A Stir of Bones

Rating:
Summary: Be Wary
Review: Before you buy this book for your loved-one, you should be aware that it is full of Satanic images. The children gather together in the haunted house with the ghost of the boy who commited suicide there. They cast a mystical circle complete with candles, tarot cards, assigning each child a suit and an element. They work together to conjure spirits and "energy" from the house. Oh, okay, they use the energy to help the girl and her battered mother; but....she doesn't get out of the abusive situation at the end of the book. She is left to rely on the "energy" they were able to channel to mom and her ghost boyfriend. My daughter and I had a long talk after this book. I have never censored her avid reading before, but I'm really glad I took a look at this book and was able to open a discussion regarding the dangers of playing around in The Beautiful Side of Evil. ( Now, that's a book to check out.)

Rating:
Summary: Be Wary
Review: Before you buy this book for your loved-one, you should be aware that it is full of Satanic images. The children gather together in the haunted house with the ghost of the boy who commited suicide there. They cast a mystical circle complete with candles, tarot cards, assigning each child a suit and an element. They work together to conjure spirits and "energy" from the house. Oh, okay, they use the energy to help the girl and her battered mother; but....she doesn't get out of the abusive situation at the end of the book. She is left to rely on the "energy" they were able to channel to mom and her ghost boyfriend. My daughter and I had a long talk after this book. I have never censored her avid reading before, but I'm really glad I took a look at this book and was able to open a discussion regarding the dangers of playing around in The Beautiful Side of Evil. ( Now, that's a book to check out.)

Rating:
Summary: More, please!
Review: Like Rapunzel, Susan is a girl set away from life and human companionship by a possessive and jealous adult. Her father keeps her locked in fear for her mother's safety at his hands. But Susan has tiny rebellions, times and places she carves out for Susan-inside, momentarily free from the picture-perfect Princess her father requires. In one such moment, reading in the small public library, Susan overhears three friends plotting to visit the local haunted house. Her house is haunted by secrets and pain-what might this one offer?

Magic, it turns out, and friendship and a ghostly love. The haunted house Ms. Hoffman creates is both creepy and alluring, and Susan's relationship with Nathan, the ghost who haunts it, is tender and sad. The three friends, Julio, Edmund and Dierdre are wonderfully real teens-their passionate curiosity and helpless desire to put things right are a rope thrown out to draw Susan back into humanity and life.

Although the story is full of incident-driving off a nosy schoolmate, figuring out the magic of the house, a confrontation with the police-Susan's character and dilemma are the heart of the tale. It is to Ms. Hoffman's credit that an internal journey-which could easily plod or wander down "lyrical" byways of naval-gazing angst-keeps the reader glued to the page. Susan's pain and hope drive the story forward-will she escape? Will her father discover and destroy her-or will she falter and destroy herself?

The only problem I had with this book is that it was too short-the characters and the setting so vivid, and I so caught up in Susan's story, I hated for it to end. Happily for the reader who has just discovered Ms. Hoffman through this book, it is a prequel to The Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming: Instant gratification is available at your local public library or bookstore! For readers who have already read these two books, A Stir of Bones should prove a pleasing reunion with old friends and a skillful storyteller.

Rating:
Summary: What???? Satan???
Review: Nina's writing had a similar feel to Richard Peck's writing, although a little darker in "reality." They both succeed in creating characters that are able to make friends with the odd ones that have crossed over to the other side. As a teen, Richard Peck's ghosts became my friends. Nina's Nathan has that same ability to come off the page and become a friend.

Then I see warnings on its Satanic Imagery. No. It has Pagan/Wiccan imagery, and if you have read anything about Wicca, you'll know that one of the basic tenants of Wicca is that what you do to others will come back to you tenfold. So, if you want to use wicca for evil purposes, expect 10 times that evil to befall on you.

That aside, the book has a slow start. I almost gave up before I got to the second chapter, but I'm glad I kept with it. The story is not about Wicca. It is about a girl, Susan, who has grown up with a father who is so controlling and abusive that she has come to believe that her body is not her own. She no longer even feels pain. He has successfully isolated her from other people her age, and even all other people except the housekeeper. Then Susan finds a way to sneak out of the house to join others at a "haunted" house. And there, she learns about the power of friendship.

This book has achieved a balance of fun, seriousness and mysticism that is rare. Definitely a book worth reading. Unless you feel children shouldn't read A Wrinkle in Time because of Mrs. Who, Mrs. What and Mrs. Which.

Rating:
Summary: As awesome as Freak the Mighty
Review: Susan was perfect. She had to be, or her father would make Mother suffer. Once she had a friend, Julio, her housekeeper's son, but Father put an end to that. Now she does a lot of extra-credit reports and listens carefully to the house, so she can tell where everyone is - and when she needs to hide. She's gotten permission to stay away from home every afternoon for a month, doing research on her current project. In the library she overhears Julio and two friends discussing various sites where they can pursue their interests without disturbing anyone or being interrupted. They decide on the local haunted house and Susan is invited to join them. But this House really is haunted. Nathan was about their age when he hung himself in 1918, and when Susan listens to this House, it talks to her. Hoffman has smoothly created unforgettable characters with real issues, some magic, and a forever friendship. A page-turner, with people you don't want to say good-bye to.

Rating:
Summary: As awesome as Freak the Mighty
Review: Susan was perfect. She had to be, or her father would make Mother suffer. Once she had a friend, Julio, her housekeeper's son, but Father put an end to that. Now she does a lot of extra-credit reports and listens carefully to the house, so she can tell where everyone is - and when she needs to hide. She's gotten permission to stay away from home every afternoon for a month, doing research on her current project. In the library she overhears Julio and two friends discussing various sites where they can pursue their interests without disturbing anyone or being interrupted. They decide on the local haunted house and Susan is invited to join them. But this House really is haunted. Nathan was about their age when he hung himself in 1918, and when Susan listens to this House, it talks to her. Hoffman has smoothly created unforgettable characters with real issues, some magic, and a forever friendship. A page-turner, with people you don't want to say good-bye to.

Rating:
Summary: This memorable story left me longing for more.
Review: Susan, a seventh-grader, has terrible secrets. Her father beats her mother and then blames Susan. He controls Susan, telling her what to wear, what to watch on television, and how to spend every minute of her time. At school, she is a lonely outsider. Her only real friends are the family's housekeeper, Juanita, and Juanita's son, Julio.

At the library one day, Susan overhears Julio and his friends plotting to visit the local haunted house, and she invites herself along. There, they meet a ghost named Nathan. Susan is oddly drawn to both Nathan and the house, and she begins to carry one of Nathan's finger bones. Her talisman emboldens her away from the house, and she finds herself able to connect with people a little more easily.

Susan finds refuge when Nathan invites each of the visitors to keep a room at the house. She develops relationships with her new acquaintances, both the living and the dead, and spends an unforgettable Halloween night with Nathan --- a mystical evening that makes her supernatural host even more alluring.

Many facets of Susan's life gradually become better. However, her home situation does not improve. Susan's unbearable pain plus her attraction to the boy ghost lead her to ponder whether or not she would be better off joining Nathan forever.

Susan and Nathan are heartrendingly sympathetic characters. The lyrical writing weaves together a dreamy ghost tale and the harsh realism of Susan's home life, ending on a hopeful note. The fact that there is no easy resolution only adds to the believability. This memorable story left me longing for more, so I was happy to learn that A STIR OF BONES is a stand-alone prequel to two previously published novels, A RED HEART OF MEMORIES and PAST THE SIZE OF DREAMING.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon ([e-mail])