Window Boy [Hardcover]

 

 

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Sam, 12 lives with his single mother in a Boston suburb. Sam has cerebral palsy and needs a wheelchair as his mobility is quite limited. He has a very kind nurse named Miss Perkins who takes care of him during the day.

The Beatles play a role in this story, which is set in 1968. Sam's mother sings "Yellow Submarine;" several neighborhood kids discuss the Beatles and Sam even balks at having a haircut as boys were growing their hair at that time. His barber, a kind neighborhood fixture sympathizes with Sam, telling him that he understands that long hair for boys is the au courant fashion. The Beatles were fashion icons and their hair, considered quite long at the time inspired many to sport similar coiffure.

A delightful Londoner, Miss Perkins leaves Merry Old England for New England and is completely devoted to Sam. Born in 1918, the year of the Flu Epidemic, she enters the nursing profession after witnessing traumatic deaths and injuries during WWII. She also has an unflagging respect for Churchill, England's prime minister. Her love for Churchill is passed along to Sam. (Later in the book, Miss Perkins says she is 56, but she could not be 56 in 1968). She reads to him about the Prime Minister and his instrumental role during the war. Sam, a very bright boy learns a lot about the man for whom nobody held out any hope during his boyhood. Churchill, like Sam had a very kind nanny who instilled a belief in himself to accomplish many goals.

In turn, Churchill inspires Sam. Sam often has imaginary conversations with the former Prime Minister, culling quotes from speeches and using them in his "conversations." In each such conversation, Churchill tells Sam that he has goals - to get one local boy, later to become his classmate on the neighborhood basketball team.

One of Sam's goals is to play basketball and attend the local junior high. Every day he watches a motley group of neighborhood boys shoot hoops and years to join them. He spends much of his free time watching people out of his window. Luckily for Sam, his resourceful nurse and mother are able to get him enrolled in the local school.

Sam, despite his mobility issues fits in to a large extent. His teacher, not prepared to take on a student with special mobility needs almost writes him off until Miss Perkins proves to her that Sam is indeed bright and up to speed gradewise. When Sam's teacher Mrs. Martin announces that the class will be doing a unit on WWII, Sam lights up. He, with Miss Perkins' help lets her know that he is quite interested in Churchill and would like to include Churchill in the unit. Using his alphabet board and saying a few words that are easier for him to pronounce, Sam makes himself heard and luckily Mrs. Martin really listens to him. He even makes friends with some of his more tolerant classmates.

Unfortunately not everybody listens to Sam, his nurse or teacher. The school principal railroads Sam by calling him into his office and making him sound as if he is unable to speak or be part of the classes he attends. Sam's mother sets the wheels in motion to have Sam institutionalized courtesy of a male friend she is dating. Miss Perkins fights this tooth and toenail, only to bade Sam a sorrowful goodbye upon his admission.

Sadly, Sam serves several weeks in Mannville, which is just a warehouse for boys with a myriad of special needs. The place sounded like a genuine hellhole and luckily for Sam, Churchill and....a few others come through for him.

The Beatles' 1967 classic "I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends" could well be the soundtrack of this stellar book.

*The main characters are given a turn at bat at the end of this book in an afterword devoted to them. Readers can ride that train with the characters to see how their lives turned out in the intervening years. A post-script chapter on the author, Andrea White; the people and their stories who inspired this work and an account of an actual school make this a very effective book. Andrea White is a genius. It's as simple as that.

Out of My Mind is the ideal companion book to this one.

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