The Boy on the Porch

by Sharon Creech

Overview

“This quiet novel sings. A graceful profound story for all ages that speaks well beyond its intended audience.” —Kirkus (starred review)

Fans of Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's Ruby Holler will love this tween novel about opening your heart and finding family when you least expect it.

When a young couple finds a boy asleep on their porch, their lives take a surprising turn. Unable to speak, the boy, Jacob, can't explain his history. All John and Marta know is that they have been chosen to care for him.

And as their connection and friendship with Jacob grow, they embrace his exuberant spirit and talents. The three of them blossom into an unlikely family and begin to see the world in brand-new ways.

Extras in the paperback tell of Sharon Creech's inspiration for the book!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061892387
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/02/2014
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	284,135
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Sharon Creech has written twenty-one books for young people and is published in over twenty languages. Her books have received awards in both the U.S. and abroad, including the Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons, the Newbery Honor for The Wanderer, and Great Britain’s Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler.

Before beginning her writing career, Sharon Creech taught English for fifteen years in England and Switzerland. She and her husband now live in Maine, “lured there by our grandchildren,” Creech says.

www.sharoncreech.com

Hometown:

Pennington, New Jersey

Date of Birth:

July 29, 1945

Place of Birth:

Cleveland, Ohio

Education:

B.A., Hiram College, 1967; M.A., George Mason University, 1978

Editorial Reviews

This quiet novel sings. A graceful profound story for all ages that speaks well beyond its intended audience.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A page-turner for readers of any age.” — Publishers Weekly

“A rich and gracious story crafted in Creech’s masterful hands.” — Booklist

“A tender exploration of the power of a found family and the depth and value of temporary connections.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

From the Publisher

A rich and gracious story crafted in Creech’s masterful hands.

Booklist

A tender exploration of the power of a found family and the
 depth and value of temporary connections.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Newbery Medalist Creech’s slim, understated story about a young childless couple who find a small boy of indeterminate age asleep on their farmhouse porch one morning has a fablelike quality. Accompanied only by a note reading, “Plees taik kair of Jacob. He is a god good boy. Wil be bak wen we can,” the boy doesn’t speak, but he overflows with creative gifts and has an affinity for communicating with animals. The novel is set in a rural area, where town means a general store, a schoolhouse, and a sheriff’s office, and in an earlier era—telephones aren’t commonplace, but trucks, cars, and trailers are standard. Creech’s quiet tale movingly follows Marta and John’s evolution from puzzlement over Jacob’s mysterious appearance to a deepening love for him and a fear that somebody will return to claim him. While the target audience may not find the novel’s point of view, which is focused entirely on the adult couple, initially compelling, the suspense surrounding Jacob’s origins and his future makes it a page-turner for readers of any age. Ages 8–12. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A tender exploration of the power of a found family and the depth and value of temporary connections.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

A rich and gracious story crafted in Creech’s masterful hands.

Booklist

Gr 4–6—Creech draws readers into a brilliantly simple, sentimental, and adult-centered moral scenario. On a rural American farm, an isolated couple finds a mute, mysterious, and artistic boy (who could be six, seven, or eight) abandoned on their porch. The longer he stays with them, the more his various talents become apparent and the more attached they become. They dread the day someone might come back to claim him. Readers will fall for the boy along with the taciturn couple and will become utterly absorbed in the what-would-you-do element of this cleanly written narrative. Others, however, may be distracted by the overly idyllic portrayal of farm and rural life, one-dimensional characters, and the aura of righteousness. It is, after all, an far-fetched premise, no matter how well written by such a renowned and skillful author. As an excellent vehicle for exploring moral quandaries, schools and libraries seeking books around which to discuss values will definitely want this title. However, Creech's fans should be aware that this is a departure from her previous fare, more like her The Unfinished Angel (HarperCollins, 2009) than her titles featuring strong female narrators.—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

School Library Journal

In a book world crowded with overwrought shock-fluff stories, this quiet novel sings. Needing none of the gratuitous drama and exaggeration of voice so common in books for children and teens these days, Newbery Medalist Creech's latest novel is allegorical in feel as it quietly gets to the heart of the matter--which is, of course, the heart. When John and Marta, a contentedly childless young couple, find a boy sleeping on their porch, they are mystified. The boy, introduced to them only by a crude, misspelled note as Jacob, doesn't speak. But he does tap and paint and play music, and as John and Marta indulge his creative passions, they grow to love him. When Jacob's father, a rough man, turns up, the young couple must let Jacob go, but they are heartbroken and even go so far as to look for him afterward. In the end, their searching reveals an outlet for the love that Jacob has awoken in them. A deeply felt story sparely written in lyrical prose, this book stands out as a quiet contemplation on the connection that is the wellspring of love. A graceful, profound story for all ages that speaks well beyond its intended audience. (Fiction. 8 & up)

Kirkus Reviews