Book Review - The Silent Boy

The Silent Boy

by Lois Lowry

 

Rating ***** (5 stars)

I have been on a Lois Lowry reading spree as of late. It is one that I foresee continuing until I have devoured all of her books. I am uncertain how I made it through adolescence, with my obsessive reading habit, without having discovered her before now.

I seriously believe that Lois Lowry should go down as one of the greats. She should be hoisted right next to Charles Dickens.

The Silent Boy is another amazing novel. It is a book set in the early 1900s. The main character is a very young girl who wishes to be a doctor like her father. The young girl has wisdom beyond her years, which includes her ability to accept others for who they are. This is all accompanied by a ten year old temperament. She makes for a highly entertaining narrator.

One interesting character with whom she meats is Jacob, a fourteen year old boy who would most likely be diagnosed with Autism in today's society. It is fascinating seeing a character with Autism depicted in a less modern setting. While he helps out with his farm chores, like is expected of all the children, he also refuses to take off a woolen hat, is obsessed with the grinding stones at the mill, mimics sounds, is non verbal, and has a very strong connection with animals.

The ending is a bit sad, and you can see it coming early, some aspect of it from the first chapter. Yet that does not stop the reader from being swept up in the lives of the characters.

I think it is an excellent book for a middle school student, high school student, or adult. I do think it may be a bit difficult concept wise for early elementary school students.