Skip to main content

Book Review: "The Screaming Stone" by J. P. Osterman

It's not often that I get to review fiction on this blog and it's the first time that I've been able to review young adult fiction.

From the title, you'd think that the screaming stone is a fantasy novel but its not. Although there is some talk of mythology, the main events of the book are firmly rooted in reality. It's a mystery and adventure novel with only the slightest hint of fantasy.

I found the writing style to be quite different from the breezy style of J K Rowling but J P Osterman has a long history as an English and writing teacher. She seems to have pitched the book at the early teen and older readers. At about 300 pages, the book isn't overly long and a lot happens within its pages.

While this is a mystery/adventure novel, it's a long way from the formula fiction one usually finds in young adult books on this subject such as The Three Investigators, Trixie Beldon, The Hardy Boys and Encyclopedia Brown. This is good because although I'm not against formula fiction which is great for fledgling readers, it does tend to restrict the learning of older readers. The events in the screaming stone are far less predictable and the characters are "multi-dimensional and real. It's an obvious choice for reading development in kids who enjoy mystery fiction.

The story is set in sixties America and it's mainly about two children in difficult home settings who embark on a treasure hunt through their family's past. There are lots of bits of Irish mythology and the Civil War. Being set in the days before everyone had mobile phones, GPS and the internet means that the mystery can be sustained for longer.

J P Osterman seems to have taken quite a bit of her past and put it in the story. I get the feeling the main character, Marcie, is so well drawn because she really is the author at 13.

I suppose that you're wondering why this review belongs on this blog? The character of Robbie very clearly has Aspergers syndrome. It's never explicitly stated in the book but his behaviour is obvious. He has obsessions, routines which need to be followed and at one point he even has a meltdown. Of course, Aspergers was not a diagnosed condition in the sixties and Robbie receives the sort of treatment provided to aspies in the day. In that sense, it's hard reading about a character who is misunderstood by everyone around him. Given today's tolerance and intervention, Robbie's life would have been so much easier.

Author J P osterman is no stranger to Autism and Aspergers Syndrome with two children on the spectrum. It is nice to see that she doesn't feel the need to label Robbie but simply takes him as an individual and describes him as he is. It is us, the readers, who put the label on him.

At the end of the day, its hard to say what makes the screaming stone so fascinating. Is it the mystery itself or the background and behaviour of the characters? I guess the appeal will depend upon your age and experience. Younger readers will be drawn to the mystery while older readers will find the character study more fascinating.

I'd recommend the screaming stone to the more competent readers in your family (aged 13 and upwards). It's not just a young adult book, there's a great deal in there for us "older" adults too.

The screaming stone is a great addition to the mystery genre for young adults and should effectively bridge the gap between formula fiction and adult novels.

You can read more about J. P. Osterman's other works here; http://www.jposterman.com/

You can buy the Screaming Stone from various outlets including "Infinity Publishing".


Honesty Clause: I was provided with an advance reader copy of The Screaming Stone at no cost for review purposes.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do Aspies Suddenly Back Off in Relationships (Part 2)

In part one, we looked at the role that Change Resistance plays in causing aspies to suddenly go "cold" in otherwise good relationships. This time, I want to look at self esteem and depression; Self Esteem The aspie relationship with themselves is tedious at best. People with Asperger's commonly suffer from low self esteem. As discussed in earlier posts, this low self esteem often results from years of emotional turmoil resulting from their poor social skills. Aspies are often their own worst enemy. They can over analyze situations and responses in an effort to capture lost nonverbal communication. This often causes them to invent problems and to imagine replies. Everything made up by aspies will tend to be tainted with their own self image. This is one of reasons that people with Asperger's will sometimes decide that they are not good enough for their partner and that they must let them go. Sometimes, the aspie will develop a notion of chivalry or self-sacrific...
134 comments
Read more

Aspie Myths - "He Won't Miss Me"

I apologise for the excessive "male-orientated" viewpoint in this post. I tried to keep it neutral but somehow, it just works better when explained from a male viewpoint. Here's a phrase that I've seen repeated throughout the comments on this blog on several occasions; "I know that he won't miss me when I'm gone because he's aspie" Today, we're going to (try to) bust that myth; Individuals I'll start off with a reminder that everyone is an individual. If all aspies were completely alike and predictible, they'd be a stereotype but they're not. Each is shaped by their background, their upbringing, their beliefs and their local customs. An aspie who grew up with loud abusive parents has a reasonable chance of becoming loud and abusive themselves because in some cases, that's all they know. That's how they think adults are supposed to behave. In other cases, aspies who grew up in those circumstances do a complete about-fa...
150 comments
Read more

Why Do Aspies Suddenly Back-Off in Relationships? (Part 1)

One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is why an aspie (or suspected aspie) suddenly goes "cold" and backs off on an otherwise good relationship. It's a difficult question and the answers would vary considerably from one person to another and would depend greatly on the circumstances. Nevertheless, I'll try to point out some possibilities. Negative Reasons I generally like to stay positive on this blog and assume that people are not necessarily "evil" but simply misguided. Unfortunately, I do have to acknowledge that there are some people out there who take advantage of others. I read a book a few years ago on "sociopaths in the workplace" and I was stunned by the figures. They suggested that sociopaths were so common that most workplaces (small business) had at least one or two. The fact is that there are lots of people out there who really feel very little for others and who are very manipulative. I'd like to say that aspies aren...
64 comments
Read more