Book Review: The Seeing Stone by Holly Black and Tony Terlizzi (Spiderwick Chronicles Book 2)

Stars: 5 out of 5
Pros: Fast paced story and characters developed
Cons: Cruelty to animals
The Bottom Line:
Story starts strongly
Does not let go until end
Great second entry




I See a Good Stone, I Mean Story

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a serialized story for kids.  Each book is 108 small pages and include several black and white illustrations.  The Seeing Stone is the second installment in the five book series.  The story really gets off the ground in this one.

In the first installment, we met the Grace siblings and their mother who have just moved into an old family home.  Strange things started happening to them, and Jared, our main character, found a book that explains about the existence of faeries and other supposedly mythological creatures.  Jared also has a twin named Simon and an older sister named Mallory.

It's been a couple of weeks, and the Grace family is settling into their new home.  Then the new cat that Simon has adopted disappears.  Simon insists on looking for it, only to disappear himself.  Jared watches as Simon is attacked by something that Jared can't see and dragged into the bushes.  Quickly getting their sister Mallory, the two search for a way to see what is happening.  Can he find his brother and fight off the mystery attackers?

I complained that the first book took a bit too long to get going.  That was hardly the case here.  Things start with just enough info to get readers who have missed the first book up to date.  We're only pages into the book when the main story starts and things don't slow down from there.  We get plenty of new information for this fantasy world, but always in the context of moving the story forward.  While the final few pages leave some questions that lead us into book three, the story is really self contained here.

The characters feel more developed here as well.  Frankly, it's hard to spend too much time developing them with the short length of the book.  But I do feel like I know them better than I did in book one.  Of course, we really only have Jared, Simon, and Mallory with a few mythological creatures making brief appearances.  The limited number of characters helps as well.

The writing is simple and straightforward, making it perfect for the intended age of 7 and older.  And the illustrations I mentioned earlier are wonderful.  They are very detailed black and white pictures that add to the charm of the books.

I should mentioned part of the plot involves cruelty to animals (not by the kids but by Goblins).  If that might bother you or your child, keep it in mind.

This series will capture the imagination of anyone who reads it.  I can't wait to move forward from The Seeing Stone.