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Sam Davis is a twelve-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. His father has abandoned him. His mother is too absorbed in her new boyfriend to pay attention to Sam. The boy appears to have little reason to live, but Sam reads about Winston Churchill, who inspires him never to give up, and he watches the basketball court from his window, wishing he could play. These interests set the foundation for change in Sam's life. "Window Boy" by Andrea White is an inspirational story that will teach children how to be understanding toward others with disabilities. The focus on Winston Churchill will give students not only a history lesson, but also a motivational example of character and determination during trying times. Athletic readers will especially enjoy the novel with its emphasis on basketball, while they also will feel gratitude for their good health. "Window Boy" is a book long to be remembered and cherished by its readers, young and old.
Window Boy
Andrea White
Bright Sky Press (2008)
ISBN 9781933979144
Reviewed by Neha Kashmiri (age 13) for Reader Views (7/08)
To me, “Window Boy” was a sad, but strangely uplifting, novel in hectic times. Sam Davis is a twelve-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. His father has abandoned him; his mother is too absorbed with her new boyfriend to notice Sam most of the time. In all this, his three beams of light are his prim, if talkative nurse, Miss Perkins, the imaginary voice of Winston “Winnie” Churchill, and the basketball court almost in his backyard.
Sam gets the chance to go to school with the other children. At first it is a disaster but Winnie tells Sam to keep a stiff upper lip. Soon, as his teacher starts to understand him, Sam writes an essay on his hero, Winston Churchill, for a contest. On his twentieth and last day of school, he gets out the words to tell the captain of the basketball team to appoint Micky Kostov, a Russian boy no one likes, as point guard. Then he is taken to an institution by his mother who is leaving to Europe to marry her boyfriend.
Sam starts to slowly fade away when the news reporter comes to take his picture and write an article about him. The essay he had written long ago had won him the contest and $1,000. Finally, his mother, betrayed and deceived by the man she was about to marry, comes back and saves him. Later Sam goes on to become a basketball coach to the team he helped become tournament champs.
No words I could say or write could convey the impact of the book on me. As a librarian’s assistant, I had read to special-need children and this book made me feel incredible guilt and anger at myself for the revulsion I felt at the sight of some of them. “Window Boy” by Andrea White is meant for kids and teenagers, but I think adults could benefit just as greatly from it. I give a high, high recommendation to someone looking for a break from action/horror/fantasy.
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