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The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock

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I had no clue how this book would end — and still feel I missed some point the author was trying to make, but I loved this ending for our two main characters & the meditations on home in the last chapter or two. The idea of leaving home in order to really find it when you return resonates, especially for young people. I‘m old enough now to really embrace the idea of “settling down,” but getting there can be a journey in itself. #buddyread

smilingshelves Nice summary thoughts! I'm glad you took the lead on this one, because my main thought when I finished was "This was a weird book." ? It's like historical fiction but with an angel?? It really gave a picture of life in the Middle Ages, but then it turns out it couldn't really have happened after all. I mean, I believe in angels, but I don't think that's exactly how they'd show up on Earth... Or that someone could escape from Hell. 5y

smilingshelves And yes, I feel like I missed some profound point at the end, too. I'm kind of surprised the Newbery committee picked this one. I guess it goes with the pattern of preferring more literary books. I don't see a lot of kids really picking this one up and loving it. What do you think? 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves you made a lot of good points! I too liked the historical fiction aspect most and kinda gave the book the side-eye when I realized there were essentially supernatural elements lurking beneath. I think the book could have been just as good or even better if they were both just human, but on a similar quest. Though the author seemed to emphasize that Secundus wasn‘t a demon or anything like that, but “just a man” — which worked well. 5y

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BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves I think there are kids who would like it, but I agree it was an unorthodox pick for the Newbery. Betsy Bird who‘s an author and kidlit reviewer wrote a great review of it before it won the Honor that‘s worth a read: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2269889812 5y

smilingshelves That was a good review, especially the last paragraph! I follow her on Goodreads, but I honestly don't read many of her reviews because they're so long. 😀 Have you listened to her podcast with her sister? It's hilarious and one of my favorites! 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves you‘re right - they are sooooo long 😆 but when I‘m looking for an in-depth review of a MG book, I love checking hers out. I listened to the podcast from the beginning, but then sort of lost interest. I‘m not sure if it was the book selections or what — maybe I should check it out again and cherry pick a few episodes rather than letting it build up in my feed without listening to any of them! 🤷🏼‍♀️ 5y

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The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This post contains spoilers

This was such a touching moment, too. #buddyread

smilingshelves Yes! And I loved the talking to animals thing, how every kind of animal had a different way of talking. It was a nice touch. 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves I didn‘t understand the animal thing at first, but once I knew what was going on, I liked it too. 5y

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The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This post contains spoilers

What a great moment this was! For a character I was so iffy about the whole way through, I like the way things turned out for Secundus. #buddyread

smilingshelves Yep, he turned out to be an all right guy. 😊 I loved the scene where he got him out of the tomb and Boy thought he'd be all concerned about the relics, but he was just glad that Boy was safe. That might have been my favorite moment of the whole book! 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves I totally agree! “Neither are for sale. The pack is worthless!” (Or something like that was said right around that point) really got me. Definitely a high point. (edited) 5y

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The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock

It‘s getting harder and harder to read holding my wiggly almost 7-month old, but she still lets me get away with it sometimes! I haven‘t been finding too many discuss-able moments/quotes so far, probably since the focus of this book is on the action of a quest, but I‘m hoping once we get to the end there will be more to talk about overall. How are you doing @smilingshelves ? I‘m up to chapter 24 and eager to get to the end! #buddyread

smilingshelves I'm on chapter 18, but go ahead and read away! I should have time to catch up tonight. There was an unexpected twist there at the end of part two, and I'm curious to see where this is going! Have fun snuggling your little girl as long as she'll stay still! 😀 5y

smilingshelves Okay, I caught up! My kids are finally to the point where I can read while they play in the sandbox. Well, my daughter did put sand in her mouth... But only once, so I call that a success! 😄 Are we trying to finish the book tonight? 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves I‘d love to try to finish tonight! That sandbox trick sounds amazing to me! I find I‘m much less fazed by stuff in the mouth the second time around myself. 😆 My older one gave up his nap ages ago and it‘s kind of killing me now with 2! 😬🤦🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ 5y

smilingshelves My kids take naps at completely opposite times, so I rarely get an overlap. But at least I'm down to one kid for some of the day. That must be so hard to have no breaks from the energy! 5y

BucklingBookshelves @smilingshelves I do get breaks when my son goes to my in-laws once a week, but YES, so much energy! I miss the solo time I used to get during naptime quite a lot! (edited) 5y

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The Book of Boy | Catherine Gilbert Murdock

This post contains spoilers