Swallowing Stones by Joyce McDonald is a really well thought out book that people should give a chance to read. From the beginning, it starts off good enough to hook you into the story. One of the best things in this book are the characters. It makes you want to like specific characters and vice versa, it makes you dislike others, their characteristics are unique to themselves. The story is interesting enough if you like a little mystery in your books.
The book begins by introducing the two main characters in this book, Jenna Ward and Michael Mackenzie. Michael fired his Winchester Rifle at a party to show off to his friends , but he fired it on the same day that Jenna’s father was fixing the roof. Her father’s death caused Jenna to have different emotions about the situation. Whenever Michael realizes what he has done, he begins to feel guilty and goes through a lot of emotional struggle and thinks about what’s going to happen if he gets caught. Jenna and Michael have to deal with what’s going on and the book does a good job on illustrating the internal and external struggle of grief. This book does an excellent job on making everything sound realistic and you’re able to make some connections with some of its characters. One of the many themes from this book is that one moment in your life can affect and change your life and others around you. Its plot is excellent and the narrative is well done. Overall I recommend people to read the book, it has something that everyone can relate to or even learn from.