Stoneway

By: Christopher Francis

Narrated by: Justin R. Berkey

Haunted by a boy named Riley Grayson, 12-year-old Wesley is suddenly confronted by three things he fears the most in life: love, bullying, and ghosts.

While on a grade-eight camping trip at Lake Stoneway, Wesley struggles with his fears, trying to find ways to get the attention of Michelle Heartly while stopping his best friend from picking on a new boy named Simon.

©2019 Christopher Francis (P)2020 Christopher Francis

Ghost Story

This is an attention grabbing ghost story with the bully problem weaved in. The importance of not bullying, getting help, and figuring out how to help each other.

The Meaning of Friendship!

This is an excellent story about facing fears and listening to your heart. Wesley’s best friend is a bully, his inner voices are telling him he should stand up to him but that could cost him his friendship. Christopher Francis has written about a subject that touches the lives of children everywhere… this story could be used as a pathway to open lines of communication between parents and children about a difficult subject. The narration by Justin R. Berkey captures the characters perfectly. I received this audiobook from the author at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

good story, kept listener entertained.

entertaining, easy to follow story narrated by a warm voice. Looked forward to each listen.

Informative

Bullying??? Is there anytime where you believe that it is right? Or no matter what is it wrong? This book takes it's own spin on bullying but it gets its message across. Personally I wasn't a fan of the way the book went about its message. It is a very hard subject for me. You may love it because it is cute and for a child it would work out great.

A poignant story

Middle school is tough enough to navigate for Bentley, and the 8th-grade camping trip is no different as he tries to figure out his feelings for Michelle Heartly as well as stop his best friend from picking on a new boy named Simon Partridge. What Bentley doesn't need on top of all of that is the ghost of the boy who drowned at the lake last year, Riley Grayson. As Bentley struggles with seeing the ghost of Riley, he also faces his feelings over his mother's death.

This was a tough book to listen to because it deals with some heavy issues for middle-school kids. That being said, Christopher Francis does a wonderful job showing how Bentley and Simon both deal with their feelings as they struggle with the deaths of their loved ones, that it ended up being a great story, and it was definitely better than I expected. There is so much going on in this book that I think it would be a great book to read or listen to for any child who has experienced the death of a loved one in their life or for a child who has a friend who has gone experienced it.

In addition to death, this book touches on bullying, consent, popularity, and peer pressure.

For those who prefer audiobooks, the narrator of this book - Justin R. Berkey - does a wonderful job with the performance.