Georgie - Hardcover

Doyle, Malachy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582347530 ISBN 13: 9781582347530

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2002

Synopsis

Georgie is a damaged young boy acting out his rage and grief on all those who try to help him. In a final attempt to break through to Georgie, his caretakers send him to a new facility and this move is, at last, a catalyst for change. As Georgie struggles to find a place for himself in this new home he meets two people who change his life: A young girl with whom he shares the pain of loss, and a counselor whose patience and tender care help him find and maintain his sense of self.

A raw, emotional and even controversial read, Georgie will strike a nerve with young adult readers. Intense situations and emotions are skillfully handled by this truly talented author.

About this title

About the Author

Malachy Doyle is the author of many award-winning picture books. His book Tales from Old Ireland was named a 2000 Parents Choice(r) Gold Award and also received the Irish Bisto Award. He writes full time, apart from visiting schools or escaping into the mountains, and his books are available in eleven different languages. Malachy has been married for 22 years and has three children: Naomi, Hannah, and Liam. He lives in Wales.

From Publishers Weekly

British author Doyle convincingly traces an orphaned 14-year-old's transformation from a mute and angry boy who shuns human contact to a young man coming to terms with his past and seeking the company of others. Narrator Georgie is about to move from the institution in which he currently lives to a new home in Wales. Readers quickly learn that there's nowhere to go but up: the room he is leaving consists of a bare mattress on the floor (I wreck everything, that's why. Everything they give me, everything I ever owned. I rip it, break it or piss on it). But his quarters at the new home come furnished with a proper bed, stereo and mirror. Through the trust in and companionship with a patient and kind teacher, and the budding friendship with a kindred spirit, Shannon, Georgie gradually begins to reach out and even to speak. Slowly, he uncovers the horrible memories that have caused his retreat into silence. Several chapters from Shannon's point of view offer a bigger picture of the school and the other students. At times, the level of sophistication at which the boy can articulate his feelings seems implausible, however, especially since he was institutionalized at about age seven (for example, when a new orderly comes to deliver his medication and he pulls her hair, I want to lift up her hair and crawl inside, hide from my anger, hide from myself, hide from the me that makes people afraid). But his actions and responses to the world around him are so convincing that readers will likely overlook these narrative inconsistencies. Georgie's uplifting story demonstrates what a few people who genuinely care can do for another human being. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1582347530
• ISBN 13: 9781582347530
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 150