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Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald

March 8, 2008
By Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
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Bapalapa2 ELITE, Brooklyn, New York
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Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald is a suspenseful book about a tragic accident that set off a chain of events that would change the small town of Briarwood forever. Michael Mackenzie fired off his Winchester Rifle on July 4th, showing it off to his best friends. Little did he know that he had taken the life of a man, and this act would create horrible repercussions.

There are 2 main characters within this book; Michael Mackenzie, the accidental killer and Jenna Ward, the daughter of the deceased father. After Michael finds out about the event, his best friend Joe, tells him to keep it covert because he could be imprisoned for it. But throughout the book Michael is plagued by guilt from his conscience as more and more people are becoming involved and getting hurt. During the course of the book Michael is going through a lot of emotional struggle, and is thinking on deeper and entirely new levels.

Meanwhile Jenna is just beleaguered with thoughts of “what if” she had done something different he wouldn't have been killed, and dealing with the “innocent's guilt”. At first she had wanted revenge for whoever did this, so she could fill the emptiness inside her, but later realized that she just wanted it to end. Jenna realized she had to come to terms with herself before she could truly accept her father's death.

The death of her father mixes with her personal life when she begins to have panic attacks around her boyfriend. Michael's personal life becomes complicated as he can not see a definite right or wrong answer, for the word is not black and white, it is gray. Both Jenna and Michael's private lives turn in to turmoil with misunderstanding, break ups, new friends and broken trust. All of this mixed in with the normal anxiety of a teenager.

A truly great book filled with power, and an emotional thriller .This is a must read for all genres of readers, for it is filled with suspense, fast paced , and an intricate plot terrifyingly truthful of how one event can change a life, or the lives of many in one foul stroke.

Image Credit: Amazon.com

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This article has 98 comments.

Mrs. Martinez said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:48 am
Aaron - the word lame is not acceptable. Please use more mature language.
Cam#1 said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:48 am
Swallowing stones is a book about a boy who a shot a random bullet in the air. The bullet somehow killed Charlie Ward the father of Jenna Ward. Michael (the boy who shot the gun) buries the rifle because he thinks he is the killer. At the end Michael can’t live with his guilt and confesses to Jenna Ward that he was the killer
cosb said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:48 am
true i do agree
Chav B said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:47 am
Kendra i totally agree i like the way you described the book so well Great Job!!!!
Josh said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:47 am
i Agree  .
Ade 14 said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:47 am
i also agree about the ending
Mrs. Martinez said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:46 am
Nice Review Josh!! I agree that Jenna's chapters were a little slow. But the overall book was good.
lil aaron c said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:46 am
kendra is a lame u copied off me
cosb said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:45 am
I did like the book but I did not like the ending.I  did not like the ending because I thought I was going to read what Michael was going to say to Jenna
Josh said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:45 am
Swallowing stone is a book about a boy name Michael who gets a rifle on his birthday. And decide to shoot the gun. And later on kills a man by the name of Charlie ward. It’s also about something you shouldn’t do or else you will get put in a bad position like Michael. I didn't like swallowing. Because the ending was stupid. And jenna chapters was boring 
Tae,Tae said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:45 am

I want know why micheal told on him self  ?

 

Ade 14 said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:44 am
Swallowing stones is a book about a boy name Michael and a girl name Jenna. And how Michael had killed Charlie ward on accident when he went into the woods. Then Michael hides the gun so it wouldn’t be found by the police. At the end Michael was going to confess to Jenna and he meets her at the ghost tree where she was sleeping. I think the book was good but I really didn’t like the ending because I wanted to know what was going to happen at the end. I also wanted to know was Michael going to go to jail and if Jenna was going to forgive him.
Kendra said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:43 am
I to think the ending was very frustrating.
lil aaron c said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:43 am
i agree with chav b on his comment about the book and  i think the book was not at all total honesty i think cvavez copied off me but thats ok
lloyd stsandors said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:42 am
lloyd stsandors, Dolton, Illinois
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It is michael fault, if he would of never shot the rifle.Charlie Ward would be still alive.
Mrs. Martinez said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:41 am
Great review. Very insightful! Glad you liked the book!
cosb said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:40 am
Swallowing Stones is a book about two different lives a girl named Jenna and a boy named Michael. Michael Mackenzie doesn’t know until the day after that he killed a man named Charlie Ward while he was on his way to get his driver’s license. He is having a hard time overcoming the guilt and the hard times. Him and his best friend Joe are trying to keep it a secret from the police and everybody they know. Jenna is trying to keep her feelings in from people she knows. At the end Michael takes the gun with him and goes to Jenna’s house hoping to talk.
lil aaron c said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:39 am
i like the book a little bit and  i like when mikes grandfather gave him a gun for his birthday and it was down stairs in the basement of mikes house it was the fourth of july and mike and his friend joe took the gun to the woods and fired the gun and the next day they heard a man got shot on the radio.what happen in the book was basicly no one was honest and everyone was liening about what they saw and if they did anything like when mike found out he killed chalie ward he didnt turn hiself in he basicly blamed it on his friend joe thats basicly it.......
Chav B said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:38 am
True i totaly agree
kendra said...
on Nov. 22 2011 at 9:38 am
Swallowing Stones  about a teenager name micheal had got an rifle for his Birthday from his grandfather and he shot it on july 4 up in the air and accidently shot a man name charlie ward who was on his roof on that afternoon. after he found out he did it he didnt tell anyone but his bestfriend joe buried it in his backyard in was very sad about it. I like the book it was good i liked how it was in micheal chapter then jenna's and how it combined at the end. however i did not like the end i thought it was very stupid.