Description: "Anne Ursu has created a brilliant fantasy, alive with the smells and sights and sounds of a place both familiar and strange - but the true magic of The Real Boy lies in the powerful friendship that grows between Callie and Oscar. A joy to read." - Linda Urban, author of A Crooked Kind of Perfect "The Real Boy is an engaging fable about what happens when people reject real life in favor of pleasure, of magic. I enjoyed it very much." - Nancy Farmer, bestselling and multiple-award-winning author of The House of the Scorpion "Anne Ursu's The Real Boy is a fantasy in the truest, deepest sense: it illuminates the human experience by giving substance and shape to that which is otherwise intangible. Beautifully written and elegantly structured, this fantasy is as real as it gets." - Franny Billingsley, author of Chime "In the tradition of The Velveteen Rabbit and Pinocchio, Anne Ursu's (Breadcrumbs) latest novel explores what makes someone (or something) 'real.' The author mines the potential of magic and mystery in the story of 11-year-old Oscar, whom Master Caleb, 'the first magician in a generation,' plucked from the orphanage." - Shelf Awareness (starred review) "It's all highly rewarding and involving, with a tight plot, resonant themes, a gripping adventure, a clearly limned fantasy landscape, and a sympathetic main character." - The Horn Book "Deeply moving, with language powerful and true as a child's voice. Grade: A." - Cleveland Plain Dealer "Wholly unexpected with plot twists and turns you won't see coming, no matter how hard you squint, Ursu's is a book worth nabbing for your own sweet self. Grab that puppy up." - Betsy Bird, A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ blog) "There is such richness to this tale about a world seemingly falling apart. All of the fairy tale allusions. All of the plot twists that took me by surprise. The disregard for people and for the environment that greed has fostered in so many of the adult characters we meet in this well-drawn setting. But in the end, The Real Boy is such a compelling fantasy story because of the two children who, amidst the chaos of their world, can help each other so much." - Richie's Picks "Anne Ursu keeps readers turning the pages until the unexpected but satisfying ending of the story.... I believe this book will be around for a long, long time." - Anita Silvey, Children's Book-A-Day Almanac Anita Silvey, Children's Book-A-Day Almanac "Anne Ursu's (Breadcrumbs) latest novel explores what makes someone (or something) 'real.' The author mines the potential of magic and mystery in the story of 11-year-old Oscar, whom Master Caleb, 'the first magician in a generation,' plucked from the orphanage." - Shelf Awareness (starred review) "There is such richness to this tale about a world seemingly falling apart. All of the fairy tale allusions. But in the end, The Real Boy is such a compelling fantasy story because of the two children who, amidst the chaos of their world, can help each other so much." - Richie's Picks

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