Customer Reviews

The Silent Boy

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

When you start reading about Katy Thatcher, she might remind you a little bit of another long ago American girl, Laura Ingalls. Like Laura, Katy has a nascent kindness and innocence and a particular way of accepting life around her for what it is, neither good nor bad, just life. Like Laura, Katy has a strong, direct and healthy relationship with her father, here a small town doctor instead of the homesteader that Pa Ingalls had to be to fit in with his time and place. But if Ingalls had been a doctor, he might well have been like Dr. Thatcher. Into their lives comes--the silent boy.

The silent boy isn't silent because of shyness, though Katy is especially kind to him because of her innate goodness and feeling that he might respond to her overtures and break through his reserve. He has some sort of autism which, as Dr. Thatcher observes, is like nature, neither good nor bad, just a fact to be reckoned with. (Medical science wasn't as developed back then as it is today, as the now grown old Katy realizes from her present day perspective.)

It's a touching tale of growing up, and of failure to grow. And it's also sort of brutal and chilling.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author, and I've enjoyed all but Messenger. (That seems like a weak retry to tell a similar story to the wonderful Giver.)

I'd say this about all her books, but most especially this one: This tale is NOT for children. I know that a lot of today's children know most "adult secrets" by the age of six or seven, but nevertheless this book is just too strong. A child who can "handle" its story line will probably be too jaded to be moved sufficiently by it, and an innocent child shouldn't be allowed to read such a haunting, innocence-destroying book. This is really an "adult" book about child characters, and at that it excels.

An old woman is telling a story; the way your grandmother would. Leafing through the family album, she pulls out a picture and tells a bit about the people, the buildings, when the picture was taken. But its not a random; there is a bigger story here. A story of childhood long ago, of becoming a "grown up", of the hard decisions and facts that make up a life. The use of photos and words is flawless; its a surprise to learn in the author's notes that the photos are old, not recent creations for the story. Beautiful, haunting, lyrical.

The ending of The Silent Boy was very unexpected. I was schocked that Jacob, an autistic boy, was sentenced to life in the Asylum. The ending touched me when it showed how badly mentally disabled people were treated and misunderstood back then. The ending was very sad. Lois Lowry definitly hit a grand slam with this book. I recommend this story for readers twelve and up, but advanced fifth graders could also read this story.

Sincerely,
An anonymous fifth grader

This story opens in June of 1987 with the then 85-year-old Katy relating her girlhood at the turn of the 20th century.

The flashbacks start in 1908 with the then-nearly 6-year-old Katy, her friend Jessie and Kate's future fiance, Austin. The trio remain lifetime friends.

The bulk of the story takes place in 1911. Katy, then nearly 9 learned what the word "maternity" means when she reads it in a dress catalog; her sister Mary is born that year and Nell, a farm girl comes to stay with Katy's family as a helper. Nell comes from a large family and her brother Jacob, 14 has been called "touched" as in "touched in the head." In today's world, Jacob would most likely be considered to have a form of autism.

Largely nonverbal, Jacob wears the same hat; enjoys the company of animals and retreats from people and noises. At best, he stands quietly when Katy shares the news of her day with him.

Katy's father is a delightful character. A country doctor, he often takes his daughter on his rounds. A feel and flavor of small town America is beautifully portayed in their horse-and-buggy trips. Jessie's family is proud to be the first on their street to own a $900 Ford, then a rarity.

Katy's father lets her come with him to the Asylum, a gray stone monstrosity on the edge of town. I like the intelligent discussions and honest answers he gives her; he tells her where babies really come from; I like the compassion he displays towards people in the Asylum. He is a remarkably astute man who understands Jacob's behavior such as the boy's rigid adherence to routine and how that, and his ubiquitous hat make him feel safe.

The story of Jacob closes on a sad note. He gives Katy a kitten and applies this act to an unrelated situation. Sadly, Jacob fades out of the town and, at the story's close nobody knew of his fate.

Katy takes readers on a history tour; she marries Austin in 1928; Jessie's brother Paul is killed in WWI on June 5, 1918 after dropping out of law school. The Asylum is closed by 1960 and Katy, mulling over her life, decides never to share the story of Jacob with her children and grandchildren.

While more progressive minds have prevailed in recent times in re autism, sadly these myths and misperceptions crop up from time to time. The 1988 movie "Rain Man," which I have come to hate is about an autistic savant who was institutionalized because of an unfounded fear he would injure his infant brother. The term "Rain Man" is considered offensive in most autism circles. In 1911, the word autism had yet to be coined and sadly, tolerance was a rarity. Katy's father was ahead of his time.

I liked the use of historical photographs and the author interview which was included in this book. That made a good thing even better and the photographs brought the times covered to light.

Silent Boy reminds me of stories my mother or grandmother could have told me. I especially liked the beginning in which Katy tells the story as an old woman, but remembered from a child's perspective. The main character, Katy, wants to tell this story to her great-grandchildren, however, the parents would send warning looks over the children's heads saying, Don't! This is why I feel the plot could have been developed on a more adult level. I'm not really sure to whom Katy is speaking-to children or adults. Silent Boy kind of gives me feeling of A Painted House or To Kill a Mockingbird combined with a little of The Other. I'm not sure Silent Boy will hold the interest of the intended audience, but it is a story that any grandmother could and should tell.

Katy, retelling her story of her childhood, reveals to the readers a world of a mature almost-nine-year old girl.
During her childhood she is well aware her surroundings, wanting to know more and more about the world around her, and eventually follows in her father's foot steps into the medical world.
After her baby sister is born, Peggy, a country girl, is brought to the family to help around the house. As Peggy enters into Katy's world, so does her brother, Jacob.
Everyone knows Jacob as the "touched boy" and therefore stay isolated from him.
But Katy thinks of him as her friend, and treats him that way too. What does it mean "to be touched?" For Katy, it just means another friend.
Jacob has his gentle ways with animals and nature. He understands the world in a different way, acting differently than the other people around him.
When an unexpected event takes place in their lives, Jacob tries to find a way to make it better. But it just made it worse.
Combined beautifully in her book, Lois Lowery writes what it means to be a person; how to look at people who are different than you are.
Will Jacob's life, "the touched boy" ever be the same as before?

I have been a fan of Lowry's ever since I read The Giver five years ago and I try to read all of her books, and have not been disappointed with one yet.

However, I will say this is not one of her excellent ones. Do not get me wrong, it still is very good but I felt that it jumped quite a bit. She used pictures as a pretext for her chapters but it made it feel as if that's the only reason she went that direction. I feel as if she picked the pictures before writing, which I believe was a mistake.

Also, for the book, the true ending, or where the climax began was in the last twenty pages of the book. It also felt a little abrupt, and I believe that it should have been gently eased into it a little better.

The book is worth a look at, especially if you like early 1900 books. The character are (as always) portrayed fantastically and you really sympathize with them all.

I recommend this book for any Lowry fans or early 1900 America fans.