Slake's Limbo

by Felice Holman

Book Overview

This is the story about survival, and about a 13-year-old misfit's attempts to find footing in a hostile and threatening world. Desperate, driven, harassed to the breaking point, Slake decides to go... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068413926X
• ISBN13: 9780684139265
• Release Date: September 1974
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 117 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.7" x 8.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Adam's awsome review

Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman is one of the best books I've read. I think it teaches you to never let fear hold you back. It takes place in New York City. It's about a 13-year-old boy named Aremis Slake and a motorman named Willis Joe Whinny. Slake got chased for almost his entire life. One day when he was being chased for no reason by bullies, he went down in the subway and got on a train. But instead of getting off at a transfer point, he got off at a place he'd never been and went to Central Park. One of Slake's dreams was that "The leaves will stay on the trees this year," so Slake took pieces of grass and started to tie leaves back on the trees. But soon a man saw him and called the cops and Slake ran down in the Subway without a token and got on a train again. Soon Slake got off at Grand Central Station and got chased again, so he went back down in the Subway without a token again. But instead of going on the train, he jumped on the tracks and found a hole in the wall and lived there for one hundred twenty-one days. Willis Joe was a man who dreamed of being a sheepherder in Australia. It all started when he and his friends went to see a movie about it. But one day Willis Joe's father broke his hip and Willis Joe had to do all of the heavy work. Soon he got a job at a car garage. Later his father told him to be a motorman so he'd get paid more. He figured that he would need to save up for his trip to Australia. Years later, he started to see people in the Subway as sheep because he thought that their souls were blurred. When Slake was down in the subway, he accidentally got a job selling newspapers and sweeping up a diner. He started to sell papers when he took some off a train and a man saw him with them. The man paid 15 cents for it. He got the job in the diner when the manager saw him there every day. I think that living in the subway changed Slake's life by teaching him to face his fears and not let it hold him back. But one day when Slake was riding a train on the lower tracks, a train on the upper tracks was hit by fallen cement close to Slake's cave. When he went to the diner to work, the waitress said they were going to close up all of the holes in the wall, including Slake's! Slake went for about two and-a-half days without food or water because of fear of loss of his home and depression. On his third day, he heard hammering. The workers were coming! Or so he thought. Before Slake went out on the tracks, he took a piece of cardboard, spray painted a four letter word on it, and went out. The hammering sound was really Willis Joe fixing a door on the train. When Willis Joe started the train, he saw Slake with a sign. It said: STOP. So Willis Joe stopped the train and brought Slake to the hospital. When Slake woke up, he was in an air tent. A few weeks later, he left the hospital before he was supposed to and headed to the subway. But he remembered that his cave was gone and stopped. He didn't know were he was going, but

Slakes Limbo Book Review

Slakes Limbo is the entrancing and gripping story of Aremis Slake and his early life hardships. Chased by jeering and taunting gangs, Slake scurries into the subways where he usually goes to escape and hide from his true horrible life. This time he stays underground in the subway areas for 121 days. If he does survive, how will he do it? Felice Holman sure knew what she was doing when she wrote this amazing,incredible survival story. Slakes Limbo is a four star book that is fit for anyone. Be the hobo.

A gripping story of urban survival

"Slake's Limbo," by Felice Holman, was one of the "young adult" books that made the biggest impression on me when I fell into that age group. Re-reading it recently, I realized that the book has lost none of its impact. Holman tells the story of Aremis Slake, an undersized, persecuted 13-year old New York City boy. Overwhelmed by the stress of his life, Slake flees to the underground world of the subway system -- "a city under the city" where he finds a "home" and a new life. But a 13-year old can't live underground indefinitely; Slake is headed for a moment of truth.This is a haunting, powerful story. Slake is a remarkable character. In many ways he's like a mythic hero; he literally journeys into the "underworld" and re-creates himself. Holman fills the book with fascinating details about the boy's survival strategies."Slake's Limbo" is rich in symbolic details, but the story can also be enjoyed at face value. This book is, in my opinion, one of the very best of young adult novels.

If you like a book with friendship, read this book.

A teenager named Slake leads a troubled life. He is a homeless. He has very poor vision so he often walks into things. One day he is getting bullied and then chased into the New York subway system. While he is in the subway system, he has to steal food, sell papers for money, and make new friends.

Wow, what a book!

"Desperate,driven,harassed to the breaking point." Imagine a story about a homeless boy, and you've got Slake. All alone,Aremis Slake was stuck in New York City with traffic and tall skyscrapers. One day he decides he would be better off living in the darkness of the tunnels of Grand Central Station. By selling second hand newspaper and sweeping the floor, he receives his pay-food. We, the "S.S.S Kids" consider this story Slake's Limbo by Felice Holmana fabulous success. The vivid language of Felice Holman brings out the true character of Aremis Slake. For mature teenager readers this will touch your hearts and will never be forgotten! "It is one of those books that once you pick it up, you can't put it down!"