LitPick Review
From the time Newboy was one week old, he had 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.
Opinion:
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.
