been living in the state child care system. He had lived in
11 houses in 12 years, and, to make matters worse, when he
was nine years old he stopped talking. It wasn't his fault,
he just opened his mouth one day and nothing came out. The
school he went to labeled him difficult and stubborn , so no
one wanted to adopt him, or even keep him in their house,
which is how he came to live with the Knoxes. They were the
worst foster parents he'd ever had, so Newboy dedided to
listen to his instincts. One morning, he got out of bed
early and ran away. He had no where in particular to go ,and
with only a few possessions, Newboy was on the run. On his
first day away from the Knoxes, Newboy finds an unexpected
friend. It was an old, beat-up ventriloquist dummy with half
of his face missing that he names Stinko. To his surprise,
when Newboy pulls the string to open Stinko's mouth, his own
voice speaks for the first time in years. Throughout the
book, he uses his newfound voice to deal with life on the
streets.
To be honest, I didn't like this book. It was
a little boring and the plot was very predictable. The
ending leaves you wanting a sequel because it doesn't really
tell you what happens to Newboy. On the other hand, it was
very easy to relate to Newboy. Micheal de Guzman did a good
job making Newboy seem real, so I felt whatever he felt. I
would recommend this book to people who like bitter-sweet
endings and don't mind large sections of reading without
dialogue.
Rating (0 - 10 scale): 5
Reviewer Age:12
Reviewer City, State and Country: Phoenixville,
Pennsylvania United States
