Stoneheart - Book and Audio Review

Stoneheart
The Stoneheart Trilogy - Book One
By Charlie Fletcher
Hodder Children’s Books (U.K.)
2006
First U.S. Edition 2007
Hyperion Books for Children
Audio read by Jim Dale

Dedication: With love and thanks to my parents, Margaret and Paul Fletcher, makers of a happy childhood and much else besides…

Target Age Group: Boys ages 11 and above

Must Read
Good Read
Should Read

Recommendation: Read the Book or Listen to the CD

Synopsis

12 year old George Chapman is a sad, lonely boy without a father, and with a mother who spends more time on her acting career than with her son. At school, he’s picked on and bullied by students and teachers alike.

After a disasterous trip to the Natural History Museum, George unleashes all of his anger and frustration onto a small stone dragon, breaking its head off a frieze. In doing so, George has unwittingly awakened the fury of all the stone statues in London. Gargoyles, dragons and pterodactyls come to life to seek their revenge on George.

As George runs across London for his life, he quickly realizes that no one else can see the statues chasing him. No one, except Edie, a strange girl who has unexplained powers of her own. Together, with the help of some “spits,” George and Edie have to figure out how to appease the angry “taints.”

Book Review

The book starts out so dark and moody that it was difficult for me to get into. I didn’t much care for either George or Edie. I found it very annoying that for a first part of the book, the "spits" acknowledge that the "taints" are riled up and that George has done something, but no one bothers to asks George what happened, when it started, what he did.

However, I am more than glad I stayed with the story. Charlie Fletcher uses words as effectively as a painter does colors, and delivers gloriously realistic scenes. You feel that you are in London, seeing what George and Edie see, feeling what they feel. And as I got to know these two kids, I began to appreciate what they’ve each suffered individually, and started to cheer them as they grow beyond their circumstances to change into caring people. By the time the story was over, I couldn’t wait for the next one.

Audio Review

The audio book is read by the incomparable Jim Dale. He brings every character to life, each with a different voice. His characters are so distinct that there is no confusion as to who is speaking. When I'm listening to CD, I frequently forget that there is only one man reading. Rather, I feel like I am experiencing these people’s lives and voices.

Characters

George Chapman – George is 12 years old and seriously depressed since the separation of his parents and death of his father. He desperately wants to belong somewhere and doesn’t fit in anywhere.

Edie – 12 years old as well, she’s a runaway with a murky past. Her father is also dead, and her mother is not around, although we don't really know what has happened to her. Edie's been able to see the statues of London moving when no one else can. But when she sees George running with a statue, she feels some hope that maybe, just maybe, she’s not alone.

The Gunner – A World War I statue of a gunner made by a sculptor named Jagger. He has some of Jagger’s essence inside of him, which gives him a sense of humanity that the stone statues don’t have and desperately want. He’s willing to help George, but wants nothing to do with Edie.

The Walker – A mysterious man wearing a John Deere sweatshirt who wanders around London and never stops walking. In fact, he was walking around London when George and Edie’s grandparents were children, and when their grandparents’ grandparents were children. He’s more than interested in what George has done…the question is why?

The Black Friar – Like any man of God, the Friar is willing to help George and Edie. But is he called the Black Friar because he’s a black statue? Or because he has a black heart?

Dictionary Johnson – A statue of an 18th century man who wrote a dictionary. This statue unfortunately slobbers, twitches, herks and jerks, and his use of words leaves George and Edie needing a translator to figure out what he was actually trying to say.

The Clocker – One of the “weirded,” a being who used to be a man, but has been cursed to remain neither living nor dead for eternity. He is not a slave to the stone, as some of the other weirded are. But can he be trusted?