The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha M. Clark, 245 pages. Simon & Schuster, 2018. $18
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: G.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
A boy wakes up alone on a beach and feelings of fear immediately begin to grip at him. He argues with a voice inside of him that insists he isn’t brave enough to get off the island, but the boy resists those taunts and starts exploring. He faces a lot of scary things, but eventually realizes he is a ghost and has a decision to make about returning to his body or giving up.
This book is interesting. It has a beautiful magical realism quality about it mixed with an adventure/survival story. But it also has a harsh psychological quality too. The voice in the boy’s head is often very critical and mean and it is always present. Also, the reason the boy is between life and death is because he was too scared to go sailing and his dad pushed him into it. That is a lot to grapple with for young readers, but if they can successfully hold all of those elements, I think this book will provided a valuable experience.
Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher
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