Boy Who Could Make Himself Disappear, Th

i must have read it 20 times from 6th grade through junior high school. yes, it is hard, and probably depressing, but it saved me. it was me. and finding someone like me in print helped so much

I first read this book when I was about 12 years old. It is an inspirational story of a kid who was dealt a bad hand in life. His parents are horrible, he has an embarrassing speech problem, and his life circumstances contribute to the demise of his mental stability. The wonderful thing about this book is the heroes he encounters. The friend who can't walk, the beautiful woman who lives in the penthouse, and most importantly the speech therapist who stands up to the terrible mother and really puts her in her place. The speech therapist's role in this story inspired me to take up that career when I became an adult. I recommend this book to anyone over the age of twelve.

I first read this book thirty years ago and literally thousands of books later I still vividly remember the impact it made on me. I think I started crying about page fifty and didn't stop until the end. The subject matter, child abuse and willful neglect, is ugly, but the telling is done with such subtlety and delicacy that to this day this book still sits on my shelf. I've recommended it to quite a few young teens who I knew were strong enough to take it and virtually all of them loved the book. Even the fact that the ending is hopeful rather than happy doesn't put them off. Kids are realists more than we think and I believe they appreciate the author not taking the nicer and therefore easier way out with this work. They can get all the cute and sweet stuff they want from Disney, Kin Platt wrote about the real world where happily ever after doesn't always happen. Sometimes it's good to remember that.

i loved this book when i was in 9th grade, i took it out of my high school library many times. i have always been attracted to sad stories; i guess i kind of collect them. this may be a depressing story but thats life. i love this book. i wish it were easier to get.

Roger Baxter is alone. He lives with his insensitive mother in New York and has little contact with his Hollywood father. Roger has a problem with his "r's". He cannot say them. He goes to a speech therapist, but he will not be cured by her. His only hope is the man who dates the penthouse beauty in his building. Roger goes through the pain of being a forgotten child, while befriending a girl who cannot walk without her canes, and the wonderful woman he grows to love in the penthouse. He learns how difficult it can be to fight for life and love by a quiet Frenchman who's struggles Roger can identify with. I cry when I read this. Every time.