Temple Boys

by Jamie Buxton

An urchin in a street gang targets a magician who's come to town - only to have his tricks turned on their head. This is an adventure set in the days of the Crucifixion. Flea is the smallest, mouthiest member of the Temple Boys - a street gang who fight daily to survive in a place where nobody cares a jot for them, especially not the Romans who are in charge of the place. When the Magician comes to town, Flea and the gang reckon they can get the better of him, no problem. But his companions - Jude in particular - seem to have their measure right from the start. All is not as it seems.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Young Adult Historical Fiction, Historical

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2014

Reviews

[Becky]

This 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.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

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. For example, the whole resurrection was achieved by Jesus (Yeshua) dying and his brother, James (Yac) replacing him in the tomb and pretending to be Jesus. Biblically and historically, James showed up a lot after the ascension (which was not covered in the book) and was very influential in the early church. Plus I don't think Mary would have fallen for all that. 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.

[Ann]

Top 10 Religion & Spirituality Books for Youth (2016)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.