Boy on the Edge

Gr 8 Up—Henry, clubfooted, virtually illiterate, and a stutterer, is an Icelandic teenager increasingly unable to control his rage. When he attacks his mother, he is sent to the Home of Lesser Brethren, a farm in the middle of a lava field on the coast of Iceland, run by Reverend Oswald, a religious fanatic, and his kindly wife, Emily. She teaches Henry how to milk and care for the cows, and they help him to find his role in this harsh place. He is desperate for a friend, and this loneliness leads him to make some poor judgments, but it also prompts him to write the letters that are the basis of the novel's narrative (although the novel is not epistolary). The prologue explains that Henry wrote these letters to a friend over a period of 20 years, which were never answered. Henry's death prompts the recipient to write Henry's story. Readers don't learn until the end who the "friend" is, and the disclosure will inspire readers to reread the prologue for hints. Although the novel's setting and theme are grim, the actual violence is minimal by today's over-the-top standards. Readers will be drawn into Henry's world. Engrossing and finely wrought.—Nina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME