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The Outside Boy: A Novel (Paperback)

The Outside Boy: A Novel By Jeanine Cummins Cover Image
$17.00
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June 2010 Indie Next List


“It is 1959 and young Christy Hurley is an Irish pavee or traveller. Upon his grandfather's, death, Christy's grandmother is determined to have the young boy make his holy communion even though it will mean staying in one place for more than a few days, and, if it's at all possible, enrolling in school. As Christy tells us his story, we learn that the love a father can have for a son transcends all boundaries, including poverty.”
— Anne Holman, The King's English, Salt Lake City, UT

Description


A poignant, coming of age novel about an Irish gypsy boy’s childhood in the 1950’s from the national bestselling author of A Rip in Heaven and American Dirt.

Ireland, 1959: Young Christopher Hurley is a tinker, a Pavee gypsy, who roams with his father and extended family from town to town, carrying all their worldly possessions in their wagons. Christy carries with him a burden of guilt as well, haunted by the story of his mother’s death in childbirth.

The wandering life is the only one Christy has ever known, but when his grandfather dies, everything changes. His father decides to settle briefly, in a town, where Christy and his cousin can receive proper schooling and prepare for their first communions. But still, always, they are treated as outsiders.

As Christy struggles to find his way amid the more conventional lives of his new classmates, he starts to question who he is and where he belongs. But then the discovery of an old newspaper photograph, and a long-buried secret from his mother’s mysterious past, changes his life forever....

About the Author


Jeanine Cummins is the bestselling, award-winning author of the groundbreaking memoir A Rip in Heaven and the novels The Outside Boy, The Crooked Branch, and American Dirt. She lives in New York with her husband and two children.

Praise For…


Praise for The Outside Boy

“Some of the greatness of Angela’s Ashes dampens these pages, maybe as much as is possible for an author for whom this is fiction, not memoir. Beautifully crafted scenes and characters keep the pages turning.”—Historical Novel Society

“A full-throated song of praise. I loved it.”—New York Times bestselling author Sherman Alexie

“A poignant and magical tale.”—New York Times bestselling author Keith Donohue

“[A] gloriously poetic novel...Read this lovely book.”—New York Times bestselling author Malachy McCourt

“Truly charming at times, heartbreaking at others, but always captivating...it will stay with you long after you’ve finished the last page.”—New York Times bestselling author Lesly Kagen

The Outside Boy has found a permanent home in my head and heart and on the shelf with authors like J. M. Barrie, Roddy Doyle, and Sue Monk Kidd. A flawless coming-of-rage story overflowing with talent, heartbreak, and joy.”—National bestselling author Jennifer Belle

“Her dynamic tale unfurls through the singular lens of the clever and charming Christopher Hurley, a wise-beyond-his-years boy coming of age in a tiny corner of history, but trying to answer the most universal of questions: Who am I and where did I come from?”—T Cooper


Product Details
ISBN: 9780451229489
ISBN-10: 0451229487
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 1st, 2010
Pages: 384
Language: English