History Bards and Down Under Interviews Author Max Willi Fischer

’Hobbadehoy Rising’ A young man named Pencil comes of age in the mid-1800s - a gripping story not to be missed! In the gritty streets of 1854 Manhattan’s notorious Five Points district, a young orphan named Pencil struggles to survive among thieves, street gangs, and corrupt adults who dismiss him as a mere “hobbhadehoy“—a boy not yet a man. But Pencil has something most have lost in the slums: empathy and an unshakable sense of justice. When betrayal leads to his imprisonment, he finds a second chance on an orphan train to Ohio. Life on the farm strengthens his body, but challenges his spirit under an abusive guardian, forcing Pencil to flee once again. In Cleveland, he learns the art of daguerreotype photography under a new mentor, where brushes with crime, death, and betrayal continue to test his faith in trust and justice. Hobbadehoy Rising is a gripping coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of a divided America, full of danger, hope, and the relentless search for identi