Title: Stones by William
Bell, ISBN 0-7704-2875-4, Random House of Canada Ltd., Seal Books, 2003. 278 pp.
Genre: Fiction; Mystery/Fantasy
Characters: The main character, Garnet Havelock, is in his last year of high school and works in his father’s antique shop. His mother is a reporter who spends a lot of time traveling to dangerous places for her job. Raphaella is Garnet’s love interest who accompanies him on his curious, somewhat dangerous, exploration of the past. The chemistry between these two characters is entertaining and heart-warming, as they both support each other through times of crisis.
Plot: Garnet is a smart kid who has had a
less-than-desirable track record with his schoolteachers and sometimes gets made
fun of for his tendency to use words that aren’t in the average teenager’s
lexicon. He is not a snob, however, but he does keep to himself and keeps his
eye on the light at the end of the tunnel-- finishing high school so he can
begin his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker. His parents have always wanted him
to go to university, but accept that he wants to follow his passion-- as long as
he finishes high school.
When the new kid - Raphaella is transferred to his school and
joins his English class partway through the semester, he is smitten by her
ability to out-argue him in a debate about Romeo and Juliet, convincing
him that love at first sight might actually exist. Garnet becomes bent on the
idea of capturing Raphaella’s heart – or at least taking her out for coffee, but
finds that she is not all that receptive to his advances, when she turns him
down for trivial reasons such as not being a coffee drinker. With much
persistence, Garnet is able to warm her up to the idea of going out with him and
they find that they actually have lots in common.
The plot thickens when Garnet stumbles upon an abandoned
African Methodist Church in the middle of a severe snowstorm. He sees and hears
things he is not able to shake off. Haunted in his dreams by this experience,
Garnet is determined to find out what went on that night, and convinces
Raphaella to help him. Their exploration turns out to be more than innocent
curiosity as they uncover some harrowing facts about their town’s history.
Comments: Stones is an exciting,
eerie, and often humorous novel with many dimensions. It is eloquently written
and would be a good read for anyone between grade seven and grade twelve. The
characters are all unique and interesting and they lead believable lives. The
relationships between all the characters play a large part in the book, and the
subtle elements of fantasy add to the intrigue and mystery of Garnet and
Raphaella’s detective work. Although there is an exciting plot, Stones is
not entirely plot-driven, and the reader is inclined to care just as much (if
not more) about how the characters’ relationships turn out as they do the
outcome of the venture.
Touchy areas: Hardly Any. This
book explores issues of racism, and there are some violent scenes, but none of
them graphic or distasteful, and all of them are necessary and effective for the
overall quality of the book.
Related Titles: Redwork by Michael Bedard(1990), Briar Rose by Jane Yolen (1992),Heaven Eyes by David Almond (2000)
Reviewed by Tyler Perry, University of Alberta, tperry@ualberta.ca