The Boy Who Was by Grace Hallock (published 1928) is a uniquely organized story about the history of the Bay of Naples through the ages, each chapter using the same young goat boy (who has eternal life as a young man) as a key character. The prologue introduces the boy, named Nino, in the present day. He plays with little figurines that seem to represent different characters in history. Then, the stories of these little figures then unfold, beginning with Nino as a boy in 3000 B.C., watching the Sirens call sailors to their doom and watching Odysseus survive the passage. Because of Nino’s friendship with the Sirens, he is granted eternal life.
Each subsequent chapter that follows gives a different story from history, some only connected to Nino in a passing way. One scene shows the town sacrificing to the Greek Gods, while Nino converses with the god Poseidon to determine just what the god was truly upset about. (Nino is able to tell the people to make a temple to Poseidon, and then the god’s “anger” is abated.) Another scene includes people fleeing from the city of Pompeii as the eruption of Mt Vesuvius begins. Further scenes include some political conquerings of the city, the visit of the Children’s Crusade to the area, the town being spared from pirates thanks to a miraculous storm, and so forth.
My main issue is that I’m not familiar with Italian history! If I had been, I could have recognized these selected time periods as important. Wikipedia’s summary of The Boy Who Was links each chapter to the important events and people (bold items are things I should have known about before I read it in order to understand): the fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom to the Lombards, 500s A.D.; Robert Guiscard’s army repelling a pirate attack (1000 A.D.); John of Procida spying for the Hohenstaufen (1282); a pirate Barbarossa attempting to raid the city, only for them to be saved by a storm (1500s); the capture and training of Girabaldi (1800s), a prince who ultimately unified Italy. as it was, the different chapters were somewhat interesting and amusing. Without the historical background, though, I missed a lot of the nuance of the book. I love the concept; the writing was fine; the book ultimately fell flat to me, as a modern reader.
This book was awarded a Newbery Honor (Runner Up) in 1929). I rate it “Okay” and say “Don’t bother.” (Or, “Maybe if you have time” if you are interested in Italian history.)
Newbery rating scale: FANTASTIC | REALLY GOOD | PRETTY GOOD | OKAY | BLAH
What to do with this Newbery: KEEP IT AND READ IT | MAYBE IF YOU HAVE TIME | DON’T BOTHER
