The Boy Who Lost His Face

Infobox Book |
name = The Boy Who Lost His Face
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Louis Sachar
illustrator =
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country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Children's novel
publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
release_date = 1989
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 198 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-679-88622-2

"The Boy Who Lost His Face" (ISBN 0-679-88622-2) is a novel by Louis Sachar. The story focuses on a group of young boys. One of them (David), joining in with the 'cool crew', helps to steal an old woman's cane. When she finds them, she cries out "Your Doppelgänger will regurgitate on your soul!" Following this, the protagonist finds himself repeatedly experiencing the same misfortunes he passed on to the old woman.

Themes of the occult and youthful sexuality are explored in the novel, and its resulting suppression has garnered it position 49 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. [http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm]

Plot summary

In the book The Boy Who Lost His Face by: Louis Sachar, a boy named David tries to get in the cool group by helping his friend Scott, and two troublemakers named Roger and Randy (the former being the leader) carry out a prank. Their target was an elderly woman who was called a witch by all the kids in the neighborhood. When they attacked her and stole her cane David flicks her off to try to impress Roger. But when they leave the old lady cried out to David "Your Doppelgänger will regurgitate on your soul!" The following days David finds himself experiencing strange happenings that lead him to believe that he is cursed. After being rejected by Roger and his gang, David finds himself becoming a loser. He breaks his parent's window, he walks into class with his zipper unzipped, he falls off his chair in class, and his only friends are fellow outcasts Larry and Maureen "Mo". His actions lead Rogers gang to target him and his friends, calling them "The Three Stooges". He becomes friendly with a cute girl named Torrie Whilliams, but his pants fall down when he gets the courage to ask her for her telephone number. Finally, his little brother, after being ridiculed by Roger's younger brother, loses all respect for David.

Eventually, David begs the elderly woman to remove the curse, but she asks for her cane to be returned first. As it turns out, Torrie does not turn on him for his moment of humiliation, and tries to pretend that she had her eyes closed in thought to prevent David from becoming uncomfortable around her. David finally decides to fight for his dignity, and, with his friends and little brother by his side, he goes to face Roger's gang and get the cane back, not suspecting that many things, including the curse, are not as they seem.

Footnotes