Finding the Green Stone - Hardcover

Walker, Alice; Juvenile Collection (Library Of Congress)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 015227538X ISBN 13: 9780152275389

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1991

Synopsis

Johnny lives in a town where everyone owns a shiny green stone. He has one, too, until his mean-spirited behavior makes him lose it. His family and the whole town help him search, but to find it, he alone must discover the “bright green sun in his heart.” “A symbolic and sensitive tale about a young boy who discovers that happiness and fulfillment can come from within.”--American Bookseller

About this title

About the Author:

Best-selling novelist ALICE WALKER is the author of five other novels, five collections of short stories, six collections of essays, seven volumes of poetry, including the most recent Hard Times Require Furious Dancing, and several children’s books. Her books have been translated into more than two dozen languages.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-4-- Like everyone in their largely African-American community, Johnny and Katie each have a green stone that glows when they are particularly loving or caring. Johnny loses his and immediately begins acting badly. (It's unclear whether he lost it because he acted badly; at any rate, ``because of his hurtful behavior, he deserved to lose it.'') His actions make everyone, himself included, sad (no one gets angry in this book). Johnny's father trucks wood (but feels bad about tree-cutting); his mother is a fast-moving community doctor, rushing around with her stone in her mouth (no danger of choking?). When she reacts impatiently to Johnny's loss, her stone turns a sickly color; her amended response is to put her arm around her son and tell him it's his own fault. Only Johnny himself can find it again, but the whole community drops everything to be with him while he looks. When he puzzles over their support, he feels ``as if all the warmth inside himself was trying to rush out''--but instead of a fatal chill, he gets his stone back. Allegorical consistency is not the book's strong suit: although the stone seems to be an external conscience, trees and dogs have them too; and the possession of a stone doesn't keep some characters from acting badly. Preachy psychology and muddled fantasy make for a heavy-handed blend. Deeter's warm, bright acrylics are cheery and attractive, but can't save this tract from sinking under its own well-intentioned weight. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 015227538X
• ISBN 13: 9780152275389
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Deeter Catherine