The Witch's Boy: Summary and book reviews of The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber, plus links to an excerpt from The Witch's Boy and a biography of Michael Gruber.
The Witch's Boy
by Michael Gruber
Hardcover: Mar 2005,
377 pages.
Paperback: May 2006,
400 pages.
They call him Lump. Ugly, misshapen -- more goblin than human child --
abandoned as an infant and taken in by a witch, he is nursed by a bear,
tutored by a djinn; his only playmates are the creatures of the forest,
whose language he learns to speak.
But when Lump inevitably stumbles into the human world, his innocence
is
no match for the depths of people's cruelty, which turns his heart to stone,
and fuels a vengeance that places him and his witch mother in deadly peril.
Yet these disasters also send Lump on a journey of self-discovery, to realms
deep within the earth and far beyond mortal imagination.
In this stunning fantasy debut, Michael Gruber has created a world that
is at once deceptively familiar and stunningly original, a world of cruelty,
beauty, legend, truth, and above all, wonder. Readers will delight in the
author's ingenious retelling of classic fairy tales and will marvel at the
stunning new tale of a boy raised by a witch, a cat, a bear, and a demon.
Time Out New York Kids
Animals speak, spells are cast, dark forces seduce , and a foundling becomes a man in Michael Gruber's The Witch's boy.... Gruber writes with simple but picturesque language and the fractured fairy tales from the witch's POV are a delight...but it's the joyous and deeply felt conclusion that readers will savor most.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
The tale of Lump's many grievous errors is told in an artistic and stately style, with an objective yet compassonate tone that creates a weight of sympathetic regret within the reader. Within the story traditional fairy tales are told as both history and local folklore.
BookBrowse - Davina
We (our children aged 9 and 11, and myself) listened to The Witch's Boy on audio and were riveted. It's an elegantly plotted story that can be understood at many levels, and thus can be enjoyed by many ages. I thought it an exceptional book and disagree with the reviewers who found the central figure of Lump to be unsympathetic - I think that many a teenager will recognize themselves in him! Not only is this a great book for teens but, as we discovered, the audio book makes an excellent choice for family car journeys (most audio books get passed on but we'll be keeping this one to listen to again).
Publishers Weekly
Inventive details such as Lump's cradle, which rocks itself and croons lullabies, will charm, but the languorous pace and muddled message will likely make it off-putting to teens. Ages 14-up.
Kirkus Reviews
One of the least sympathetic characters readers will ever meet in literature, Lump is going to make many a teen, preteen, or for that matter, parent uncomfortable - and there's plenty of grist for fans of Donna Jo Napoli's fairy tale psychodramas, too.
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Intertwined with fairy tales...the plot is clever, the characters interesting. The strong voice and twisted variations of old tales will appeal to anyone who likes fairy-tale retellings.
Booklist - Ilene Cooper
Starred Review. Gr. 6-9. From the hypnotic mask on the cover to its perfect fairy-tale ending, this astonishing fantasy compels readers onward....This can be read at several levels, but those who plumb the deepest will reap the greatest reward.
The Guardian (UK) - Dina Rabinovitch
A witch finds a howling and repulsively ugly baby in the woods. She adopts the child, pampers him and gives him a bear as a nanny and a genie as a servant. When the genie tricks the child into setting him free, the witch is in trouble. She and the child run away. A brilliantly woven plot intertwines with twists on well-known fairy tales. Ages 12-16.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by CJ Very entertaining I loved this book. I am always looking for something fun and I like fairies and magic and this book filled the bill. I will read his other books!
Rated of 5
by Josh Novak The Witch's Boy The Witch's Boy for me was hard at the beginning because Lump seemed so negative, but after further reading I began to realize how this was implicated in the story.
I also enjoyed Michael Gruber's play on folklore and how he references many of... Read More
Rated of 5
by Laurel Bremiller The Witch's Boy I thought this book to be a very fun filled fairy tale. Ranging from magical spells to animals talking, and turning them into different forms of life. Michael Gruber did an excellent job telling a story of a young boy named Lump, his life growing... Read More
Although Tropic of Night was his
first book in his own name, Gruber was
Robert Tanenbaum's ghost-writer for many
years (they are cousins). However, his credit was limited to a thank you
on the acknowledgements page so eventually the relationship
dissolved - Resolve (2003) was the last Tanebaum book
Gruber wrote.
In 1996 he started to write The Witch's Boy but was
unable to find a publisher, so he turned to adult fiction,
publishing
Tropic of Night and
Valley of Bones, which were both well received.
In 2005, almost 10 years after he first wrote it, The Witch's Boy was
published in hardcover, and now in paperback. Last month he also published
Night of The Jaguar (April '06), which completes...
It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday's only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true...
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