Many Stones

by Carolyn Coman

Book Overview

A father and daughter confront each other and their own wounds in a land of loss and reconciliation. "Coman has deftly woven together the themes of death, grieving, and reconciliation through the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330399179
• ISBN13: 9780330399173
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Young Picador
• Length: 128 Pages
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

AMAZING BOOK! A must read!!!

Many Stones by Carolyn Coman is a heartfelt book specifically examining forgiveness through a crushed father-daughter relationship. Berry, the main character is beginning a trip to Africa, with her father, for her sister Laura's memorial (because she got killed there). Berry is very taken back about the fact that her father wants her to come with him. Because for awhile he wasn't really involved in her life and just because Laura's memorial is coming he expects to come waltzing back into her life. She doesn't think so! Berry is especially taken back because she would be leaving her mother behind, whose been her primary caretaker. Through this journey is hard for Berry and it brings up uncomfortable issues with her father. In the end, it makes her a more strong and forgiving person. She really breaks out of the shell, she's been trapped in. I highly recommend you read this book, I could barely put it down.

Deft Writing and Characterizations

Many Stones by Carolyn Coman is another outstanding addition to the field of young adult literature. It certainly deserved every award and every bit of praise that it received. It is rare to find a novel of any genre with as much insight into a human's life.The novel is of Berry, a "normal" American teenager, who has a number of problems. The main two are that she hasn't yet been able to cope with the death of her sister, Laura (who was murdered in South Africa), and she has a terrible relationship with her father who left her family years before. The novel is told by Berry as she and her father undergo a trip to South Africa for the unveiling of a memorial to Laura's memory. Along the way, Coman explores Berry. She reveals the way Berry has reacted to the murder of her sister. She also gives insight into the relationship between Berry and her father, especially in the light of their shared loss. coman also uses the setting of South Africa to great effect. She portays the parallels of the country trying to forgive and reconsile after decades of apartheid with the way Berry feels about the murder and about the attackers. Coman definitely gives the reader a lot to think about and to chew on. She really knows the teenage mind well, and she is one of the very few with enough talent to translate that knowledge into story. Many Stones is another magnificant young adult novel my Coman and another by British and American novelists.

Truthful and timely

Another outstanding book by Coman. (I've read "What Jamie Saw" and "Tell Me Everything" as well.) This novel deals with the "new" South Africa, something I know about because I lived in South Africa from 1995 to 1998, during the beginning of democracy in a country torn apart by apartheid. Coman obviously has been to South Africa and spent some time there because all of her observations are right on the money: the friendly but blatant racism of some (not all) whites; the expressionless faces of most blacks; the descriptions of Jo'burg, Cape Town and Kruger Park. Her observations were uncanny. Then Coman compares the troubled main character, Berry, with South Africa--a difficult feat for any writer, but Coman pulls it off skillfully. The ending packs a punch with Berry stating her anger at her sister's death and recognizing the pain that many South Africans still carry from the apartheid years. What a book! I do recommend it only for older readers because some profanity is used as well as a reference to Berry's ongoing love affair with a "typical" American teenager.

Many Stones

The story is narrated by a high school-age girl, named Berry Morgan. The reader gets to know Berry on a very intense and intimate level as she reveals her emotional pain from her parents divorce, and from the subsequent murder of her older sister, Laura, who had been working at a church-run school for very poor children in Soweto, South Africa. Most of the story takes place on a trip Berry and her father make to South Africa to attend a commemorative service to be held there for Laura a year and a half after her killing. The father is a hard-driving Washington lobbyist who had coached his daughters toward being high achievers in school, sports, and careers, but who had placed their emotional needs second to his own. The story interweaves two themes: the passage of Berry from her emotional pain of loss toward acceptance and future growth, and the parallel passage of South African people who are willing to forgive the injustices and horrors of their apartheid era so that they can get on with building a new life of hope. Berry has to learn from some of the people she encounters that one cannot accept being mired down in past tragedies if one is to grow. The story is so intensely Berry's interior life, and she is so bitter at the beginning, that it might have been too much of a closeup if the writing wasn't so good. Coman's writing unerringly maintains the emotion of Berry's feelings and dialogue with her father throughout the story. There are memorable lines, and the tension of wondering whether Berry will work it all out is unwavering. She strikes out verbally at her father every chance she gets, so that at times we hate her for it, but then she reveals her vulnerability and we forgive her and hope she's at least making progress on her journey of healing. Back-story is revealed only as necessary as we move along in the plot, and this makes the reading very fluid. The ending has a feeling of completeness and hope, and is well-earned.

A book about forgiveness

Many Stones is a multi-layered tale about forgiveness, a process that needs to occur at both the political and personal levels in this incredibly well-told book. Berry is angry, most especially at her father, who has moved 3000 miles away from his family. Now the two of them are on their way to South Africa, ostensibly to participate in a memorial service for Berry's sister, Laura, who went to South Africa to do charity work but who wound up the victim of random violence. When she was alive, Laura was the "favorite" daughter, the daughter that Berry always felt second fiddle to whenever she was in the company of her father and Laura. Berry's father wants to use the trip as an opportunity for him and Berry to make amends, to forgive one another for the wounds they've each inflicted. But, Berry is resistant to doing so. She's just too angry. But, as any student of current events knows, South Africa provides a tremendous example of the power of forgiveness. Berry is over there during the meetings of the Truth Commission, and speaks to a number of people who explain to her that knowing the truth is more valuable than punishing wrong-doers. Thus, the families of victims have chosen to trade forgiveness for knowledge, not revenge. Berry's father obviously hopes his daughter will be so moved to provide the same to him, but as you can imagine, a teenaged girl, who is in pain from a variety of hurts, is not going to be easy to convince. The language of this book is sparse and beautiful. I'm pleased that it was nominated for a National Book Award--deservedly so for taking on such a complex topic and handling it so brilliantly. One last note: There is not a lot of fiction out there that deals with the relationships between fathers and daughters. This is an especially good look at the complexities of those bonds.