The Book of Boy
{{Short description|Young adult historical fiction novel}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book
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| name = The Book of Boy
| image = The Book of Boy (Murdock, 2018).jpg
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| caption = dustjacket of the 1st (hardcover) edition, illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
| author = Catherine Gilbert Murdock
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| illustrator = Ian Schoenherr
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| set_in = France and Italy, c.1350
| publisher = Greenwillow Books (imprint of HarperCollins)
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| pub_date = {{dts|2018|02|06}}
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| media_type = hc, eBook
| pages = 288
| awards = Newbery Honor, 2018
| isbn = 978-0-06-268620-6
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| website = {{URL|www.catherinemurdock.com/book-of-boy.html}}
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The Book of Boy is a young adult historical fiction novel written by Catherine Gilbert Murdock and published in February 2018. It recounts the journey of the eponymous Boy, who accompanies the pilgrim Secundus as they gather relics associated with Saint Peter. It was named a Newbery Honor book in January 2019.
Plot summary
Boy is an orphan who works as a goatherd on the estate of Sir Jacques. He encounters the pilgrim Secundus in the fields and guides him to the manor, where Secundus convinces the Cook to lend him Boy as his servant on his pilgrimage to the nearest large town, Saint-Peter's-Step. As they leave for their journey, Secundus ties a mysterious bundle to Boy's hunchback and threatens him with death if he should peek inside or run away with it. During their first night together, Secundus reveals his quest to Boy; he is seeking seven relics from the body of Saint Peter: "Rib tooth thumb shin dust skull tomb". Based on that list, their journey will end in Rome, at the Mother of All the Churches.
The story is set in the holy year of 1350, while the Black Death was sweeping through Europe; before the novel begins, the wife and three children of Sir Jacques have succumbed to the plague. As an orphan and deformed with a hunchback, Boy has been bullied all his life and has a deep sense of shame over his otherness, although he is able to take comfort in his strange rapport with animals.
Development
Murdock noted she was influenced by Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, developing the dialogue to balance accuracy in historical vocabulary with readability for modern audiences.{{cite interview |url=https://www.hbook.com/2018/07/using-books/five-questions-catherine-gilbert-murdock/ |title=Five Questions for Catherine Gilbert Murdock |subject=Catherine Gilbert Murdock |interviewer=Sarah Ellis and Shoshana Flax |date=July 11, 2018 |work=The Horn Book |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
=Publishing history=
- {{cite book |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062686206/the-book-of-boy/ |title=The Book of Boy |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |author-link=Catherine Gilbert Murdock |author-mask=— |date=February 6, 2018 |publisher=Greenwillow Books |isbn=978-0-06-268620-6 |edition=1st hc}}
- {{cite book |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062686220/the-book-of-boy/ |title=The Book of Boy |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |author-link=Catherine Gilbert Murdock |author-mask=— |date=February 6, 2018 |publisher=Greenwillow Books |isbn=978-0-06-268622-0 |edition=1st eBook}}
- {{cite book |url=https://www.chickenhousebooks.com/books/book-of-boy/ |title=The Book of Boy |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |author-link=Catherine Gilbert Murdock |author-mask=— |date=August 2, 2018 |publisher=Chicken House Books |isbn=978-1911490579 |edition=UK}}
Reception
In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it "a wickedly fun-filled quest that twists and turns with lyrical fire."{{cite web |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/catherine-gilbert-murdock/the-book-of-boy/ |title=The Book of Boy (starred) |date=October 30, 2017 |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |accessdate=2 February 2019}} Christopher Healy, reviewing for The New York Times, had mixed feelings about "the artistically ambiguous ending" which "gives no explicit answer to the question [of whether Boy should hide his true self]".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/26/books/review/shcrefer-benko-murdock-fantasy.html |title=Fantasies for Young Readers, With an Eye on Today's Fears and Divisions |author=Healy, Christopher |author-link=Christopher Healy |date=January 26, 2018 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=2 February 2019}} The Horn Book gave the novel a star and in her review, Sarah Ellis wrote that Boy is "a complex and compelling being whose defining quality is goodness."{{cite web |url=https://www.hbook.com/2018/07/choosing-books/reviews/review-book-boy/ |title=Review of The Book of Boy |author=Ellis, Sarah |date=July 11, 2018 |work=The Horn Book |accessdate=4 February 2019}} In her review for School Library Journal, Elizabeth Bird also called Boy "the living embodiment of kindness and joy" and drew a contrast to the current state of children's literature: "We have a lot of dark, depressing, necessary books out there. Once, just once, let’s enjoy the one unafraid to let a little light and laughter in."{{cite web |url=https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=review-of-the-day-the-book-of-boy-by-catherine-gilbert-murdock |title=Review of the Day: The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock |author=Bird, Elizabeth Bird |date=March 29, 2018 |website=School Library Journal |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
The American Library Association named The Book of Boy a Newbery Honor Book at its annual conference in January 2019.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/28/books/meg-medina-newbery-medal-sophie-blackall-caldecott.html |title=Meg Medina Wins Newbery Medal and Sophie Blackall Is Awarded Her Second Caldecott |author=Russo, Maria |date=January 28, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |accessdate=2 February 2019}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite news |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-268620-6 |title=The Book of Boy |work=Publishers Weekly}}
"Blog tour" with content from the author describing research and development of the novel:
- {{cite web |url=https://chatwithvera.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-book-of-boy-isbn-978-0062686206.html |title=Getting Real: Fact versus Fiction versus Fantasy in The Book of Boy |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |date=October 23, 2018 |website=Chat with Vera [blog] |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
- {{cite web |url=https://christyscozycorners.com/2018/10/book-of-boy-murdock-book-review/ |title=The Relics of Me |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |date=October 24, 2018 |website=Christy's Cozy Corners [blog] |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.beachboundbooks.com/blogging-about-books/the-book-of-boy-by-catherine-gilbert-murdock-blog-tour |title=Fun Facts on the Middle Ages |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |date=October 25, 2018 |website=Beach Bound Books [blog] |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.javajohnz.com/2018/10/the-book-of-boy-book-blast-and-giveaway.html |title=Best of the Best from Way Back When |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |date=October 25, 2018 |website=Java John Z's [blog] |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
- {{cite web |url=https://www.bookhoundsya.net/2018/10/giveaway-the-book-of-boy-by-catherine-gilbert-murdock-blog-tour-greenwillowbook-ends-11-2.html |title=Animal Personae in The Book of Boy |author=Murdock, Catherine Gilbert |date=October 26, 2018 |website=Bookhounds YA [blog] |accessdate=4 February 2019}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book of Boy, The}}
Category:American young adult novels
Category:Newbery Honor–winning works
Category:Novels set in the 1350s
Category:Greenwillow Books books