The Silent Boy

Rating:
Summary: "I Wonder How Lois Lowry..."
Review: can build a whole world of the early 1900's in just 178 pages, create characters you remember long after you've closed the book, and say all kinds of important things while gently telling a story?
I loved the relationship eight-year-old Katie had with her father. We never doubt that Katie will become a doctor one day because of his patient and gentle teaching. Of course the new baby will not be found in the garden patch! It is because of his kindness and openess that Katie is able to befriend the silent Jacob.
Everything seems innocent through Katie's eyes. Taking the new hired girl from her family, the hard lesson her sister Nell, who wants to be a film star, has to learn, the fire at the mill. Even the tragic misunderstanding that puts Jacob into the asylum. Katie has taken the harsh edge from all, and left us to ponder.
But that is how I know it's a great book... How long afterward I am still pondering.

Rating:
Summary: "A Mazing" story
Review: I just got this book from Amazon today, I read it straight through. Lois Lowry has done it again! I think this book also deserves a Newberry Award. The story is told from the point of view of Katy Thatcher, the curious daughter of a doctor, but it's really about the lives of three families, The Stoltz Family, The Bishop Family, and The Thatcher Family, and especially about Jacob Stoltz. Nowadays, Jacob would have been diagnosed with Autism (neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain), but in the early 1900's people just knew that he was different, but that matters little to Katy, who connects with him and feels an understanding with him. I reccomend this book for middle school and up, possibly mature fifth graders, but some of the little nuances aren't really appropriate for kids much younger than that.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I loved this book. Like Katy, I am also a doctors daughter and that is why I first read it. But when I finished it, it had me pondering over the powerful message and the beautifully crafted relashionship between Jacob and Katy. All the charachters have a sense of reality and deepness and this book had just the right amounts of innocence,realiy, and hope, just like The Giver and Gathering Blue.

Rating:
Summary: not her best work
Review: I've read other Lois Lowry books, all of which are stronger than The Silent Boy. It's a nice story, with a thoughtful twist ending, but pretty slow through most of the chapters. We don't see enough of the title character to justify the book being named after him. I would like to have gotten to know him better. And there are segments of description of the setting that weigh the story down rather than enhancing it. It was a nice, light read, but pretty weak overall, especially in the characterization of the silent boy himself. Great ending though. Really nicely played out.