The Boy From the Basement [Hardcover]

Susan Shaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2004

For Charlie, the basement is home. He's being punished. He doesn't mean to leave--Father wouldn't allow it--but when Charlie is accidentally thrust outside, he awakens to the alien surroundings of a world to which he's never been exposed. Though haunted by fear of the basement and his father's rage, Charlie embarks on a journey toward healing and blossoms when he becomes an unconditionally loved and loving member of the right foster family. This carefully crafted and authentic portrayal of Charlie's emotional and physical abuse is gracefully matched by Susan Shaw's inspiring and deeply moving story of recovery.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7–Charlie's father has banished him to a dark cellar as punishment for some small transgression, and the boy sneaks upstairs at night while his parents sleep, desperately searching the kitchen for food and going outdoors to relieve himself. After he accidentally locks himself out, he wanders until he collapses, then awakens in a hospital. There, the extent of his deprivation and the resulting damage become clear. He doesn't know his last name or age, he has never heard of Thanksgiving or soccer, he has hallucinations about a menacing spider, and he cannot imagine going into the frightening world of the outdoors. Focusing on Charlie's internal thought processes, the action is primarily psychological. As the boy works with a psychiatrist and begins to trust his foster family, he grows to the point of being able to disagree with his controlling and warped father. However, as the book progresses, it loses tension and becomes repetitive. If he hasn't heard of Halloween or Thanksgiving, can it be much of a surprise that he hasn't seen a Christmas tree either? The intriguing premise can't quite compensate for the average writing and plotting. Elaine Marie Alphin's Counterfeit Son (Harcourt, 2000) and Malachy Doyle's Georgie (Bloomsbury, 2002) provide far more intense pictures of surviving psychological trauma.–Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. Imprisoned in the basement for many years by his violent father, Charlie, 12, is sure he's being punished because he is bad, and when he escapes and is placed in a loving foster home, it takes him a long time to feel safe in the strange world outside. Through the truth of the boy's first-person, present-tense narrative, Shaw transforms what could have been a case study of abuse and recovery into a searing story that is part thriller (Will Father find him and hurt him?) and part gentle narrative about finding a home. The psychology in Charlie's therapy sessions is realistic; he longs to be back with his biological parents, and he desperately needs to believe they love him. But perhaps most compelling for readers are the details of Charlie's long isolation. Here's a child who has never seen TV or used the telephone. What is Christmas? Halloween? What is school? Then comes the quiet climax, when Charlie finally finds a place. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile (October 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525472231
• ISBN-13: 978-0525472230
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Book from the Library, December 15, 2010

By 

Wheat Ridge Writers "Farmers" (Wheat Ridge, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy From the Basement (Mass Market Paperback)

Jolene Sanders
Mr. Slater
English 9
14 December 2010

The Book from the Library

The Boy From the Basement is a good that makes the reader want to keep reading because the reader doesn't know what is going to happen next, although it kind of leaves you hanging on why Charlie is in trouble; I recommend this book to anyone.
The plot of The Boy From the Basement is very well placed, especially when the reader gets to the chapter on how Charlie gets to the hospital from the basement. Charlie gets found outside when he needs to use the bathroom when the door gets shut by the wind and it is locked. When he is found he gets taken to the hospital because he is sick. While he is at the hospital he hallucinates that this spider is going to get him and hurt him; the spider is in the corner everywhere he is but, only Charlie can see this spider. It is nice when Charlie gets a foster mother (Mrs. Harrigan) and foster brother (Ambrose). Charlie doesn't have much of an education so he has a lot of questions about things in life.
The characterization of Charlie makes the story more intense by how he has to go through life and how it effects him. The conflict type is man vs. man. Charlie has been through so much in his life he has to be alone for awhile. His mother tries to sneak him stuff when father is not around but, that is pretty hard to do; she has gotten caught. Charlie goes from living in a basement , getting out much, and being scared to living in an actual house with new clothes books, use to the bathroom, kids to play with, and people to teach him things that he needs to know like his alphabet and his numbers.
The Boy From the Basement has a major theme that is worth reading. People have to overcome some kind of problem whether it is not being taken care of or not. No one should be treated this way even if a kid is being bad.
This book overall was pretty good and is interesting. The Boy From the Basement is a book worth reading even though it is sad.


Work Cited
Shaw, Susan. The Boy From the Basement. New York: Dutton Children's Books, 2004.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling Novel, December 1, 2007

By 

G. Ellenburg "I'd like a think and juicy one ... (Behind You!) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Boy From the Basement (Mass Market Paperback)

This was truly one of the best books that I have read. I find it very compelling and the smilies that the writer used to explain the spider that he kept seeing and fearing was unbelievable. It just seemed so surreal to me, and I'm not so sure why.

I read this book in grade six and it showed me that the world wasn't really a perfect and wonderfully great all the time. I owe a lot to this novel.

I enjoyed the concept that was displayed in this story, and I swear every second a emotion streamed down Charlie's back I felt it too. The scene that I enjoyed the most was when the two boys went outside and Charlie's dad showed up. I didn't know what was going to happen at that point to be honest, I thought that it was going to be very climaxic, by his father dragging him away, but than the foster family to take him out of his hands.

This book will make you think about all the things that you have, have had, are going to have, and all the things that you will leave behind when you die. Charlie didn't have that in the begining of the story, but as time progressed he was given more and was earning more and most importantly he had a family, foster one maybe, but at least they cared about him and wanted to help him out.

I would recommend to anybody, to READ THIS BOOK.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent story -- Horrible story, November 12, 2010

By 

Jona Cannon (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Boy From the Basement (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a very moving story that is guaranteed to make you cry. I don't like stories that are depressing... this one was just emotionally gripping. This story made me look at everyone like someone who deserves to be loved and cared for. Everybody should read this book.