The Silent Boy

He was different from others. Jacob Stolz walked head down, large feet shuffling along the dirt roads. He did not talk, but when engaged, made noises to imitate his surroundings. The sound of the great gristmill grindstone as it crushed the grain was expressed as shooda, shooda, shooda. The marbles as they hit each other were click, click, click. "Touched" is what people said about Jacob. Pointing to their heads, they said he was "touched." Representing protection from the outside world, his firmly placed cap rarely left his head. A lover of animals, he took comfort in their softness and beauty.

She was different from others. Unlike the Stolz family,13 year old Katy Thatcher was a child of privilege. Unlike Jacob, she walked confidently. show more Her insatiable curiosity prompted her to engage with surroundings. A precocious child, this daughter of the small-town doctor had a keen sense of social injustice and an intuitive need to understand situations and people.

In 1908 the world was different. The new fangled automobile was rare and for the very rich. The girls of poor farm families were hired help for those who lived in the large houses.

Jacob's two sisters are different from each other. Peggy, the kind, sensible sister, is a maid to the Thatcher family and Nellie, the brassy, dramatic one, scrubs the floors next door at the Bishop household.

The Thatcher family is different. They welcome Peggy as a family member. Their daughter Katy is taught to respect and include.

The Bishop family is different. The hired help have a room in the cold winter attic. Their eldest son Paul knows that brassy, dramatic women have a role and will do his bidding, and the hay in the barn is the place they belong.

Lowry is a magical writer. The book is filled with paradoxes, and as dramatic events spin out of control, we watch as the Thatcher, Bishop and Stolz families collide.

While the reader is awed by the initial softness of a slower life time in history, the author is masterful in the juxtaposition of harsh realities of class, of both fair and unjust treatment of people, and the perception of "differentness."

Highly recommended. show less

One knows early on the ultimate fate of the silent boy. But this book illuminates the why in an explosive event. Early on, I knew what that event would come to be. So certain was I that I told a friend. "I know how the book ends." He would never read the book, he's not a reader. So I told him. There is this fact set up in the story and this fact and this obvious conclusion and it makes me really sad.

I was wrong. Lowery's masterful storytelling leads you one way and suddenly you are drawn another. Both are sad, one sadder, to me, than the other. As I told my friend what I thought the ending was, I was sad. When I told him the actual ending, I my eyes were "leaking" and my voice cracking. And I don't normally cry with books or movies show more (though more likely with books).

The silent boy was a majestic character who, although he is only a direct character, ultimately dominates the heart of the main character. Through her view of him, we come to value, to love, this silent boy. It is a story that will touch any tender heart. show less

I've read and enjoyed several of Lowry's books, including [The Giver], [Gathering Blue], and [Messenger], but those were all futuristic, dystopian novels. [The Silent Boy] is an entirely different genre. Set in 1910-1911, it can best be classified as historical fiction. It is the rare writer who excels in multiple genres, but Lois Lowry is one of those writers.

The Silent Boy is narrated by Katy Thatcher, a young girl who wants to be a doctor. Her parents - especially her father - treat her like the mature young lady she is, and so the grown-up, matter-of-fact voice in which she tells the story is not surprising. Because Katy's mother is expecting a baby, Peggy Stoltz comes to live with them and lend a hand. Katy adores Peggy and also show more befriends Peggy's brother Jacob, the silent boy of the book's title. Jacob is described by townspeople as "touched," or more impolitely as an "imbecile." But Katy sees that he is a kind and caring boy, who is especially good with animals. It is her understanding of Jacob that enables Katy to understand his role in the events that unfold in this book, and it is her understanding that makes what happens especially heartbreaking. I can't say more without giving away too much, but it is Lowry's careful creation of the relationship between Katy and Jacob that caused this book to touch me so deeply. show less

Within The Silent Boy, Lois Lowry illustrates a terrible tragedy through the eyes of an 8 year old, which provides an interesting dimension to this already complex story. The book is set in the early 1900's from the point of view of a wealthy young girl. She befriends a gentle natured boy who appears to have an intellectual disability. Most of the town people see him as an imbecile, and unfortunately this boy is not provided with an education or very much guidance. After the boy accidentally commits a crime when trying to help his family the town will have to make a difficult ethical decision. This book does a wonderful job at exploring race, ability, gender, and class. This book addresses issues such as teen sex and unplanned show more pregnancy, which may make this book more suitable for tweens rather than middle-grade readers. show less

Precocious Katy Thatcher always knew she wanted to be a doctor like her father. She joins him on his rounds and has a keen interest in the people around her. She's especially intrigued by Jacob, a gentle, silent boy who has a special sensitivity toward animals. While Jacob never speaks to or looks at Katy, they develop an unusual friendship and understanding. The townspeople dismiss Jacob as an imbecile. Katy just thinks of him as someone special who has a way of communicating with the animals through his sounds and movements.
And only Katy comes to realize what the gentle, silent boy did for his family. He meant to help, not harm. It didn't turn out that way.

This is a historical fiction book set in the early 1900s and follows Katy Thatcher, a girl who wants to be a doctor like her father. She meets a boy named Jacob who never speaks but has a way with animals and becomes sort of friends with him. However, some town scandal follows and Jacob does something horrible that he felt like was helping his family, but wasn’t.

Silent Boy is an interesting middle grade book because it takes on rather serious subjects. It shows just how difficult it was to live in the 1900s and how dangerous it was to get sick or injured during this time frame. It also sets up how a mentally disabled person would have been treated and what their lives would have been like. It’s a bit dark, but I appreciated it for show more how genuine the story is and how it tells the straight truth.

Katy is a wonderful main character, and I loved viewing the events through her perspective. While fairly young and a bit naive, she is exceedingly clever and figures out what the adults so often try to hide from her. I loved her relationship with her father and really enjoyed seeing a male figure who encouraged his young daughter’s wit and curiosity, which was likely not common during this time period. Throughout the book, he tries his best to be as truthful as possible with her while also keeping things appropriate for her maturity level.

It’s a rather slow book because it takes its time setting up the time frame, the culture, and the way Katy’s and Jacob’s lives were; however, it’s a fairly short book and easy to get through. I would recommend this for mature middle grade readers, or for a family or classroom readalong to make sure young readers have resources and an adult to help them process the traumatic events that take place. I think it’s a wonderfully interesting concept for a book and enjoyed it a lot.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

I was kind of disturbed by this tale. It is told by Katy, a young girl at the turn of the century, about a boy named Jacob, the titular “silent” boy. He is what modern folks would refer to as mentally challenged, speaking no words but able to accurately replicate the sounds he hears, such as a grindstone in motion or a horse’s whinny. This is not a light read, and may be one that haunts me for quite a while. I can’t really say why without giving away the ending, but if you’ve read it, you probably understand what I mean. There’s no happy ending, and from the start Katy warns the reader that most would find this tale “too depressing”. And it’s not that, exactly, but it’s definitely sad. Well written, but very sad.