Review: A book to put you back in touch with your own feelings and humanity
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 22, 2013
I will always have fond memories of my Dad teaching me to skip stones.  It is a calming and therapeutic thing to me so that was what I was expecting from this book, Skipping Stones.  Boy was I wrong.  Try rollercoaster with every feeling and emotion I could have, including the tears.  (The book should come with a box of Kleenex I think ;)JB McGee did an exquisite job of addressing one of the most difficult things I have ever experienced - true grief and the trials of trying to move through it.  She reminds us that there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.  Having discovered just how real those stages are and that they occur differently and on a different time frame for each person myself, I really felt a kinship to Alex, the heroine in the story even though we are so far apart in age (She is about 15 and I am...*grin*).  Her character was so well developed and so expressive.  Her pain became my pain.  Then she met Drew.  He taught her to skip stones, lay in fields full of wildflowers (one of my favorite things) and helped her to move through her grief.  As they fell in love, it was like I was 13 and falling in love with Jim Jahncke all over again for the first time.  Then abruptly, Alex's heart is ripped open all over again.This book is exceptional.  The characters ~ Alex, Drew, Memaw and Papa were all so tangible and real and Ms. McGee's interpretation of Southern Hospitality was spot on.  First love, coming of age, loss, being reunited with loved ones, and overcoming unbelievable obstacles are all touched on and this book is one of those that stays with you, long after you have read it.  Strangely enough, I did not feel this was a YA book.  The age of the characters was transcendent.This may not seem like my typical book and you would be right.  It was not.  But it was the kind that you need to read from time to time to put you back in touch with your own feelings and humanity.  I encourage you to read it...with all of your heart.**5 STARS**I received this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review.  All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received.