Stone Heart

Author: Charlie Fletcher

Publisher (In Great Britain): Hodder Children's Books

Publication Year (In Great Britain): 2006

Most of the readers will be: Late elementary school and middle school boys and girls.

Reader's Advisory: For another book in which statues come to life try The Stonewalkers by Vivien Alcock.

Summary:
When George breaks a carving on the front of the Natural History Museum he finds himself in a terrifying version of London he never knew existed. Immediately he is pursued by a pterodactyl, which was stone only a moment ago, and is saved in the nick of time by the statue of the Gunner on the Royal Artillery War Memorial. The Gunner gives George a crash course in this version of London.
"Spits" are sculptures of men and they are usually nice. "Taints" are sculptures of things, like gargoyles, and they aren't nice. They wish they had the spirit of a man like spits do. George has done something to make the taints angry and they are after him.
George's predicament is further complicated when Edie shows up. Edie sees George walking with the Gunner and is excited to find someone else who can see the statues move. But the Gunner isn't happy to see Edie. She is, what he calls, a "glint." Glints can "make the stones cry" because they can see the bad things that happened to them in their past.
Nevertheless, Edie sticks with George (something the Gunner isn't always able to do) as he tries to do whatever he can to right the wrong and get back to London as he knows it, meeting a series of helpful spits and frightening taints on the way.

My favorite passage:

The monk leaned back and looked round the room. He looked at the four imp-cherubs that sat high in each corner, but George saw no answering movement in them. The monk stretched a kink out of his shoulders.
'And why should I help you?'
'Because you're one of the good guys.'
'Am I? I wasn't aware of that. Indeed I wasn't aware of being a "guy" at all. A "guy" is something you burn on Bonfire Night, and I can assure you an incendiary finale is the very last thing I foresee for myself. My whole life's work has been committed to avoiding a fiery end, you might say.'
The Black Friar clearly savoured the taste of his own words rolling round his mouth, thought George with a strong twinge of irritation. It seemed like people - things, really - had been talking at him all day, and none of them had really given him a straight answer, just pushed him from one horrible experience to another. His voice was unexpectedly curt.
'You know what I mean.'
Edie caught the tone and looked up at him in surprise. The friar cocked his head to balance the irritatingly raised eyebrow.
'Not at all, goodness gracious. I only know what you say. Who told you I was "a good guy"?'
'You're a monk,' Edie cut in.
'And monks help do they?'
'Yes. Monks are on the side of good.'
'Well let me tell you what I am.' He spread his arms wide in the expansive gesture of a man with nothing to hide. The sleeves of his robe fell back, revealing stong muscular arms that didn't look as fat as George had expected.
'I am what I seem, no more no less. I am both a fat monk and a merry innkeeper; the halest of fellows wellmet and the watcher who stands at the road's fork. I am also a man who likes talking with men who like to talk. I provide mirth and happiness, warmth and cheer and absolution for sins past, present, and even - for a fee - future. In short, I can soothe your needs and ease your passage through this vale of tears. I am a helpmeet to the needy and a bringer of quietus. If you see what I drive at..." (pg 258-259)

What I really think:
Being a visitor to England, I found Fletcher's London very exciting. I am looking forward to looking for some the statues that come to life in the book on my trips to London. (The endpapers contain a map with the statues we meet in the story highlighted.) I wonder if true Londoners forget how magical their city is beneath the surface. If they do, I hope this book helps them remember.
This book, like many others, begins with a rather wimpy protagonist who is transformed into a hero by the end. I like this type of story because I think we are changed by our experiences and are stronger when we choose to face the challanges that come our way. But why is it that our hero is better equipped to face a dragon than a bully? Do the lessons that George learns translate into everyday life? I only bring this up becuase George is bullied before he falls into the parallell London but (SPOILER) at the end of the story he chooses not to go back. So we never get to see if his adventures with spits and taints help him become a stronger person back in the real world. This is the first book in a trilogy, so perhaps I'll get my answer yet.