Gruber, Michael. The witch's boy

Gruber, Michael. The witch's boy. HarperCollins, 2005 [0-06-076164-4]
A witch lives in the forest and one say she finds an ugly baby that has been abandoned in a hollow tree near her house. She chooses to raise it along with the help of a bear, a demon, and a cat. The boy is never told that he is ugly and becomes very upset when at the age of 10 he finds out and he becomes very bitter. Lump (the boy's name) get involved in some attacks on humans and the whole family (now just the witch, Lump, and the cat) have to run. Lump ends up wearing a mask and they little group sets up a small stage act so they can travel from town to town. Unfortunately the witch is accused of witchcraft and is imprisoned and Lump runs away. Because of his ability to travel down to the underworld, he acquires valuable gems underground and becomes extremely wealthy. He ends up denying help to his witch mother and the bear who raised him. This rips him apart internally eventually and he does not know what to do. Can this witch boy work himself out of this terrible position. This 377 page book is a great fantasy-adventure story. The author weaves bits of traditional folklore into the story such as Rumpelstiltskin.