A Stir of Bones [Hardcover]

Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2003

Fourteen-year-old Susan Backstrom seems to have a charmed life-she's smart and beautiful, the only child of wealthy, attentive parents. But there are secrets inside her expensive house that Susan would never tell. One day, at the library, she overhears their housekeeper's son talking with some friends about sneaking into a nearby abandoned house. Much to her own surprise, Susan very much wants to join them-and soon she's part of the best secret of all. The house has a resident teenage ghost. More important than that, the house itself is a living, supernatural thing, able to serve as a magic conductor. With the help of five new friends-three humans, one ghost, and House, Susan has what she needs to transform her life, if she dares. A Stir of Bones is the stand-alone prequel to acclaimed fantasist Nina Hoffman's award-winning adult novels A Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming. It is every bit as remarkable, warm, and heartwrenching.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-Susan Backstrom, the protagonist of this haunting and harrowing novel, appears to have everything. In reality, she is a prisoner of her abusive father, who beats his wife whenever he disapproves of his daughter's behavior. In a rare moment of freedom at the library, Susan overhears a group of kids talking about entering a haunted house and convinces them to let her go with them. With these new friends, she discovers that the house has a life of its own. Susan forms a close bond with the house and with Nathan, the ghost of a boy who committed suicide in it. When her father's menacing becomes too much, she decides to kill herself to be with Nathan and the house forever, and it is up to her friends to stop her and the house to show her how to use her newfound powers, derived from a piece of Nathan's bone, to heal rather than hurt. In this prequel to Hoffman's adult novels A Red Heart of Memories (1999) and Past the Size of Dreaming (2001, both Ace), the author creates an unusual world. As the story is told through Susan's eyes, everything, even the more fantastical events, seems matter-of-fact and dispassionate, which draws readers in and intensifies the horror. However, while some readers may find it satisfying that Susan has found a way to help her mother, others are likely to question her ability to protect herself from her father and worry that she has no adult to turn to for help.
Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-8. In this atmospheric prequel to A Red Heart of Memories (2000) and Past the Size of Dreaming (2002), a teenager begins the painful process of breaking away from her abusive father, with help from allies both human and supernatural. A chance encounter with three classmates leads Susan to an abandoned house that not only turns out to have a strong personality of its own but also harbors an uncommonly substantial ghost named Nathan. After years of listening to her mother being beaten for her minor transgressions, Susan is internally well armored--but that armor thins under the influence of these newfound friends and the eerie closeness that develops between her and Nathan. Richly endowed with complex relationships, a strange and subtle brand of magic, evocative language, and suspenseful storytelling, this will draw readers into a world less safe and simple than it seems at first glance, then send them on a determined hunt for sequels. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile; First Edition edition (September 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670035513
• ISBN-13: 978-0670035519
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,434 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More, please!, May 8, 2003

By 

Kirsten A. Edwards "kannealmstedt" (Duvall, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Stir of Bones (Hardcover)

Like Rapunzel, Susan is a girl set away from life and human companionship by a possessive and jealous adult. Her father keeps her locked in fear for her mother's safety at his hands. But Susan has tiny rebellions, times and places she carves out for Susan-inside, momentarily free from the picture-perfect Princess her father requires. In one such moment, reading in the small public library, Susan overhears three friends plotting to visit the local haunted house. Her house is haunted by secrets and pain-what might this one offer?

Magic, it turns out, and friendship and a ghostly love. The haunted house Ms. Hoffman creates is both creepy and alluring, and Susan's relationship with Nathan, the ghost who haunts it, is tender and sad. The three friends, Julio, Edmund and Dierdre are wonderfully real teens-their passionate curiosity and helpless desire to put things right are a rope thrown out to draw Susan back into humanity and life.

Although the story is full of incident-driving off a nosy schoolmate, figuring out the magic of the house, a confrontation with the police-Susan's character and dilemma are the heart of the tale. It is to Ms. Hoffman's credit that an internal journey-which could easily plod or wander down "lyrical" byways of naval-gazing angst-keeps the reader glued to the page. Susan's pain and hope drive the story forward-will she escape? Will her father discover and destroy her-or will she falter and destroy herself?

The only problem I had with this book is that it was too short-the characters and the setting so vivid, and I so caught up in Susan's story, I hated for it to end. Happily for the reader who has just discovered Ms. Hoffman through this book, it is a prequel to The Red Heart of Memories and Past the Size of Dreaming: Instant gratification is available at your local public library or bookstore! For readers who have already read these two books, A Stir of Bones should prove a pleasing reunion with old friends and a skillful storyteller.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This memorable story left me longing for more., July 26, 2004

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Stir of Bones (Hardcover)

Susan, a seventh-grader, has terrible secrets. Her father beats her mother and then blames Susan. He controls Susan, telling her what to wear, what to watch on television, and how to spend every minute of her time. At school, she is a lonely outsider. Her only real friends are the family's housekeeper, Juanita, and Juanita's son, Julio.

At the library one day, Susan overhears Julio and his friends plotting to visit the local haunted house, and she invites herself along. There, they meet a ghost named Nathan. Susan is oddly drawn to both Nathan and the house, and she begins to carry one of Nathan's finger bones. Her talisman emboldens her away from the house, and she finds herself able to connect with people a little more easily.

Susan finds refuge when Nathan invites each of the visitors to keep a room at the house. She develops relationships with her new acquaintances, both the living and the dead, and spends an unforgettable Halloween night with Nathan --- a mystical evening that makes her supernatural host even more alluring.

Many facets of Susan's life gradually become better. However, her home situation does not improve. Susan's unbearable pain plus her attraction to the boy ghost lead her to ponder whether or not she would be better off joining Nathan forever.

Susan and Nathan are heartrendingly sympathetic characters. The lyrical writing weaves together a dreamy ghost tale and the harsh realism of Susan's home life, ending on a hopeful note. The fact that there is no easy resolution only adds to the believability. This memorable story left me longing for more, so I was happy to learn that A STIR OF BONES is a stand-alone prequel to two previously published novels, A RED HEART OF MEMORIES and PAST THE SIZE OF DREAMING.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon ([e-mail])

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These are great for grown ups too!, March 31, 2005

By 

S Peterson "Thais Peterson" (Haslet, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Stir of Bones (Hardcover)

This prequel to Hoffman's other books is just as juicy and delicious as the others. She can really get inside the adolscent heart and make us bleed for the characters. I don't know why this is listed as adolescent fiction, because it's not. If you love contemporary fantasy these are great books for you. READ THEM!