boyfromthebasement

The Boy from the Basement, by Susan Shaw ISBN: 0-525-47223-1 ©2004 198 pages

Good sections to read aloud: pp. 3-5 where Charlie is in the basement hoping to go upstairs and get some food and relieve himself

Summary: Charlie basically lives in the basement of his home. His father is constantly sending him down there as a punishment and his mother doesn’t do anything to stop it. It used to be that Charlie would end up down there for a day or two at a time, but now, it is unknown how long he’ll have to stay down there. He doesn’t have any food or water unless he can sneak upstairs to get some when his parents go to bed, and he doesn’t have anywhere to go to the bathroom unless he can sneak outside. One night, Charlie sneaks upstairs to get food and go to the bathroom when the worst happens...he locks himself out of the house. It’s very cold outside and Charlie only has on a pair of shorts and a towel. He is disoriented and stumbles away in fear and wakes up the next morning in the hospital. He has been locked in the basement for so long, that he doesn’t even know his last name, where he lives, or any of the basic things young children should know. How will the hospital treat this horrible case of abuse?

YA fiction—teen issues; abuse; foster homes; hallucinations

©Jennifer Lang - 2005 - WDMS