Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Book!
Review: I thought this was a great book and I recommend it to any teen-reader... It's not a hard read and it's full of mystery! A web of relationships constantly spinning keeps readers anxious to read on!! I loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Blown Away
Review: I was blown away by the impact this book had on me. I was expecting a good read at best, but the plot really hooked me in and I felt myself feeling for the characters. I kept wondering how I'd feel if I had shot the gun. Then I also wondered how I'd feel if it had been my father who'd been shot. The author really allowed you to see the tradgedy from all sides. It was such a moving book I've recommended it to all my friends. Many of them are not readers (they're more into movies) but this is one story that I know will blow them away!
Rating:
Summary: I absolutely LOVED this book!
Review: I was not able to put down the book Swallowing Stones! I cannot think of one bad thing about the book- except that it wasn't longer! Michael shoots his new rifle into the air, never intending to harm anyone. The bullet hits Jenna's father in the head while he is repairing the roof. The story tells about how Michael deals with his never-ending guilt, and how Jenna tries to deal with her many emotions. I recomend this book to anyone who loves being wrapped up in a great book.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: I would like to take this time to tell you how much you should read this book. A teacher recommended me to this book. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. This book has murder, romance, EVERYTHING! It is very thrilling and holds your attention throughout the whole book. It is about a boy who gets a gun for his birthday and fires a stray bullet into the area. One mile away, a man gets killed from a bullet that was shot into the air. It tells about the mans daughter, and the boy coming to accept the things that have happened to them.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book for Teens
Review: I've read many young adult novels (I'm a librarian), and this is one of the better titles in the genre. The characters are realistic and the story is not "overly dramatized" -- i.e. the author lets the story speak for itself without trying to tell the reader how to feel. This is a novel that I have recommended multiple times since it was released. Highly recommened for teen readers.
Rating:
Summary: A Dramatic Novel Full of Suspense and Reality
Review: Imagine you are Micheal Mackenzie, a boy who is having a party on the 4th of July and was innocently shooting a rifle into the sky to celebrate his independence.But what if that one bullet actually hit someone who was just as innocent, while they were repairing their roof? How would you feel? What would you do? Now imagine that you are Jenna Ward, a young teenage girl who was quietly talking on the telephone with her friends and is suddenly interupted by an accident that would change her life forever. She runs outside to find her father wounded by a bullet, feeling confused and full of hateful rage. How would you feel? What would you do? 'Swallowing Stones' is a suspenseful and dramatic novel about two teenagers who experience the consequences of an accidental crime. The story is told in two points of view, Jenna's view: which shows you how it feels to live without her father ,and the rage that she holds against the person who accidently killed her father on the 4th of July. Micheal's view: which shows you how it feels to have killed someone and feel the pain and guilt of not turning himself into the police. The story includes other characters and a moving and detailed story plot which seems very real. As you read you begin to feel for the characters and sometimes you may even feel like the character. This novel may jerk at your heart and make you cry, but it is definetely a novel you will not want to miss. It's supspenseful and full of real life encounters that could happen any day.
Rating: 
Summary: Swallowing Stones
Review: In Joyce McDonald's Swallowing Stones she portrays the lives of Michael
MacKenzie and Jenna Ward, two confused teenagers whose lives, in a
single moment change forever. On a steaming summer day Michael was
celebrating his 17th birthday by firing a single shot into the air.
Little did he know that on a roof four blocks away, Jenna's father was
repairing a roof when a bullet struck him.
Swallowing Stones shows the struggle Michael has with his conscience.
Whether he should swallow his stone and pride to turn himself in to the
police. Feeling guilty and responsible for wrecking the lives of the
Ward family. Michael keeps a close watch over the Ward house but not
close enough to get noticed. Meanwhile Jenna is grieving at the lost of
not only her father but also her friend and mentor for life. She finds
it hard to shed a single tear at the thought of her father. Her heart
and her mind are thinking two different things. Jenna knows he's dead
but she still thinks that he will walk through the door at any minute.
