Stonebird by Mike Revell

In the late nineties there was an excellent cartoon series called Gargoyles featuring some gargoyles that came to life at night, helped a police detective solve crimes and made light-hearted banter with each other. I remember that the excellent Keith David voiced the lead gargoyleś voice.

As creatures that had lived for hundreds if not thousands of years the gargoyles were very noble, principled beings. Gargoyles on the whole are supposed to represent fierce protectors whose very appearance is enough to deter those who wish to do evil.What if however a kid could control them by simply saying a few words.

The novel Stonebird by Mike Revell deals with a young boy called Liam whose parents are divorced. On top of that his older sister is going through a phase, he's just moved to a new school where he knows no one and to top it off his dear grandmother is ill in the hospital. Then one day he discovers a diary his granny kept when she was his age and his opinion of her changes. What really excites Liam is that a strange stone creature seems to be his protector He just needs to find out why.

Many tv shows and more than a few novels often portray bad guys or antagonists as people who deserve what's coming to them. That way, when the hero socks them one we can jump and cheer. Reality is often quite the opposite and this novel shows just that. Liam finds that his nemesis has his own reasons for acting the way he does and this knowledge makes him question his own behavior.

Though the book does not have a happy ending, the conclusion is satisfying. I will say that his book is written by a British author and although it seems that some of the references have been modified so that American readers will not get lost there are some words in the book that some parents may not approve of. Also the subject matter is very emotionally intense so for this reason I recommend the book for ages 10+.