LitPick Review
The Many Lives of John Stone is a book about 17 year old Stella Park. Stella, or Spark as she likes to be called, lives with her mom in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England.
It has been a long time since she has been able to visit her brother, Dan, in New York, but she now gets the opportunity. While she is there, she also meets a man named John Stone. He runs the charity that enabled her brother to get a good education. Mr. Stone asks Dan if he would like a job organizing his journals, but since Dan is busy with job interviews, Spark asks if John would consider taking her on instead. He accepts the offer, and soon Spark finds herself staying at his house, called Stowney House. She is allowed to stay there while she is working for him since his house is far away from hers.
As she is organizing the journals, she makes some unusual discoveries. Firstly, the journals span hundreds of years, and secondly, they are written in a language she has never heard before. She also starts to wonder why John Stone’s gardener seems to hate her. Is it even possible that John Stone wrote all of these journals himself? And why did he decide to take her on in the first place? Find out in this incredible adventure!
Opinion:
I thoroughly enjoyed The Many Lives of John Stone. It had mystery, suspense, and adventure to make it very exciting. Having read and loved the first book in the Gideon Trilogy, I decided to try this book, as it was written by the same author. I am really glad that I decided to read this book, because it was fantastic.
The author, Linda Buckley-Archer, has a way with words. She described the details of this book very well; I could picture Stowney House and the palace at Versailles in my head. Also, the characters were down-to-earth and believable.
A part in the book that I relished was when it added the journal entries. I liked reading the story behind John Stone’s life in the present and in the past. I can’t think of anything I didn’t like about this book.
I would recommend this book to anyone ages 11 and up, or to anyone who has read and enjoyed the Gideon Trilogy.