Little does she know that the mysterious murder was the lifeguard at the
local pool, which is the popular hangout spot of the summer. Nor does
she know that he is the object of her best friends affection. This
faceless stranger haunts her dreams and every waking moment of the day,
this face, she sees almost everyday that summer. Will the teenagers in
distress ever cross paths? Find out in this page-turner.
My opinion on this book is that it was very well written. Joyce
MacDonald must have done her research because she captures the important
social and mental aspects of a teenager's life. She explains in great
detail the everyday occurrences that teenagers welcome everyday. She
shows the lives more than just the main characters, but the people that
everyone would usually go without noticing. One of these characters was
among my favorites. Everyone knew Amy Ruggerio by her reputation of
being easy. Michael, having learned of this, took the time to think
outside of the box and get to know Amy, the real Amy. He learned that
she was not at all of what she seemed to everyone else, loving, lovely,
and kind. Every scene with Amy in it was heartfelt and emotional.
The closing of the book left me pondering in my mind many questions. I
like that because it sort of lets you make up your own version of the
book. The author did not make this cookie cutter ending, but rather left
it up in the air for interpretation.
I would highly recommend this wild story to anyone. I would hope you
couldn't put it down, much like I did. If any other books by Joyce
MacDonald are as well written and as interesting as herSwallowing Stones
I would enjoy to read them.
I learned many things from this book. It made me think of how much I
have right now and how quickly I could get it taken away from me, just
like Jenna's father or Michael's clear conscience. Just remember you don't
know what you've got until its gone.
Rating:
Summary: One of the year's best books for teens!
Review: Joyce McDonald's book is wonderful! She brings the reader into the story right from the beginning and doesn't leave the reader out even at the end. SWALLOWING STONES is a great book for classroom Literature discussion groups and could be easily paired with WHIRLIGIG by Paul Fleishman and/or FOR MIKE by S. Sykes. Great reads for teens and adults to talk about issues which affect our lives. I am now reading NOBODY ELSE HAS TO KNOW by Ingrid Tomey, which looks like it could fit in with these books and their themes.
Rating:
Summary: Swallowing Stones
Review: Joyce McDonald's Swallowing Stones is a powerfully moving story about a tragic accident that never was suppose to happen. Living in present day Briarwood, New Jersey, the main character, Michael Mackenzie, is a girl crazy teenager of 17 who just wants to have a fun-filled summer of parties and friends. When he fires a shot in the air from his grandfather's gun in his back yard, he never expects it to end up killing a man. Just a mile away is Jenna Ward, and she has to deal with trying to get through her summer without a dad because he was shot from a bullet out of nowhere.
Throughout the book, Michael deals with the guilt of killing a man and he tries to avoid being discovered. Jenna however, is putting her hopes in the police that they will find out who killed her father, and she is certain that person will pay.
This book shows how there are consequences to people's mistakes and how you can't run from your problems. It's a great book for teenagers, and I found it interesting to read a story that could actually happen to a teenager.
Without a doubt, this realistic novel made me eager to turn page after page. The suspense will grab you and you'll want to read it over and over again.
McDonald effectively shows how a teenager, just like everybody else, deals with a traumatic event that he caused. She portrays interesting characters and an exciting story line. I think everyone should read this remarkable book to better understand how harsh consequences can be.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for anyone
Review: McDonald takes stories that will truely effect us to the core and brings them to life. On the day of Jenna's father's death her life as well as others around her's changes. With a single shot of a gun the whole world of this town is torn apart. Relationships start, realtionships end, damaging secrets begin and a girl looking for approval holds the key to changing the views of one boy. The book filled with great visuals, you can actually see in your mind the bullet flying through the air, you can smell the trees and feel the characters pain. This is a must read for anyone. If you like this book try Hope Was Here by Bauer. This to will make you look at life differently.
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