Angel Allegria is an escaped thief and murderer. He appears at the Po loverdo’s farm, isolated at the tip of Chile, and slits the parents’ throats but spares Paolo, their child. Angel’s motivation is simply his need for shelter and a hideout, and Paolo’s presence doesn’t threaten his safety. If anything about this book were humorous, we could attribute the parents’ murder in the opening scenes to the classical orphan trope. However, Bondoux has not written a comedy, and the murder is only the tip of an iceberg that chills readers’ sensibilities and leaves them asking questions for which there are no answers. 2007 USBBY Outstanding International Books List, 2007 Batchelder Honor Book, winner of the French Prix Sorcières. lmp

Originally published as Les Larmes de l’Assassin in French by Bayard Editions Jeunesse France, in 2003. Translated by Y.