"One of Rio's seven hundred thousand homeless street urchins looking in on the forbidden, unobtainable, dazzlingly beautiful life on the other side of Copacabana. A world of magic. A world saturated with pleasure, and as far away from the rotting stench of the Baixada Fluminese up on the hill as heaven from hell." This is the life of Paulo Batista, a sixteen-year-old from the Rio slums, who commits a serious crime. To escape the police, he and his friend Bippo being Quixotian journey that enables Paulo to see the world of Rio from a new perspective. A study of crime and redemption, of childhood and maturity, of sadness and humor, this is a masterpiece by a gifted storyteller.