Ghost Boy [Paperback]

Harold Kline is an albino—an outcast. Folks stare and taunt, calling him Ghost Boy. It’s been that way for all of his 14 years. So when the circus comes to town, Harold runs off to join it.

Full of colorful performers, the circus seems like the answer to Harold’s loneliness. He’s eager to meet the Cannibal King, a sideshow attraction who’s an albino, too. He’s touched that Princess Minikin and the Fossil Man, two other sideshow curiosities, embrace him like a son. He’s in love with Flip, the pretty and beguiling horse trainer, and awed by the all-knowing Gypsy Magda. Most of all, Harold is proud of training the elephants, and of earning respect and a sense of normalcy. Even at the circus, though, two groups exist—the freaks, and everyone else. Harold straddles both groups. But fitting in comes at a price, and Harold must recognize the truth beneath what seems apparent before he can find a place to call home. “This touching novel, [set a few years after World War II], will speak especially to readers who consider themselves different, flawed, or misunderstood.”
—School Library Journal, StarredIain Lawrence is a journalist, travel writer, and avid sailor.

1. From the very beginning of the novel, Harold is on a journey. What is he looking for? Does he find it?

2. At no time during this journey does Harold stop and wonder about the consequences of running away. Why not?

3. Describe Harold’s personality. Which of his characteristics do you find admirable?

4. “And across the wide front window of May’s Cafe was a poem in slanting lines:
He’s ugly and stupid
He’s dumb as a post
He’s a freak and a geek
He’s Harold the Ghost.” (p. 3)

Harold has seen this cruel rhyme and heard the people of Liberty call him names such as Whitey, Maggot, and Harold the Ghost so often that he has accepted it all aslCk