Customer Reviews

The Stones of Mourning Creek

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think this is a wonderful book for all ages. Diane Les Becquets is a great author. The Stones of Mourning Creek is about a white girl named Francie who becomes best friends with a black girl named Ruthie during the 1960's in the South. After Francie's mother dies...Francie became unhappy and really lonely since her father seemed to never be there for her. Francie's mother didn't really die in an accident, she stopped a man from raping a girl and so the man killed her. You quickly find out in a couple of pages who the evil man is and who he was going to rape. Francie became friends with Ruthie, after Ruthie saves her by getting help when she found her knocked out from a snakebite. Francie and Ruthie cherished their friendship and let nothing come between them. Francie falls for a boy named Earnest :O) Their town is full of secrets....people they know are not all they seem to be. Francie and Ruthie end up finding out the answers to the mystery of Francie's mother's so-called accident. The ending was........hmm......dunno what to really say about it but you just have to read this wonderful story for yourself to find out the ending...

As a librarian at a middle school I regularly read young adult fiction. This story is truly inspiring. The two main characters are struggling with a desire to be "best friends" during the 1960's when black people were excluded from many daily activities even though the laws said that they were to have the same rights as everyone else. The girls discover, that together, they hold key information to solve a murder mystery that has deeply affected both of them personally. This story gives you the feeling that true friendship is something you don't want to ever let go of. Strong language but important to the story. A great book for discussions and literature circles.

Hi there! I am an anvide reader! And I must say this is one of my favorite books. I read a lot of books, so u have 2 understand how good this book really has to be good. It shows true friendship, first love, and an acceptance of other races and life stlyes. This author definatly has something special going on! I hope she writes more books. Just a note: I have to promote this book, Seer and The Sword! It is wonderful!

When the mother of thirteen year old Francie allegedly falls and hits her head, Francie is grief striken, and her life changes drastically. No one is home to cook her and her father dinner, no one is there to look after her father when he drinks, except her. She wishes her mother was still alive, and it is a blessing when she meets Ruthie, the girl who saved Francie's life when she was bit by a rattle snake. Ruthie and Francie become friends, but will they be able to remain close as the mystery in the past of their lives becomes more clear? Between family, rumors and neigbors, the girls no longer know who to trust. Racial division in thir town may tear apart their lives, and their friendship.

I've always liked mysteries but I'm not too fond of sappy "let's all have a good sob" novels. So when I read THE STONES OF MOURNING CREEK, I was puzzled. What was I to think of this emotional novel entwined with a mystery? It turns out the novel wasn't what I expected.

Francie is a quiet girl with brilliant red hair. Since her mother's death, Francie lives alone with her father and has few friends. It is the 1960s, when racism is rampant, but when Francie meets Ruthie, a young black girl, the two become almost inseparable. That is until the rest of Spring Gap begins to notice. As the town grows more conscious of the tight bond between the girls, people become more intent on splitting them up.

Meanwhile, new developments about the death of Francie's mom keep popping up. How did she die? Nobody is really sure about that night, and not many people want to find out. So Francie embarks on a journey --- with Ruthie, of course. The two become trapped as they try to untangle themselves from a web of lies. They find that nothing is safe and they can turn to no one in their quest for the truth.

In THE STONES OF MOURNING CREEK, Diane Les Becquets shows the reader what life in the '60s was really like. She also reveals aspects of the mother-daughter relationship. It is clear that when Francie's mother was alive, the two were almost inseparable --- much like Francie and Ruthie.

The mystery got the best of me, and I felt myself falling for the "lets all have a good sob" part, as much as I didn't want to. If you're fond of mysteries, and you don't mind sappy novels, then read THE STONES OF MOURNING CREEK. You just might like it.
--- Reviewed by Lisa Marx

One of the best books I have ever read is The Stones of Mourning Creek. It is a fantastic tale of mystery and friendship. Let me tell you about it.
Fourteen year old Francie Grove lives in Spring Gap, Alabama in 1966. When her mama dies, she and her daddy are overcome by sorrow, but they deal with it in different ways. Mr. Grove goes out at night and drinks, while Francie becomes friends with a girl named Ruthie, and talks to her about her troubles.
Ruthie rescued Francie after being bit by a snake, and this incident was what brought them together. There is only one problem. Francie is white, and Ruthie is black. It isn't easy to stay friends in this segregated time, but nothing can separate them. Francie and Ruthie together go through a lot of the things girls today do, such as bullies at school, family troubles, and crushes on boys. The stones of the creek represent the relationship of these two girls, since Ruthie made bracelets of the rocks for each of them.
As time goes along, Francie suspects that Mama's death was no accident. Little does she know it, but Ruthie holds the secret to discovering what happened to Francie's mother.
This is an extremely emotional book. You will laugh and cry when you read it.

I really enjoyed this book, it was beautifully written. I don't really reccomend it for readers who don't like sad books. There is a lot of death in it, i cried toward the end of. I thought it was interesting how the author showed what it had been like for a white person to be friends with a black person. People looked down on you, I'm glad it's not like that anymore. It was very suspensful; very hard to put down.

Hi, I just got finished with the book not to long ago and i just want to say that it is a great book, the author makes it easy to visualize everything and everybody. When ever i would read the book and my mom had me take a break to do the dishes or something, I think, "I better hurry or i will miss the rest of the movie!" You can tell it is a good book when you do things like that!

Diane Les Bequets is not just another writer, she has inspired me with this book. I hope that her next book will be just as good. As a matter a fact, I happened to be one of her former students in creative writing. I was touched by how she had made such a clear picture in my mind of this story. This book is about a white girl, (Francie) and a black girl, (Ruthie) that become best friends and try to find out if Francie's mother's death was a murder. It is a great mystery story and a great friendship story. I hope more kids will get a chance to read it, rather than sitting around and watching T.V. all day. And I'm not trying to be a suck up when I say this, she had inspired me to become a writer when I grow up. The biggest kid fan ever,
J.C.O.

A small town divided by racial strife hides a secret from the past: a secret discovered by Francie, whose mother has just died. Her newfound friendship with black neighbor Ruthie increases town tensions and leads to some dangerous encounters with prejudice in this complex story with its surprise conclusion. Highly recommended for advanced YA readers.