The Outside Boy is about 12-year-old Christy Hurley, who is an Irish gypsy. As he travels around 1950s Ireland with his family and struggles to figure out just what his place is in the world, he learns a lot about himself … and so will you!
Title: The Outside Boy
Author: Jeanine Cummings
Ages: 12+
Rating:
Gypsy Life
Bet you didn’t think there were gypsies in Ireland? Well, Christy is one of them, and he and his family travel around the country. They’re not treated very nicely by other people – often, they’re called names and not even allowed to shop in the same stores! But the truth is, gypsies (or Pavees) are just like anyone else, and this story is largely about Christy trying to fit in.
Troubled Past
There’s also a part of Christy’s past that keeps him struggling – the death of his mother when he was born. Christy has always felt that he was in some way at fault for his mother dying, and he spends a lot of time in the book trying to discover the truth about what happened. This is a part of the book we really liked – most of us wonder about our parents’ lives before us at some point. It’s interesting to watch Christy come to terms with what happened to his mother, and learn a lot about himself at the same time.
Bottom Line
We really liked The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummings. Christy is a great character, and you can’t help but like him. It was also cool that the book was written with some parts in Irish Pavee vernacular, and that there was a lot of information about the gypsy lifestyle in Ireland.
