5,000 years ago a man wanted power in his clan in England, so he had a magical stone created that would allow him to lose compassion for his fellow man, thus letting him do what was necessary to gain the role of leader. Over 4,900 years later, this artifact is found again and a series of bearers find the stone, lose empathy, and are eventually brought back to their normal being.Honestly, I found myself getting bored during the story as the digressions from the main plot took place. Also, with the repetition of the exact thing happening with the stone heart 4 times and then being expounded upon for pages and pages, I will admit losing interest. Ultimately, I enjoyed the different fantastical characters and the moral about what greed will do to a person, but this will not be a go-to recommendation for students looking for a fairy tale/fable. The art by John Rocco was fantastic, and I wish there had been more illustrations peppering the pages. Kind of a quirky little book. Similar to the Phantom Toll Booth with a fantasy twist. It does have a few morsels to ponder. The story itself would be good for younger kids if it weren't for the vocabulary. If your young reader is willing to stop and ask what a word means or look it up it would be fine but I feel like if they didn't they would miss major parts of the plot. For example, at our Mother Daughter Book club a girl asked what "Naught" meant. Well without knowing what naught meant she missed a large part of an entire chapter. It made a great read aloud however because I was able to pause and explain the important words. I even had to stop and look up a word for myself. :) The story was clever and I enjoyed sharing it with my daughter.
What do You think about The Flint Heart (2011)?
This one just didn't grab me, and I have too much else to read right now to spend the time on it.
—BKM
