The Doom Stone - Softcover

Zindel, Paul

3.7

672 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786851511 ISBN 13: 9780786851515

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2004

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Jackson is always psyched to visit his aunt Sarah when she's working on an anthropological dig. This time she's in England, at Stonehenge, and Jackson can't wait to see the massive and mysterious stone formations in person. But then he witnesses a vicious attack on a young man, and another on his beloved aunt Sarah. A savage beast no one has ever seen before is on the prowl. Now it's up to Jackson and his new friend, Alma, a gravedigger's daughter, to stop the beast. All the clues lead back to Stonehenge, where he and Alma must risk their lives to solve the mystery of the monster stalking the countryside-before it's too late. "Even reluctant readers won't be able to put this one down."-Booklist

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About the Author:

Paul Zindel (1936-2003) was born and raised on Staten Island in New York. After teaching high school science for several years, he decided to pursue a career as a playwright. His first play, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Shortly thereafter, he wrote his first novel for young adults, The Pigman, which has gone on to sell millions of copies. Mr. Zindel wrote more than fifty books over the course of his life, including the popular My Darling, My Hamburger; The Pigman’s Legacy, a sequel to The Pigman; and the autobiographical The Pigman and Me.

From Booklist:

Gr. 6^-10. Young adult readers who complain about the lack of gore and suspense in YA fiction will change their minds after reading Zindel's latest foray into the horror genre. Although his Loch (1994) did have several scary scenes, the Loch Ness monsterlike creatures were essentially peaceful and were just protecting themselves when they crunched people. Here, the slimy creature stalking the moors around Stonehenge, mutilating people, is truly evil as well as bloodthirsty and physically repellent. Fifteen-year-old Jackson is thrilled to be visiting his aunt Sarah at her latest archaeological dig near Stonehenge. But before he even arrives at the site, he witnesses a brutal attack on a young man. Later that night, his aunt is attacked by the creature, and its "saliva" invades her body, creating a bizarre linkage that lets the creature control her mind and gain her knowledge. Teaming up with Alma, a pretty, young girl who lives near the site, Jackson has several terrible encounters with the monster, solves the riddle of the doom stone that controls the creature, and discovers a clan of subterranean-dwelling creatures that are somehow linked to the monster. But that's another story. Even reluctant readers won't be able to put this one down. Chris Sherman

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