The Boy from the Basement

Having lived his life in the basement and under the physically abusive reign of his father, Charlie is a stranger in a strange world when he is removed from the home and sent to live with loving foster parents--forcing him to find a way to come to terms with his past life and uncertain future.

Grade 5-7–Charlie's father has banished him to a dark cellar as punishment for some small transgression, and the boy sneaks upstairs at night while his parents sleep, desperately searching the kitchen for food and going outdoors to relieve himself. After he accidentally locks himself out, he wanders until he collapses, then awakens in a hospital. There, the extent of his deprivation and the resulting damage become clear. He doesn't know his last name or age, he has never heard of Thanksgiving or soccer, he has hallucinations about a menacing spider, and he cannot imagine going into the frightening world of the outdoors. Focusing on Charlie's internal thought processes, the action is primarily psychological. As the boy works with a psychiatrist and begins to trust his foster family, he grows to the point of being able to disagree with his controlling and warped father. However, as the book progresses, it loses tension and becomes repetitive. If he hasn't heard of Halloween or Thanksgiving, can it be much of a surprise that he hasn't seen a Christmas tree either? The intriguing premise can't quite compensate for the average writing and plotting. Elaine Marie Alphin's Counterfeit Son (Harcourt, 2000) and Malachy Doyle's Georgie (Bloomsbury, 2002) provide far more intense pictures of surviving psychological trauma.–Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
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Gr. 6-9. Imprisoned in the basement for many years by his violent father, Charlie, 12, is sure he's being punished because he is bad, and when he escapes and is placed in a loving foster home, it takes him a long time to feel safe in the strange world outside. Through the truth of the boy's first-person, present-tense narrative, Shaw transforms what could have been a case study of abuse and recovery into a searing story that is part thriller (Will Father find him and hurt him?) and part gentle narrative about finding a home. The psychology in Charlie's therapy sessions is realistic; he longs to be back with his biological parents, and he desperately needs to believe they love him. But perhaps most compelling for readers are the details of Charlie's long isolation. Here's a child who has never seen TV or used the telephone. What is Christmas? Halloween? What is school? Then comes the quiet climax, when Charlie finally finds a place. Hazel Rochman
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