Hugo and Josephine are two very real children. Josephine (who gave herself this name in preference of her dreary real name, Anna Gra) is the mischievous, wispy-haired daughter of a minister in a small Swedish town. At school, she is often teased and at home in the big, old parsonage, she is sometimes lonely. But when Hugo, a wild, happy vagabond comes into her life, everything changes. Hugo, who attends school only if he is not too busy carving trolls or tending his spider collection, is more than a match for the school bullies, let alone the teacher. Their friendship from the opening of school through the Swedish winter darkness, up to a momentous Christmas celebration is a sometimes hilarious but always a touching story.

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