23 September 23, 2013 THE REAL BOY by Anne Ursu, Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins, September 2013, 352p., ISBN: 978-0-06-201507-5 

"Believe in the magic that can set you free

Oh, talkin' 'bout magic"

-- John Sebastian (1965)

"A tree is a tree.  How many more do you have to look at?"

-- Ronald Reagan (1966)

"Ten days ago, President Reagan admitted that although some people in this country seemed to be doing well nowadays, others were unhappy, even worried, about themselves, their families and their futures. The president said that he didn't understand that fear. He said, 'Why, this country is a shining city on a hill." 

--Mario Cuomo (1984)

"To become a real boy, you must prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish.”

-- Pinocchio   

"He worked the shop methodically, studiously, trying to take up as little space as possible.  He answered the customers' questions in as few syllables as he could, and every few minutes he smoothed his shirt and ran his hand through his hair.  He would do the best he could. 

"But he felt stiff everywhere.  Even the syllables felt stiff in his mouth.  The only thing worse than being odd was trying desperately not to be.

"Then, in the afternoon, Callie walked through the door again, now in her bright red cloak.  She strode right up to the counter and stood behind it. 

"'Is this all right?' she whispered to Oscar, glancing at the people browsing the store.  'To act like I'm working here?'

"Oscar's mouth hung open.  Of course it was all right.  It was the most all right thing that had ever happened to him."

From their earliest meetings onward, watching the interplay of these two young characters - socially-inept Oscar and herbally-inept Callie -- just made me so happy.  It is the magic between them -- from the first time we see Oscar see her -- that made it so much fun to dive head-first into this fantastical world of the Barrow, "the tangle of forest and darkness that encircled the bottom of Asteri's hill like a shadowy moat..."

There is such richness to this tale about a world seemingly falling apart.  All of the fairy tale allusions.  All of the plot twists that took me by surprise.  The disregard for people and for the environment that greed has fostered in so many of the adult characters we meet in this well-drawn setting.

But in the end, THE REAL BOY is such a compelling fantasy story because of the two children who, amidst the chaos of their world, can help each other so much: eleven year-old Oscar, an orphan, who is the lowly (but secretly brilliant) "Hand" to Caleb, the greatest magic worker in the Barrow; and Callie, who is Apprentice to a healer:

"He flushed suddenly, intensely, like his whole face was a match someone had just lit.  He looked away.

"Silence then.  He could not look at Callie, had no idea what her face was telling him, probably could not even have understood it if it had been trying to tell him something.  Mistress Alma clattered in the corner.

"'In the shop yesterday,' Callie said, voice hushed, 'with the city girls...you weren't trying to be rude, were you?'

"Oscar shook his head.  'I was just telling them the truth.'  The words felt like a confession and underneath, a question.

"'Sometimes,' Callie said slowly, 'the truth is not always the best thing to say.'  She tucked the errant curl back behind her ear and studied him.  'Oscar,' she added. 'why don't we trade?  You help me with the plant magic.  I'll help you with...people.  Working the shop.  Talking to customers.  I'll show you what to do.  And how to deal with city people.  We'll just trade, that's all.'

"'You'll...help me?' Oscar said.

"'Yes.  A trade.  A deal.'

"Oscar inhaled, and the breath he took in filled him so much that he was all air.  'Yes,' he said, bringing his eyes almost up to hers.  'Yes.'"

Richie Partington, MLIS
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