Words of Stone
Every year for the past five years since his mother's death, 10-year-old Blaze has buried an imaginary friend  beneath a stone marker on a hill near his house. Every July he creates a new friend, hoping that this time his  make-believe companion will help him overcome his phobias--fears that have plagued him since he lost his  mother to cancer. One day Blaze discovers that someone has used his stone grave markers to spell out his  mother's name, "Reena." Feeling frightened and spooked, he cannot fathom who or what could have written this tormenting word.Unbeknownst to Blaze, young Joselle Stark has recently moved into her grandmother's nearby farmhouse  after being abandoned by her self-centered mother. When Joselle hears about Reena's death, she feels darkly compelled to  write disturbing messages to Blaze, using the stones she finds on the hill between them. In this book, as in his others, Kevin Henkes eloquently builds sympathy for the perpetrator as well as the victim,  helping young readers understand the traumas and insecurities that cause people to lie and hurt others. When  Joselle and Blaze eventually meet and become friends, Joselle hides the truth about the words she once  wrote in stone. But when the lie is revealed, Henkes does not create a swift or easy resolution. Instead he  becomes more graceful and paced in his writing--allowing the reader to savor the intricacies of betrayal,  rejection, and reconciliation. ALA Notable Book,School Library JournalBest Book of the Year,Publishers WeeklyBest Book,Horn BookFanfare Honor List. (Ages 10 and older)--Gail Hudson--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.