Newbery Medal (John Newbery Medal)
The Book of Boy: A Newbery Honor Award Winner
Set in medieval Europe, this historical fantasy follows Boy, a servant on a manor, as he travels with the pilgrim Secundus in search of sacred relics. Through danger and revelation, a child who has felt monstrous begins to discover his origins and his own worth.
Work Information
A quest for relics becomes a pilgrimage toward self-acceptance.
Catherine Gilbert Murdock's middle-grade novel evokes fourteenth-century France and Italy. A goatherd boy is drawn into a relic hunt by a pilgrim, and the journey becomes a story about faith, exploitation, tenderness, and the courage to define oneself beyond bodily difference.
Review Summaries
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Readers value it as an adventure with a strong medieval atmosphere and a fable-like shape. Its balance of loneliness, courage, warmth, and darkness gives the story appeal beyond a simple quest narrative.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Greenwillow Books
- Published
- 2018-02-06
- Pages
- 288 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 15.24 x 2.67 x 19.69 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780062686206
- ISBN-10
- 0062686208
- Price
- 3382 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Children's Books/Growing Up & Facts of Life/Difficult Discussions/Prejudice & Racism
A Newbery Honor Book * Booklist Editors’ Choice * BookPage Best Books * Chicago Public Library Best Fiction * Horn Book Fanfare * Kirkus Reviews Best Books * Publishers Weekly Best Books * Wall Street Journal Best of the Year * An ALA Notable Book A young outcast is swept up into a thrilling and perilous medieval treasure hunt in this award-winning literary page-turner by acclaimed bestselling author Catherine Gilbert Murdock. The Book of Boy was awarded a Newbery Honor. “A treat from start to finish.” —Wall Street Journal Boy has always been relegated to the outskirts of his small village. With a hump on his back, a mysterious past, and a tendency to talk to animals, he is often mocked by others in his town—until the arrival of a shadowy pilgrim named Secondus. Impressed with Boy’s climbing and jumping abilities, Secondus engages Boy as his servant, pulling him into an action-packed and suspenseful expedition across Europe to gather seven precious relics of Saint Peter. Boy quickly realizes this journey is not an innocent one. They are stealing the relics and accumulating dangerous enemies in the process. But Boy is determined to see this pilgrimage through until the end—for what if St. Peter has the power to make him the same as the other boys? This epic and engrossing quest story by Newbery Honor author Catherine Gilbert Murdock is for fans of Adam Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale and Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon , and for readers of all ages. Features a map and black-and-white art by Ian Schoenherr throughout.
Catherine Gilbert Murdock is the acclaimed author of the Newbery Honor Book The Book of Boy, as well as six other novels. She grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two children.
Reviews
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Loved every moment! Reread as you go is crucial to check facts against fiction. Incredible story with many, many elements of fact.
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I realize I run the risk of sounding maudlin, but this magical story with its extraordinary characters has settled deep into my heart, and it doesn't want to leave. Yes, it did make me cry, but in a cleansing, good-lord-I-needed-that kind of way. By happenstance, the book arrived in my life during the terrible week of January 6, and "The Book of Boy" enabled me to escape into a place of goodness and hope and soaring beauty. (Well, okay, muck and farts and brimstone, too.) Why on earth a tale so sophisticated in its simple, evocative rendering -- and as deeply philosophical as it is deeply touching -- should carry a "Harper Collins Children's" label is beyond me! Anyone who enjoyed Paul Coelho's "The Alchemist" should certainly love this book, too. It is truly one of the loveliest books I've read in many years.
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Excellent book! My daughter rented the book from our local library and loved it so much that asked me to buy it for her
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Reading!!!!!
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Haven't read it yet, but browsed through it and can't wait to read it with daughter. I'm excited about the deeper more thoughtful themes of the book. It doesn't seem too dark either which is a plus!!!! Age group seems suited for 8-11 years old.