This book was amazing, but really sad in the end. I ended up paralyzed on my bed for a while after I finished, because this book gives a lot of material to think about. Ghost Boy is a book about a teen named Harold. He is an albino. His brother and dad died in a war, (but he denies that his brother is dead, it is too sad for him to admit.) and his mother has become cruel. He embarks on a journey to join the circus. Several qualities rise in the people around him. Living life and accepting it, true friendship, and finding who you are are three great things that this book teaches. I can relate to Harold. There are two groups in the circus-freaks and everyone else. Harold fits into both, but can only be sorted into one. This is a must read for older kids.
Ghost Boy
By Iain Lawrence
Harold Kline is an albino--an outcast. Folks stare and taunt, calling him Ghost Boy. It's been that way all of his 14 years. So when the circus comes to town, Harold runs off to join it.
Full of colorful performers, the circus seems like the answer to Harold's loneliness. He's eager to meet the Cannibal King, a sideshow attraction who's an albino too. He's touched that Princess Minikin and the Fossil Man, two other sideshow curiosities, embrace him like a son. He's in love with Flip, the beguiling horse trainer, and awed by the all-knowing Gypsy Magda. Most of all, Harold is proud of training the elephants, and of earning respect and a sense of normality. Even at the circus, though, two groups exist--the freaks, and everyone else.
Harold straddles both groups. But fitting in with those who are "normal" comes at a price, and sometimes it's recognizing the truth beneath what's apparent that ultimately leads to happiness . . . and turns a boy into a man.
Full of colorful performers, the circus seems like the answer to Harold's loneliness. He's eager to meet the Cannibal King, a sideshow attraction who's an albino too. He's touched that Princess Minikin and the Fossil Man, two other sideshow curiosities, embrace him like a son. He's in love with Flip, the beguiling horse trainer, and awed by the all-knowing Gypsy Magda. Most of all, Harold is proud of training the elephants, and of earning respect and a sense of normality. Even at the circus, though, two groups exist--the freaks, and everyone else.
Harold straddles both groups. But fitting in with those who are "normal" comes at a price, and sometimes it's recognizing the truth beneath what's apparent that ultimately leads to happiness . . . and turns a boy into a man.
Publisher: Thorndike Press
ISBN-13: 9780786232437
ISBN-10: 0786232439
Published on 3/1/2001
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 413