By Mike Revell
ISBN: 9781848668638
Stonebird is a thought-provoking story that tells of what happens when someone ends up with dementia and how it affects that person’s loved-ones, who have to deal with it. Based on true events in the author’s life, the story is told in the first person, from an 11-year old boy’s point of view. Not only does Liam have to deal with the sad condition of his grandmother, but also that of his mother, who finds her escape in the bottle, and a sister who sneaks out to meet her boyfriend as often as she can, and maybe worst of all, the bullies at school. Liam has a very mature understanding of the events around him, and it is portrayed as he steps up to fill his role as the man in the house.
The story contrasts the consequences of revenge versus forgiveness, and pictures the effects of bullying, the consequences of it, and some reasons for it. It also has a hidden lesson on the impact a person can have on the lives of others, and how our actions affect others.
“When eleven-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his grandma, he’s thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart.
Liam doesn’t remember what Grandma was like before she became ill with dementia. He only knows the witch-like old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He desperately wants to make everything better, but he can’t.
Escaping the house one evening, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways.
The gargoyle is alive. It moves unseen in the night, acting out Liam’s stories. And stories can be dangerous things…
But Liam’s grandma’s illness is getting worse, his mum isn’t coping, and his sister is skipping school.
What if the gargoyle is the only thing that can save Liam’s family?”
~ http://mikerevell.com/stonebird/
