The Real Boy - by Anne Ursu (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

National Book Award Longlist * Bank Street Children's Book Committee Best Book of the Year

"Beautifully written and elegantly structured, this fantasy is as real as it gets."--Franny Billingsley, author of Chime

The Real Boy, Anne Ursu's follow-up to her widely acclaimed and beloved middle grade fantasy Breadcrumbs, is a spellbinding tale of the power we all wield, great and small.

On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy named Oscar. Oscar is a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the village, and spends his days in a small room in the dark cellar of his master's shop grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once lived on the island generations ago. Oscar's world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.

But now that world is changing. Children in the city are falling ill, and something sinister lurks in the forest. Oscar has long been content to stay in his small room in the cellar, comforted in the knowledge that the magic that flows from the forest will keep his island safe. Now even magic may not be enough to save it.

• Shy Hero: Oscar prefers the quiet of his cellar and the company of cats to the unpredictable outside world. But when danger threatens his home, he might be the only one who can face it.
• Magical Mystery: When the children of the shining city fall ill with an incurable sickness, Oscar must venture from his solitude to find the source of the dark magic behind it.
• The Power of Friendship: Forced to work with Callie, a clever apprentice, Oscar discovers he doesn't have to face the island's secrets alone.
• Secrets and Lies: The magical history of the island isn't what it seems, and uncovering the truth about the wizards of old could be the most dangerous quest of all.

From the Back Cover

Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the Barrow, spends his days in a dark cellar grinding herbs and dreaming of the wizards who once walked the forests of his island. Oscar's world is small, but he likes it that way. The real world is vast, strange, and unpredictable. And Oscar does not quite fit in it.

But now that world is changing. Children in the nearby city are falling ill, something sinister lurks in the forest--and now even magic may not be enough to keep the island safe. Anne Ursu has written an unforgettable story of transformation and belonging--a spellbinding tale of the way in which the power we all wield, great and small, lies in the choices we make.

Review Quotes

"Anne Ursu has created a brilliant fantasy, alive with the smells and sights and sounds of a place both familiar and strange - but the true magic of The Real Boy lies in the powerful friendship that grows between Callie and Oscar. A joy to read." - Linda Urban, author of A Crooked Kind of Perfect

"The Real Boy is an engaging fable about what happens when people reject real life in favor of pleasure, of magic. I enjoyed it very much." - Nancy Farmer, bestselling and multiple-award-winning author of The House of the Scorpion

"Anne Ursu's The Real Boy is a fantasy in the truest, deepest sense: it illuminates the human experience by giving substance and shape to that which is otherwise intangible. Beautifully written and elegantly structured, this fantasy is as real as it gets." - Franny Billingsley, author of Chime

"In the tradition of The Velveteen Rabbit and Pinocchio, Anne Ursu's (Breadcrumbs) latest novel explores what makes someone (or something) 'real.' The author mines the potential of magic and mystery in the story of 11-year-old Oscar, whom Master Caleb, 'the first magician in a generation, ' plucked from the orphanage." - Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"It's all highly rewarding and involving, with a tight plot, resonant themes, a gripping adventure, a clearly limned fantasy landscape, and a sympathetic main character." - The Horn Book

"Deeply moving, with language powerful and true as a child's voice. Grade: A." - Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Wholly unexpected with plot twists and turns you won't see coming, no matter how hard you squint, Ursu's is a book worth nabbing for your own sweet self. Grab that puppy up." - Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog)

"There is such richness to this tale about a world seemingly falling apart. All of the fairy tale allusions. All of the plot twists that took me by surprise. The disregard for people and for the environment that greed has fostered in so many of the adult characters we meet in this well-drawn setting. But in the end, The Real Boy is such a compelling fantasy story because of the two children who, amidst the chaos of their world, can help each other so much." - Richie's Picks

"Anne Ursu keeps readers turning the pages until the unexpected but satisfying ending of the story.... I believe this book will be around for a long, long time." - Anita Silvey, Children's Book-A-Day Almanac Anita Silvey, Children's Book-A-Day Almanac

"Anne Ursu's (Breadcrumbs) latest novel explores what makes someone (or something) 'real.' The author mines the potential of magic and mystery in the story of 11-year-old Oscar, whom Master Caleb, 'the first magician in a generation, ' plucked from the orphanage." - Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"There is such richness to this tale about a world seemingly falling apart. All of the fairy tale allusions. But in the end, The Real Boy is such a compelling fantasy story because of the two children who, amidst the chaos of their world, can help each other so much." - Richie's Picks