By Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Book Source: Provided for review
Book Status: Available
This book was a bit hard for me so I have asked Mom to help me with the review. She also read it (and I left it with my grandfather in Maine to read).
This is the story of Boy. Yea, that is his name and he repeatedly says he is not a boy, he is Boy. That is a clue to the big secret in the book. He is also a hunchback and so people aren’t very nice to him. Animals like him a lot. There are a couple funny parts where he wakes up surrounded by animals. He can also talk to them (lucky). One day he meets a man on a mission to collect the bones of Saint Peter and return them to Rome. The man is strange but Boy wants to go to Rome and pray to become a real boy so he joins him. They get into all kinds of trouble getting they need. Plus learn secrets about the man too. Seriously this book is full of WHATS!
Okay I got to stop now or one of the secrets like the man is…. (whoa stopping).
The book is a little slow and they don’t reveal anything to the reader before the characters find out. So that was different. I knew things weren’t right but I had no clue what wasn’t right. Some of the clues weren’t even mentioned in the book because books don’t usually talk about those things but when find out secrets you are like oh my, duh!
Mom and I talked about why I had a hard time with this book. First I may not be old enough for it. Second because they don’t reveal a lot of things and I am a very black/white person so the lack of clear information is hard for me. Third even though I know the secrets I am going to read this later and see how I do again.
I think this book is interesting and would recommend it fifth grade and up. It could be an interesting class book. I am very curious what my grandfather says about it and will ask my grandmother who was a fifth grade teacher to read it. Mom found it very intriguing but said she is not surprised I had some issues. Maybe next time I will read it with her. (Did you know when Mom was in school, her teachers wanted her to become an English teacher because she is good with this kind of stuff? She didn’t – she did firefighting and now works for a car parts company doing their community affairs for all North America!)
Has anyone read this book? What did you think?