The singing stone
By Gary Venn
ISBN 9781776890552
Bateman Books
Miles has just moved to a new home with his family. Not an ordinary home, but a motor camp that needs a bit of work to bring in the travellers. It is while he is shovelling gravel with his father, that Miles finds a smooth, red stone. He picks it up and puts it in his pocket, unaware how much his life is about to change, or the danger that will follow.
Right from the first chapter, there are hints that something or someone is out there in the campgrounds and surrounding wilderness. After Miles finds the stone, strange things begin to happen. Someone is watching him, there are strange singing sounds, and the stone begins to glow. Someone wants the stone back!
At school, he makes a new friend with Oliver but he keeps his concerns secret from him. The person he does confide in, is Melinda, the girl he meets in the campground, but she has her own secrets.
The book moves along at a steady pace, building tension and suspense right to the end.
The characters are believable, and likeable. Short chapters, along with a few dark and foreboding illustrations, will appeal to middle grade readers, and up. Friendship, conflict, the surrounding environment of wilderness, and rivers, and a growing sense of the unreal, all work together to make this a good read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and all its intrigue.
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