The Stone Child by Dan Pablocki

The Stone Child by Dan Pablocki is creepy! It made me want to turn on more lights while I was reading, and that isn’t something that happens to me very often. I’ll have to read something light and happy before I go to bed tonight to get this story out of my head, otherwise I’m afraid this book will invade my dreams. So, if you’re easily scared or prone to nightmares, do not pick up this book. REALLY! If, however, you enjoy a book that makes even the brightest room seem slightly oppressive and has you looking over your shoulder because you feel like you are being watched….enjoy!


Summary: Eddie doesn’t really mind when his parents decide to move to the small town of Gatesweed. He doesn’t have any friends anyway, except for books by his favorite author, Nathaniel Olmstead. But the family move becomes less routine when they crash the family car into something; his parents think it might have been a bear, but Eddie knows it was a monster, like in one of Olmstead’s books. Then he looks across and sees the house – Nathaniel Olmstead’s house! What could be cooler than moving into your favorite author’s hometown, seeing the house he lived in before he disappeared thirteen years before? Eddie also finds an unpublished Olmstead manuscript, written in code, which could explain the author’s mysterious disappearance.

But Eddie also sees other things – the monsters in Olmstead’s books are very real, and Eddie must use his knowledge of his favorite books to fight them while also getting help from his two new friends, Harris and Maggie, to solve the mystery of Olmstead’s disappearance and keep the most dangerous monster of all from escaping into Gatesweed.

The Stone Child is full of bump-in-the-night chills that will keep you reading.

Themes:
Choices
Responsibility
Friendship


Age Appropriateness:
10 and up

Areas of concern (content):
Foul Language: very mild
Nudity/Adult Content: none
Violence: mild but creepy