Katy, who is now a grandmother, recalls her childhood in the early 1900s, when she dreamed of being a doctor like her father. As Katy’s story unfolds, so does Jacob’s. Jacob is mute, considered “touched” by most in their community (in today’s terminology, he appears to be autistic, although this is never stated). Katy notices his gentle way with living things, appreciating and understanding him in a way most others don’t. Katy has clearly been influenced by her progressive, open-minded father, who treats everyone in their community, regardless of class or other differences, with respect. In Lowry’s deft and moving narrative, Katy relates a series of events over several years in her childhood and early adolescence that involve not only Jacob, but his two older sisters, and that culminate in two tragedies. Jacob’s sister Peggy works as live-in help for Katy’s family. His oldest sister, Nellie, works for the Bishops, a much wealthier family down the road. One of the astonishing things in this narrative is how Lowry stays so true to Katy’s perspective and yet reveals a darker story beneath the surface of what Katy innocently observes. When Katy comes upon teenage Paul Bishop and Nellie together in the barn, for example, she thinks that they’re playing. But more mature readers will understand something else is going on. Everything unfolds through Katy’s eyes and Katy’s level of understanding, making the story’s disturbing climax, the aftermath of which sees Jacob institutionalized, all the more unsettling. Period photographs open each chapter, and enhance the sense of time and place established in the narrative of this fine novel. (Ages 11–15)

From a Newbery Medal winner, a novel of tragedy and friendship in a turn-of-the-century farm town, “narrated by a perceptive, large–hearted child.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
Katy Thatcher, the bright and curious daughter of the town doctor, was fascinated by her father’s work, and even as a child she knew that she too wanted to be a doctor. She wanted to know about people. Perhaps it was this, her insatiable curiosity, or simply the charm of Jacob’s gentle intimacy with animals large and small, that fueled their friendship.
 
Although Jacob never spoke to her or even looked at her directly, Katy grew to understand him from the moments they spent together quietly singing to the horses. She knew there was meaning in the sounds he made and purpose behind his movements. So when events took an unexpected and tragic turn, it was Katy alone who could unravel the mystery of what had occurred, and why.
 
A two-time recipient of the Newbery Medal, the New York Times-bestselling author of Number the Stars presents a sensitive, moving story of a young girl growing up at the beginning of the twentieth century and the influence of the farm community around her. Through Katy’s eyes, readers can see the human face so often hidden under modern psychological terminology and experience the haunting impact of her friendship with the silent boy.
 
“The author balances humor and generosity with the obstacles and injustice of Katy’s world to depict a complete picture of the turn of the century.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)