The Disability Book Archive

[ID: A book cover. The author’s name “Lois Lowry” is written at the top in large white capitals. The title “The Silent Boy” is written directly below this in slightly smaller capitals. “The” and “Boy” are in black lettering. “Silent” is in white lettering. The background is dark and shows a photograph of a young boy holding a bucket in his right hand in the foregrounds. The boy is wearing a cap, and dark overalls over a lighter long-sleeved shirt. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Animal Death
• Death
• Child Death
• Murder
• Pregnancy
• Drowning
• References to Sexual Content
• Ableism

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Summary:

  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.

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Notes:

There is an audiobook.

There is an ebook. There is a kindle edition.

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Archivist Comments:

Cannot stress enough how many reviews on this book have mentioned that yes, it is about children, and yes it is marked as being for middle-grade/young adult readers, but that does not mean it is “appropriate” for that readership. The majority of people who have commented on this book have more or less said that the content is ultimately actually quite disturbing, and have recommended that it’s probably best suited for high school aged readers and up because of it.

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