A Boy in Winter

by Maxine Chernoff

A Boy in Winter takes the stuff of newspaper headlines and explores, in a taut, deeply moving narrative, the human passions behind it.
        
After Nancy Horvath and her eleven-year-old son, Danny, move into their dream house, Danny becomes fast friends with ten-year-old Eddie Nova, the boy next door. Eddie is a hyperactive, difficult child, both boon companion and bane of Danny's existence. Meanwhile, Nancy's helpful, neighborly relationship with Eddie's father, Frank, becomes a passionate affair. Frank is the partner Nancy wishes she had, and the father Danny has always longed for. Then one day, Eddie brings over a hunting bow and playfully aims it at Danny and his dog. In a tragic mishap, Danny accidentally shoots and kills his friend.
        
The novel traces the repercussions of that accident--in Nancy's voice, in Danny's voice, and from Frank's point of view. Danny's extraordinary account of the events that led up to the action is a heartbreaking, pitch-perfect record of the complications of love, the weight of isolation, and the ultimate opacity of intention and motivation. How Nancy's fierce, enduring love for her son sustains a future for him and how Frank's devastating loss and guilt play into that future provide drama-tic counterpoint to Danny's painful dissection of what he has done.
        
With stunning imagination and an almost sculptural elegance of storytelling, Maxine Cher-noff balances the radical shock of tragedy with the hard-won optimism of survival. She brilliantly enacts how a child stunned by grief and the adults who love him reclaim their trust in the future. Ultimately, A Boy in Winter testifies to the power of parental love and steadfast friendship to provide hope and faith in the face of tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 1999

Reviews

[Nicole Althouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in one day. Was very engrossed in the story. However, it doesn’t have an ending in my opinion. It just stops.

[Diane Vonglis Parnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the concept of this book and the beginning was well written and captivating. The author lost me though when she switched to Danny's voice. None of that lengthy passage came across as how an 11-year-old would think or speak. Had the author stuck with the adult POV's, I would have given a solid 4 stars.

[Moirad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Haunting and sad, beautifully written. The sections told by the 11 year old boy were too literary though.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am somewhere between 3 and 4 stars for this book. I liked it, and I think the author is talented. I'm not sure how I feel about the narration switching between Frank, Danny, and Nancy. I think the chapters written by Frank and Nancy were very poignant. I thought the parts from Danny's point of view dragged a bit, but they were still enjoyable to read.

Loved the character of Danny, such a sweet sensitive kid. You feel so bad for him, having gotten involved in such a horrible situation.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book sounded interesting: a young boy accidentally kills his friend in a tragic accident. The book is written from the viewpoints of the boy's (the killer's) mom, the boy, and the father of the victim. Though the mom's and boy's viewpoints were interesting, the book seemed to take a strange twist when it went to the father's viewpoint. The ending also seemed lacking--especially compared to the beginng and middle of the book. Not sure that I would recommend this one....

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story and the writing style. It's about a young boy who accidentally kills a friend, and about the outcome for him, for his single mother, and for the other boy's father. Chernoff has the ability to get in the mind of a ten year old. When it comes to the kidnap scene, though, I found it kind of unbelievable. The relationship between the two adults, too, I felt was a bit stretched, but I do like the book.

[Dayna Ingram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story explores the aftermath of a child's fatal mistake from the point of view of first his mother and then himself. It's interesting terrain, but I must say I felt the ending was too "oh no this thing needs a plot?!? crap." Because, really, it didn't need that extra plottiness at the end; I was digging it as just a kind of portrait.

[Kathleen (itpdx) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written introspective novel about people coming to terms with a tragedy. The story is told from the points of view of a single mother, whose son accidentally kills a friend, the son and the father of the boy who has been killed.

I was confused by Riley--did we know that he was a long time acquaintance of Frank be fore the end of the book? and who was he really?

[Mary Mcgobe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm shocked that so few people have read this book and those that did read the book gave it such a low rating.

I was hooked on this book from the start. a boy accidentally kills a friend of his. The book tells the side of the boy, his mother and the other child's father. I couldn't put the book down.

I beg you to find this book and read it!

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this book more stars earlier on, but then it got more and more ridiculous, and then it just ended abruptly! In the middle of the climax! It felt like there should have been 1 more chapter to finish resolving everything.

[Lydia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the second time I have tried to read this, but just cannot get into it. I think I got further this time round, but still gave up. I think I only read 7 few chapters in, if you can call half a page a chapter.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought it's a short novel, the story moved very slowly for me. A significant portion of it was told from the point of view of an 11-year-old, but the tone wasn't much different from the portions told from adult POVs. The ending was just weird and abrupt.

1.5 stars

[Tricia Mueller · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like this book. Too depressing.

[Fiona · Rating 2 out of 5]

The beginning and middle were a bit boring, but the ending had a good twist to it.

[Yvette Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first three quarters of this book. The last quarter just seemed silly and not believable in comparison. So it was a disappointing ending.

[Sue Webber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it from cover to cover, couldn't put it down. Brilliant.