Scout--if it's life-or-death medicine that's one thing. But when it's to steal... If you return the wallet with the money in it, then your soul will be okay. It's the one thing the Depression can't take from us long as we take care of it. I have this thing about my soul, that it's a good part of me, that it can keep me going or leave me empty."
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