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The Loblolly Boy (2009)

by James Norcliffe(Favorite Author)

3.74 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1742371167 (ISBN13: 9781742371160)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

ALLEN & UNWIN

series

The Loblolly Boy

review 1: The Boy Who Could Fly was, at times, a bit confused. As if Norcliffe, an award winning poet, had a hard time distancing himself from the beauty of the verse. Still, the story was so completely original and wholly unpredictable, I thought it deserved more than just an "I Liked It" rating. The Boy Who Could Fly tells the story of the loblolly boy - a boy who is invisible to most of the world around him, has giant green wings and has the ability to trade his existence for another. But as Captain Bass, the mentor to the loblolly boy, says, "Folks often forget that when they are desperate to escape from something, they have to escape into something else." I finished this quickly and eagerly. I had no idea of the sorts of twists and turns the story would take and I was glad of ... morethat.
review 2: Reviewed by Lynn Crow for TeensReadToo.comMichael lives a miserable existence in the strict orphanage he calls home, until the day he meets the loblolly boy.At first amused by the boy's insistence that he can fly, Michael is awed when he sees the boy's wings, and agrees to learn to fly, too. When, by magic, he and the loblolly boy switch places, he's only too happy to flee the orphanage and thrill in the freedom of flight.But Michael soon discovers there are plenty of disadvantages to life as a loblolly boy. He can't feel cold or warmth, he can't eat, and only a few people can see and hear him, so for the most part he's completely alone.With the help of an old sailer and his mysterious telescope, Michael finds a family with twin girls he feels a strange connection to. As he gets to know them, he starts to see there may be a way to fix everything, as long as he can stay out of the maniacal Collector's grasp in time to do it.THE BOY WHO COULD FLY is a magical adventure. Readers will sympathize with Michael's plight both as a regular human and as a loblolly boy, and follow him eagerly through the twists and turns of his journey. Though mostly light with moments of humor, the book also manages to consider what it means to be human, and what is worth sacrificing to hold onto ones humanity, which will leave readers thinking after they've turned the last page. less

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