King of the Pygmies [Paperback]

Jonathon Scott Fuqua (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2007

"This treatment of mental illness from the viewpoint of someone experiencing it is also a compellingly, fluidly written study of an individual." — BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS

When fifteen-year-old Penn starts to hear voices, he is terrified. He can hear his parents’ unspoken gripes, his retarded brother’s anxieties, and his neighbor’s desperation. His mother wants him to get treated for schizophrenia, but his similarly gifted uncle tells him that hearing others’ thoughts doesn’t make him sick; it makes him special. This compelling novel of a young man’s struggle to come to terms with his disability is a tale of courage, determination, and hope.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–Penrod is an introspective 15-year-old with concerned parents, a mildly retarded older brother, a developing romance, and an alcoholic bum of an uncle. All in all, his life is rather normal–until he starts to hear the thoughts and to experience the feelings of other people. Penn's mother and father think he is showing signs of schizophrenia and take him to see a therapist, but his uncle's opinion is that the teen is a Pygmy, like himself–someone who can soar to great heights if only he can harness his power. Penn's relationship with his brother is a highlight of the novel for its tenderness; the love story does not ring true. Terry Trueman's Inside Out (HarperCollins, 2003) is a more gripping look at mental illness in teens. Not for reluctant readers, Pygmies is a gentle story with a satisfying ending; the book will appeal to those who enjoy a quiet read.–Morgan Johnson-Doyle, Sierra High School, Colorado Springs, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

He took a few deep breaths. "You aren't bullying me?"

"No, sir."

Dad's eyes wandered. "Are you feeling sick or something?"

"No, sir, not sick. But I think . . . I think out of absolutely nowhere I might be going crazy or something. I'm scared I might be. That's why I was carving on the bed. I keep a record of how long it's been between when the voices come."

My dad rubbed a hand across his cheeks and mouth. "Penn, sweetie, I'm not exactly sure, but I think this might be a real type of problem. Normal people don't hear voices is all, not if they aren't sick-feeling."

"I know," I answered, getting a little more worried.

"God Almighty," Dad said. Ignoring my long-standing instructions not to give me a hug, he leaned over and slapped his arms around me and jostled me in a loving way, in the way he can. He jammed his nose against my head, mooshing his nostrils so that I could feel his wet breath against the roots of my hair.

"Sorry," I told him, feeling guilty.

"It ain't your fault, sweetie."

"I don't think it is."

We sat quiet for a few minutes. As his breath tranquilized me, as the room got darker, he let go. Slowly, his sad look changed, and he put a hand under my chin. "You know what? I take it back. I bet this all goes away. I bet you're gonna be okay. I can feel it inside, like woman's intuition, except for, you know, I'm a man. You're a good, normal teenage boy, and you're gonna be fine. This is just a momentary problem that's gonna disappear. Maybe it's just hormones. Maybe it's a flu. Who knows, but it ain't permanent."

"You think?"

"Oh yeah. Craziness just doesn't happen to a boy who's been normal his whole life. It doesn't hit sudden like that."

"Really?" I asked, worried that he had no idea what he was talking about.

____________

KING OF THE PYGMIES by Jonathon Scott Fuqua. Copyright (c) 2005 by Jonathon Scott Fuqua. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (October 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763634123
• ISBN-13: 978-0763634124
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,698,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, January 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: King of the Pygmies (Hardcover)

I remember how I felt two years ago when my dad left. I felt sort of off balance and very crazy. I gained like ten pounds, going from a small to a big girl, and that was embarrassing. I couldn't sleep and I didn't even know why. I couldn't stop eating, especially sweets. I got zits. I felt like I was losing it. I know a littel about that. It's so scary. You don't control yourself anymore. That's why, when I read this book, I felt Penrod's pain inside me. I understood his nervousness and his fear that he might never be normal. Unlike me, he probably won't be. But he was a nice calming person for me to read. He was nice because you never felt like his life was over. His strong spirit carried him in a beautiful away. His love of his girlfriend carried him. His mother and father and brother carried him. It was a great book for me. It was a wonderful, mysterious, and kind of sad&funny look at how someone who experiences mental illness falls apart and what they do to pull back together. For me, I got counceling. It helped a lot. But you're alone with yourself more than with a psychologist, so you have to get better on your own. Well, the main character can't get better, but he can believe in himself again. And he does. That's the gift he finds for himself. I loved this book and recommend it for everyone. I loved the brother, who was cute, and even Hewitt the drunk who seems to want to make sure that Penrod knows he's always in some small control of his life. I cried, I laughed, and I became a little bit new again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Phenomenal!!!!!!, November 15, 2005

By 

Educator Supreme "jillshackelford" (The Carolinas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Pygmies (Hardcover)

First, it took me, for whatever reason, some time to get this book. That was annoying. Once I got it, I started reading that night and knew, within a few chapters, that I was touching something much larger than a book. This is a masterpiece. This is beautiful story that far exceeds the concept of story and wanders into something elemental and societal. King of the Pygmies focuses on Penrod Swayne, a boy with a problem. He is hearing voices that he thinks are the thoughts of his parents and friends and retarded brother. His perception is further muddled by an uncle, Hewitt, who was once the town's police chief but is now the town drunk.
Is Penrod magical or is he ill. This is the primary question. Is Penrod experiencing the first throws of onset schizophrenia, or is he a king of his kind in a downtrodden town where miracles rarely occur?
This is a story about a loss of dreams, about retooling those lost dreams, about people in hard circumstances, about the humor in life, and about love, great, unyielding love between a boy and his parents, a boy and his brother, and boy and his girlfriend (this is handled very well).
The story ends in a way that the reader will not expect. When I think it over, which I've done plenty since finishing it, I've come to the conclusion that the book comes down on the side of the individual. What is right for the person? What keeps a person whole? What is sanity at all? And amidst these questions, you hear the first person evolution of a boy from health to something far more indeterminate, of a boy into manhood, and a once-thriving Maryland town in the grips of a long sleep.
I confess, I've read all of Jonathon Fuqua's books since hearing him speak in Charlotte a few years back. But this book is larger than a novel. Believe me, it is a wonderful story, but so much more. This is a book that demands discussion of its readers. Its concepts and questions challenge readers in a time when so much of what our students read does not. I recommend it wholeheartedly to everyone, young and old. It will open up pathways of conversation that you might never have expected. It is a riveting, masterwork.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Surrounded by a book, November 16, 2005

By 

listener in Baltimore "steve" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: King of the Pygmies (Hardcover)

I read this book in two sittings and felt as if I was in the midst of Penrod's life and the growth he experiences from his newfound abilities. Fuqua manages to paint pictures so vividly with words that you see and smell the characters as you go - even the unpleasant ones. His last novel delivered a blow right to the emotional gut...this one is more level in it's approach to the events in the main character's life. Penrod manages to grow from a thoughtful boy to an assured and forward thinking young man - and it is wholly believable even in light of what is happening to him. I found myself right there with him as he gets caught up and inevitably let down by a family member. Fuqua's writing can fray hope as well as instill it. He manages to let you in on the wishes and dreams of all the main characters and see how Penn's decisions affect them. In the midst of all of this he weaves a quirky love story that is there as long as both parties are around for it. A classic story told in a unique voice.