The Boy Who Lost His Face

by Louis Sachar

Overview

The classic novel from Newbery Medalist and National Book Award winner Louis Sachar (Holes), with a brand-new cover!
 
David is only trying to be cool when he helps some of the popular kids steal Old Lady Bayfield’s cane. But when the plan backfires, he’s the one the “old witch” curses. Now David can’t seem to do anything right. The cool kids taunt him and his only friends are freaks. He even walks into Spanish class with his fly unzipped! And when he finally gets up the nerve to ask out a cute girl, his pants fall down in midsentence. Is it the Bayfield curse at work? Or is David simply turning into a total loser?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307797131
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	06/01/2011
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	441,204
Lexile:	570L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Newbery Award winner Louis Sachar is the author of Dogs Don’t Tell Jokes, the Marvin Redpost books, and the much-loved There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom, winner of 19 child-voted state awards.
 
Louis Sachar’s book Holes, winner of the 1999 Newbery Medal, the National Book Award, and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, is also an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Quick Pick, and an ALA Notable Book, and was made into a major motion picture.

Editorial Reviews

Could David's efforts to court popularity be doomed by the curse of an elderly neighbor? ``Readers will empathize'' said PW , with the hero of ``this delightful, funny book.'' Ages 10-14. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 5-7-- The jacket art of a young man's horrified surprise as his pants fall down while he's talking to a girl in the school corridor captures much about the book, particularly its wit and humor (he's lost his pants, not his face) and its exploration of exaggerated situations that reveal the very real and excruciating angst of middle schoolers. David Ballinger fears being uncool, not fitting in, and wants so much to be popular that he helps some classmates attack an elderly woman and steal her cane. When odd things begin to happen to him, he believes the woman to be a witch who has cursed him, and his genuine remorse causes him to punish himself. By not being assertive, by not standing up for what he believes, he loses face. He grows in the course of the novel, and is able to get his ``face'' back, albeit somewhat bruised. Ample dialogue (including name calling, street language, and obscenities) and brief chapters will make this a book for which young patrons will reach. Unfortunately, the story is weakened by the tagged-on final chapter, set 150 years in the future, in which David Ballinger is revered, and his birthday has been made a school holiday. --Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME

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