Les Miserables by Victor Hugo retold and illustrated by Marcia Williams*

I vaguely remember reading a Scholastic newspaper-like version of Les Miserables in sixth grade.  Since we will be reading this novel (abridged/children's versions) this year, I wanted to familiarize myself with the plot.
Ms. Williams takes complicated novels or periods of history and simplifies without ruining their richness. 
Jean Valjean is sent to prison for stealing a loaf of bread.  After nineteen years of prison, where he became infamous for his strength and his efforts to escape, he is free.  No one will take in a convict.  The Bishop of Digne, however,  kindly allows him to stay with him.  Jean then steals the good Bishop's only valuables-his silver.  Jean is soon caught, and the Bishop's response to Jean's thievery plants a seed of goodness.  The reader witnesses Jean's gradual transformation and how his past continues to haunt him. 
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.