A review by shirleytupperfreeman
The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, Erin Mcguire

Kids who like a healthy dose of magical realism will enjoy this story about Oscar - a young orphan who works for one of the most powerful magicians in the Barrows. Oscar is brilliant with herbs and spices but doesn't understand people much. Callie, apprentice to the local healer, helps Oscar develop some people skills while the two of them figure out what's going wrong in their world. There were some beautiful, thoughtful sentences about living a meaningful life but I found the story a little slow for my taste.