Swallowing Stones - Softcover

McDonald, Joyce

3.54

2,543 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440226724 ISBN 13: 9780440226727

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1999

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It begins with a free and joyful act--but from then on, Michael finds it impossible even to remember what it felt like to be free and joyful. When he fires his new rifle into the air on his seventeenth birthday, he never imagines that the bullet will end up killing someone. But a mile away, a man is killed by that bullet as he innocently repairs his roof. And Michael keeps desperately silent while he watches his world crumble.

Meanwhile Jenna, the dead man's daughter, copes with desperation of her own. Through her grief, she tries to understand why she no longer feels comfortable with her boyfriend and why a near stranger named Michael keeps appearing in her dreams.

Suspenseful and powerfully moving, this is the unforgettable story of an accidental crime and its haunting web of repercussions.

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Review:

"Readers will quickly become absorbed in this electrifying portrayal of fear and deception." -Publishers Weekly

"The unexpected consequences of celebratory gunfire are the topic of this well-written novel . . . [It] will appeal to a broad audience, and it is a great vehicle for discussions about guns, violence, and responsibility." -VOYA

"When 17-year-old Michael discovers that he has accidentally killed the father of a schoolmate, he wrestles with his own guilt until he can no longer keep his terrible secret. A compassionate story focusing on both the killer and the family left to grieve the loss of a father and husband." -School Library Journal

"Deliberately paced but deeply felt drama." -Kirkus Reviews

About the Author:

Joyce McDonald is the author of several critically acclaimed young adult and middle-grade novels, including Shades of Simon Gray, an Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, and Devil on My Heels, nominated for five state awards. She is also a poet and is on the faculty of the low-residency MFA in writing program at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. She lives in Forks Township, Pennsylvania, with her husband. Visit Joyce at joycemcdonald.net.

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