The Lovely Bones

Author: Alice Sebold

ISBN:978-0316044936

Publication Information: Back Bay Books

Plot Summary: Susie Salmon is a regular 14 year old girl, until one cold December day she is murdered in a cornfield on her way home from school. Her murder is a mystery, and the murderer, Mr. Harvey (Susie's neighbor) goes undetected. Susie continues to observe her family and community from heaven and watches her family unravel as her father becomes obsessed with proving the Mr. Harvey is the killer, and her mother begins an emotional (and physical) affair with the detective assigned to her case. Left in the lurch are Susie's siblings, Susie's sister especially, who becomes known as the girl with the murdered sister. Susie's tale is two-fold, telling the story of the lives of those that continue to live on earth, and her own new life as she lives on in heaven and tries to let go of her family and friends that are still alive.

Critical Evaluation:Although this book wasn't strictly written for teens (Alice Sebold is generally considered an adult author), many teens are drawn into Susie Salmon's story. And now that The Lovely Bones is a major motion picture even more teens will be interested in reading the novel. Sebold has created an interesting take on a murder mystery plot, by taking all of the mystery out of the novel. Instead of trying to figure out who the murderer is, the true question of the story is if the police will ever be able to peg Mr. Harvey as a serial killer. Sebold is a masterful storyteller, and creates a wonderful narrator in Susie. This book should appeal to most teens, whether in middle school (although the novel is a little mature for all middle schoolers) or high school, boys or girls.

Reader's Annotation: Susie Salmon was murdered in a cornfield on December 6, 1973. This is her story.

Author Information: Alice Sebold is the author of three books, a memoir and two novels. All three of her books have had both commercial and critical success, all reaching #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The Lovely Bones has been translated into over 45 languages and has sold over 5 million copies. Sebold was born in Wisconsin and grew up in Philadelphia. She studied writing at Syracuse University and also attended UC Irvine and the University of Houston. On a completely unrelated and random side note, a friend of mine owns Alice Sebold's old dining room buffet hutch.

Curricular Ties: N/A

Genre:Mystery, Issues

Book talking ideas:

• Discuss Susie's version of heaven. Why are the things in Susie's heave part of her ideal?
• Why did Susie's parents behave in the way they did? Why did Susie's mother abandon her family? Why did Susie's father become so obsessed with Mr. Harvey?
• How did Susie's siblings cope with Susie's death?
  

Challenge issues:Violence

• Familiarize yourself with the book and its contents.
• Check the library for specific policies on challenged books.
• Check the ALA website for advice on how to respond and react when a book has been challenged. (http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/challengeslibrarymaterials/index.cfm)
  
• Find positive reviews from reputable websites.
• Ask the challenger for their specific objections and try to address them using information from the above research.

Interest Age: Grades 8 and up

Why I selected this piece: This has been on my list to read for a long time, this blog was a great reason to finally pick it up.