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Temple Boys
Jerusalem: year zero. A gritty, vivid, startlingly original reimagining of the world's most famous story, told from a street kid's point of view.
Jerusalem, year zero. Flea belongs to a gang of teenage vagrants living in the shadow of the Temple, living on their wits and what they can beg or steal. When a man called the Magician arrives, bringing talk of miracles and revolution, Flea and his comrades latch onto the newcomer in the hope that he'll offer them a secure home. As events accumulate and powerful forces gather around the Magician, Flea notices rumblings of discontent among his followers. Is the Magician the savior he claims to be, or a fraud? Does Flea hold the fate of the Magician—and possibly the world—in his hands, as he begins to believe? Temple Boys vividly conjures up ancient Jerusalem and the Biblical era and boldly re-imagines the western world's most famous story from the point of view of a teenage boy.
Jerusalem, year zero. Flea belongs to a gang of teenage vagrants living in the shadow of the Temple, living on their wits and what they can beg or steal. When a man called the Magician arrives, bringing talk of miracles and revolution, Flea and his comrades latch onto the newcomer in the hope that he'll offer them a secure home. As events accumulate and powerful forces gather around the Magician, Flea notices rumblings of discontent among his followers. Is the Magician the savior he claims to be, or a fraud? Does Flea hold the fate of the Magician—and possibly the world—in his hands, as he begins to believe? Temple Boys vividly conjures up ancient Jerusalem and the Biblical era and boldly re-imagines the western world's most famous story from the point of view of a teenage boy.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published February 10, 2014
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94 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
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June 23, 2025This was not what I was expecting. I was thinking it was Christian fiction, but I am not sure I'd totally classify it as such. Interesting take, but it was hard for me to get through.
January 1, 2018
So I picked this book up because I was interested in a YA historical novel about the times of Jesus, which is not something I have seen before. Now I have a pretty good idea why.
The author takes the biblical story of Jesus and tries to retell the events leading up to the crucifixion without supernatural elements. And it works about as well as you would think. Now I'm not religious, but making Jesus into a trickster type character did strike me as odd. Also, the whole scenario felt very forced and did not fit in with the biblical narrative at all. The story overall didn't flow very well and I am still not sure what the followers' motives were supposed to be in all of this.
That being said, the other part of the story revolving around Flea and the other beggar boys of Jerusalem was fairly interesting. The views of what life might have been like for people in Jerusalem at that time were informative and seemed to be pretty factual. The politics of the time seemed to be based in historic fact as well. I would have liked to have seen more of that in the book.
Overall, the book is interesting, but the story is not very cohesive and it may be quite disturbing for some Christians.
The author takes the biblical story of Jesus and tries to retell the events leading up to the crucifixion without supernatural elements. And it works about as well as you would think. Now I'm not religious, but making Jesus into a trickster type character did strike me as odd. Also, the whole scenario felt very forced and did not fit in with the biblical narrative at all. The story overall didn't flow very well and I am still not sure what the followers' motives were supposed to be in all of this.
That being said, the other part of the story revolving around Flea and the other beggar boys of Jerusalem was fairly interesting. The views of what life might have been like for people in Jerusalem at that time were informative and seemed to be pretty factual. The politics of the time seemed to be based in historic fact as well. I would have liked to have seen more of that in the book.
Overall, the book is interesting, but the story is not very cohesive and it may be quite disturbing for some Christians.
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February 16, 2017Top 10 Religion & Spirituality Books for Youth (2016)
June 11, 2015
Very different. It's about the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, told through the eyes of a young street gang member who meets up with the "magician" and his followers.
The good: I've not read anything quite like this. It's a unique take on Christ's life with a rather secular spin.
The less good: hard to read for me (as a Christian) I didn't like they way Jesus was portrayed. My other problem was with the language - too modern
The good: I've not read anything quite like this. It's a unique take on Christ's life with a rather secular spin.
The less good: hard to read for me (as a Christian) I didn't like they way Jesus was portrayed. My other problem was with the language - too modern
September 21, 2015
I'm surprised there hasn't been an uproar from the conservative Christians about this book which portrays Jesus (Yeshua) as a shyster who manipulates circumstances to make it appear as if he is performing miracles and fulfilling prophesies. And Judas is cast as a good guy, the best friend of Jesus.
Told from the point of view of a teenage beggar it covers the days from Palm Sunday through just after Easter.
Told from the point of view of a teenage beggar it covers the days from Palm Sunday through just after Easter.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews