Summary

Wild Boy opens on a foggy night in London where we meet a nameless 8-year-old boy locked in an attic room of an orphanage. The boy’s body is covered in hair and he is taunted mercilessly by the other orphans; both because of his strange looks and also because he has an uncanny ability to see things others are attempting to hide. Readers are torn with the early decision the boy faces of staying in his locked attic room, with know abuses, or leaving to be a freak in a traveling carnival show that promises daily abuse and harsh treatment but the opportunity to see the greater world. I enjoyed the fast pace of the book and the vivid descriptions of unsavory characters. The author does a nice job looking at the impacts of unfortunate life events on a person’s character and the choices everyone faces to contribute kindness or harm to those around them. I recommend the book for 9-12 year old readers. Kimberly-Alton’s Mom