{"id":4701,"date":"2018-08-19T00:01:12","date_gmt":"2018-08-19T06:01:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4701"},"modified":"2018-08-18T16:43:56","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T22:43:56","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-600-featuring-ian-schoenherr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4701","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #600: Featuring Ian Schoenherr"},"content":{"rendered":"


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— From Chapter 16, “Angelus”: “I pressed into a corner as the hounds, desperate to attack, bayed round me. ‘Back,’ cried a huntsman striding in, whip in hand.”<\/em><\/center>
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\nI’m doing something a little bit different today. I’ve not got a picture book for you this morning, dear Imps. I have a novel. <\/p>\n

This is one of my favorite books this year, Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s<\/a><\/strong> The Book of Boy<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Greenwillow, February 2018). I like it so much that I’m reading it a second time \u2014 this time, I’m reading it out loud to my daughters. <\/p>\n

“This story, like another, begins with an apple,” the book begins. This is the tale, set in Europe in 1350, of a boy who can talk to animals. His name is merely Boy. He is physically disfigured and mercilessly mocked for it. He is called a hunchback, and when he meets a mysterious pilgrim, named Secundus, in the medieval town of France where he lives, his life changes forever. In fact, when Boy leaves with Secundus (Secundus is impressed with his ability to jump and climb) to help the pilgrim find the seven relics of Saint Peter \u2014 rib, tooth, thumb, toe, dust, skull, tomb \u2014 it’s the first time Boy ever leaves the only home he’s ever known. He pilgrims to the city of Rome with Secundus in the hopes that Saint Peter can remove his hump and make him a real boy. <\/p>\n


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— From Chapter 6, “Saint-Peter’s-Step”: “A brindled mongrel bitch settled beside me with her four fat puppies, and she rested her head in my lap whilst they nursed and smiled her good dog smile, and another dog with shaggy black fur made certain that not a drop of honey remained on my fingers or behind my ears, and all the dogs lay close and the puppies, too, when they finished their meal, not one of them stinking, and at that moment I was as happy as ever I have been because I had dogs to love me and a miracle freshly witnssed, and not one person that day called me names,
most especially not the daughter with her burbling laugh.”<\/em><\/center>
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\nAnd that’s all I can tell you about this story, because anything further would be a disastrous spoiler in a book filled with lovely surprises. Oh, how I love this one. It is an adventure story \u2014 there is a dangerous quest, thieving scoundrels, mysterious religious relics, plenty of brimstone, a thumb in the hilt of a shattered sword, miracles, and much more \u2014 and it is filled with intrigue, superb characterization, and such exquisite, economic writing that it’s a pleasure<\/em> to read aloud.
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— From Chapter 7, “Feast Day”: “Till the end of my days I shall remember that moment. The crowd stood in shock, the mouth of every man and every woman hanging open in the shape of an egg, as the baby flew up, up to me. The guards turned, their eyes wide, watching. The baby’s mouth, too, was egg shaped, and its arms flailed in the smoky air.<\/em>
I must save this baby or it will die.”<\/center>
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\nBecause it includes illustrations \u2014 a map of Boy’s journey, as well as opening illustrations for each of the book’s sections and chapters \u2014 I’m sharing some today. They are by Ian Schoenherr<\/a><\/strong>. I’ve also got some of Ian’s early cover sketches.
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— From Chapter 8, “A Fork in the Road”: “Pages of words. Words, and drawings, and lines I did not understand. Whole pages crossed out, or written to the very edges.
‘This is my quest. Decades \u2014 centuries! \u2014 of knowledge. The seven relics of Saint Peter. I have maps, I have floor plans, I have … secrets.'”<\/em><\/center>
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— From Chapter 9, “Tooth, the Second”: “We reached the rock that was shaped like a resting cow, and ducked behind it. Not a moment too soon, for a company of monks appeared on the stairs. Other men walked with them \u2014 fighters, they looked like, with swords and bloodied staffs, and bloodied bandages, too; the monks bore the injured. Monks cannot fight, and so must use others to wage their battles.
But even the fighters sang as they trudged up the steps.”<\/em><\/center>
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— From Chapter 10, “A Bath”: “Around a bend came a company of knights,
and squires with banners, and stout men leading an oxcart.”<\/em><\/center>
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— From Chapter 14, “A Little Boy with a Cold”: “Through a gap in the wall waddled a quartet of geese. They glared at Secundus with yellow eyes and snapped at him as they passed. They stood before me, nipping each other. Secundus began to laugh.<\/em>
Hush, hush, the geese snapped at him.<\/em> We all of us think you’re too loud.”<\/center>
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Early cover sketches<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center>
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Final cover<\/em><\/center>
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THE BOOK OF BOY. Copyright \u00a9 2018 by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2018 by Ian Schoenherr and reproduced by permission of the publisher, Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins, New York.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> This was the week for the new live CD from Sam Phillips<\/a><\/strong> (my favorite musician\/singer-songwriter). It is fab. She also released a live concert film, which is also fab. I haven’t watched it multiple times already or any<\/em>thing. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Also, I got to pre-order her new album, and she has released one wonderful song from it:
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