Lost Boy
By: Tim Green
Haley Garman
A 13 year old teenage boy just got told that his mom only had 3 weeks to live unless he finds $200,000 without insurance assistance. “Lost Boy” is a book written by Tim Green, with a lexile level of 730. I have read three books in the past nine weeks, which were all by Tim Green. Tim Green is such a great author because he gets the reader hooked right by only reading the first sentence of each book. While I was reading this book, I was affected personally by it. In the first 14 pages, Ryder’s mom got hit by a fire truck and was injured badly. She was taken to the hospital and after she arrived at the hospital her son Ryder and Doyle, who was the fire fighter driving the truck at the time, sat down with the doctor. The doctor gave them a horrible update on her condition as she only had about 3 weeks to live unless she gets surgery. That got me thinking that day as I read it, how would I be if I was in Ryder’s shoes at that point, so I put myself in Ryder’s shoes. What would I do if I was an only child living with only my mom, who was injured and needed surgery to live but neither of us had the money needed for surgery. What would I do if my potential biological dad was a professional baseball player, who may have the money to help my mom? “How long do I… we have? To get the money?” Doyle said. “She cannot go very long as she is. Three, maybe four weeks”, said the doctor (p. 19 and 20). Ryder will definitely need a miracle to save his mom.
There is a lot of things that I enjoyed throughout the book that kept my interest. The beginning of the book didn’t just start with the walk home and Ryder’s mom getting hit by the fire truck, it started with background knowledge about Ryder being a mommy’s boy. Ryder typically did not go and do things with friends, instead he would go home to spend time with his mom. “Oh, man, I wish I could. Sorry, Jason, but thanks a lot.”( page 3). “What?’ He flashed his eyes at her, daring her to say it. She pressed her lips tight, then spoke. ‘A mamma’s boy, Ryder” (page 4). The author also made Doyle a main part of the book as Doyle was the one driving the fire truck when Ryder’s mom was injured. As a reader, I am guessing that Doyle helped Ryder and his mom out so they wouldn’t be so mad when she came around. Doyle even acted like a close family friend when all the doctors or judge asked who he was. Ryder did not tell anyone differently because he all he wanted was his mom healed.
I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sports and suspense. Will Ryder’s mom be able to have surgery and survive the three to four week life expectancy? I would recommend this book for the students in 5th through 8th grade, after 8th grade this book maybe easy to read. I recommend this book because I never wanted to put the book down as I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I think this will be your experience too. Reading this book about what Ryder had to go through definitely got some emotions involved. You can feel yourself becoming part of the book and hoping this does not happen in real life. The book ending was not predictable because all the obstacles with his neighbor kept popping up through the book. The book wasn’t confusing at all and in fact it was really fun to read. My favorite part is when Ryder meets, what he thinks, is his real father. The ending of the book caught me by surprise and I still don’t believe what happened at the end. I had to read the ending of the book over and over because a miracle is amazing, especially when a life is saved.