Swallowing Stones

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book For Any Teen Reader
Review: The lives of two teens are thrown into chaos when their fates intersect in a terrible accident. On the fourth of July, Michael receives his grandfather's rifle as a birthday gift and fires a single bullet into the air. In another part of the neighborhood, the bullet falls and strikes Jenna's father, killing him instantly. Swallowing Stones tells the story of how each character reacts and comes to terms with the incident, alternating to show both Michael and Jenna's points of view. Michael hopes that the police will never be able to trace the bullet to him and does everything he can to cover up his role in the killing. Jenna struggles to deal with her grief, going through the classic stages of denial, guilt, and anger. Although Michael and Jenna didn't know one another at school, their paths begin to cross at the pool where Michael lifeguards and at summer parties. As the police continue to search for the killer, Jenna's suspicions grow. Will the truth be revealed? At what cost? These characters felt very real to me, and I sympathized with all of them. The novel is suspenseful and engrossing, so I would highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Probably the best book I've ever read
Review: This book is such an aweosme book! I love it! I had to read it for English class, and I hate reading books when you are assigned to read, so I didn't take much interest at it before I read. I always feel like i'm forced to read, which takes out all of the fun of reading. Anyways, right from the start when I started reading it, I absolutely dived right into it. It took my by control and I couldn't put it down. We had to read it within 3 weeks, and I finished in approximately 8 days,because I was so into it! Just basically the concept of the novel was fasinating all alone! It gives wonderful details about each character, Jenna Ward and Michael MacKenzie. The ending kept me hanging though, It would be so cool if they actually had a part 2. I can't wait to read Shadow People also by Joyce McDonald.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book keeps you on your feet from the moment you read the first chapter to the moment you turn the last page. I couldn't put it down leaving the situations that Michael and Jenna were in. I reccomend this for teenager to adult readers.

Rating:
Summary: Heart touching!
Review: This book takes you through so many emotional struggles, shows you things you wouldn't even begin to think about unless you went through a loss or major trial in your own life. It kept me reading and this is a must have for my personal library. PLEASE! if you've ever read anything even half as good email me with some of them, cause i really enjoyed it. If you loved this one you'll like the book The Watcher by James Howe, it goes into a lot of inner struggles that sometimes can't be understood.

Rating:
Summary: Attention Grabbing
Review: This is a great book. I am not a fan of these types of book, but i definately recommend it to everybody. I even rank it as high as Harry Potter. It shows a desperate boy put in a horrible situation, and I can show the pain of Jenna. It brings back great memories.

Rating:
Summary: This book is inspiring
Review: This is a inspiring book. You never realize how close to home it could happen. Great for all ages!!

Rating:
Summary: A Great Story From Biginning to End
Review: This is great story about a boy who receives an old winchester rifle for his birthday and then he and a friend shoot it into the sky. The next day they find out that a guy working on a roof got hit by a stray bullet. The suspense of the story will keep you reading more and more. A great story from beginning to end a must read!

Rating:
Summary: this is a wonderful book!
Review: This is probably one of the best books I ever read. It's full of wonderfully developed characters, a great story, and it revolves around two characters whos lives have been completely ruined.
A boy named Michael Macenzie throws a wild 17th b-day party. He gets a Winchester 45. rifle from his grandfather. He decided that he could not wait any longer. He had to fire it. So he decided that since it was the 4th of July he could fire it unnoticed. And he did. He fired it up into the air from the forest behind his house... what he did't know was that that very shot was headed straight to a man's head. That man was named Charlie Ward, father of a 15 year old girl, Jenna Ward.

Rating:
Summary: We're All Connected
Review: This story is what nightmares are made of. One character finds himself hunted by the police and another witnesses senseless violence to a family member. It's a perfect microcosm of problems and issues we face these days, presented in an urgent and sympathetic way. In an era when we're inclined to separate ourselves from our neighbors, this book makes us think about social responsibility and how truly connected we all are. Unlike glossing over a front page story, you can't help but be drawn into this book.

Rating:
Summary: Awsome Book!
Review: This was a great book, I couldn't put it down. My teacher recommended it to me for a book report. Usually I hate reading and school related things, but when I read this book I didn't think of it as a school thing, but enjoyable.
Swallowing Stones is about Michael, a normal joe, who gets a gun for his 17th birthday from his grandpa. At a party of his, he shoots it into the air trying to show off, but little did he didn't know it would hit a man one mile away doing roof work.
I liked this book so much because it was different. It was different in the way it was told from two different points of view. It was told by the murder, and the daughter of the dead man. I would definately recommend this book to a friend!