"From her vantage point in heaven, Susie Salmon describes how she was confronted by the murderer one December afternoon on her way home from school. Lured into an underground hiding place, she was raped and killed. But what the reader knows, her family does not. Anxiously, we keep vigil with Susie, aching for her grieving family, desperate for the killer to be found and punished.

Sebold creates a heaven that's calm and comforting, a place whose residents can have whatever they enjoyed when they were alive -- and then some. But Susie isn't ready to release her hold on life just yet, and she intensely watches her family and friends as they struggle to cope with a reality in which she is no longer a part. To her great credit, Sebold has shaped one of the most loving and sympathetic fathers in contemporary literature."
---> Barnes and Noble Review

Beautifully written and very good, hence the 10 out of 10 I give it.. Reading the synopsis, you can tell it's going to be a sad story, so don't act surprised when it is..

Mailed the other day to surfenkitten. I think it was on Thursday the 7th.
Good luck, little book.. Have safe and enjoyable travels.

thanks jblue for sending...sorry i'm so slow!
have not gotten to this yet, but i really want to read it...it may be next but i may need to psych myself up to it...

oops, i read this quite a while ago but never journalled. great book though; the detail in the emotions and the way suzie could see everything. didn't want to put it down during the entire story except for that coming back to life part near the end. that was just w e i r d.

i had planned to release this to nwpassage, but it seems to be AWOL. will keep looking and report back.

Accepted on BookRelay some time ago, book arrived today. WOW, I wasn't expecting a hardcover! Thanks so much, surfenkitten. TBR.

From the dust jacket flap:

"Sebold has given us a fantasy-fable of great authority, charm, and daring. She's a one-of-a-kind writer."
-- Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections

When we first meet Susie Salmon, she is already in heaven. As she looks down from this strange new place, she tells us, in the fresh and spirited voice of a fourteen-year-old girl, a tale that is both haunting and full of hope.

In the weeks following her death, Susie watches life continuing without her - her school friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her family holding out hope that she'll be found, her killer trying to cover his tracks. As months pass without leads, Susie sees her parents' marriage being contorted by loss, her sister hardening herself in an effort to stay strong, and her little brother trying to grasp the meaning of the word gone.

And she explores the place called heaven. It looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets. There are counselors to help newcomers adjust and friends to room with. Everything she ever wanted appears as soon as she thinks of it - except the things she wants most: to be back with the people she loved on Earth.

With compassion, longing, and a growing understanding, Susie sees her loved ones pass through grief and begin to mend. Her father embarks on a risky quest to ensnare her killer. Her sister undertakes a feat of remarkable daring. And the boy Susie cared for moves on, only to find himself at the center of a miraculous event.

The Lovely Bones is luminous and astonishing, a novel that builds out of grief the most hopeful of stories. In the hands of a brilliant new writer, this story of the worst thing a family can face is transformed into a suspenseful and even funny novel about love, memory, joy, heaven, and healing.

ALICE SEBOLD is the author of the memoir Lucky. She has been chosen by the Village Voice as a Writer on the Verge and has written for the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune. She lives in California with her husband, Glen David Gold.

From the back cover:

THE CHORUS BEGINS FOR ALICE SEBOLD AND THE LOVELY BONES

"Destined to become a classic, in the vein of To Kill A Mockingbird.... I loved it."
-- Anna Quindlen, author of A Short Guide to a Happy Life

"The Lovely Bones is one of the strangest experiences I have had as a reader in a long time, and one of the most memorable. Painfully funny, bracingly tough, terribly sad, it is a feat of imagination and a tribute to the healing power of grief."
-- Michael Chabon, author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay

"Set in a heaven as real and possible as the earth is mysterious and shifting, The Lovely Bones explores, with clear-eyed affection and wit, the romance of family life, the shy, funny turbulence of adolescence, and the painful tracks love and loss make through our world."
-- Amy Bloom, author of A Blink Man Can See How Much I Love You

"The Lovely Bones is the kind of novel that, once you're done, you may go visit while wandering through a bookstore and touch on the binding, just to remember the emotions you felt while reading it. Intensely wise and gorgeously written, The Lovely Bones is a heartbreaking page-turner. I envy the reader who is about to jump into the world of Susie Salmon and her incredible family."
-- Aimee Bender, author of An Invisible Sign of My Own

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB

I started reading and hadn't gotten very far when I was called out of town to a funeral. The Lovely Bones became my travel read, and it tagged along with me to both Edmonton and Calgary. I finished it up during a 5 hour layover in Vancouver airport last Sunday afternoon.

I'm so glad I finally got to read this! What a unique voice and perspective! Strong characterization, though I thought the plot jumped around a little too much, and became a little repetitious later in the book, like the author got a little lost and started fumbling. I think the author getting lost also explains the weird plot twist surfen mentioned at the end (which also threw me for a loop). I was a bit disappointed by the ending (I felt there was too much left unresolved, and I was left feeling vaguely dissatisfied) but overall a good read.

Thanks so much to both jblueafterglow for starting this book on its journey, and to surfenkitten for passing it along to me! Book is now Available.

Offered as a wishlist RABCK to Teacher-Trudy (who lives downunda in Australia). To be mailed ASAP. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Received in the mail this week. What a lovely surprise. After reading all the journal entries I am really looking forward to reading this book. It is a shame I have a couple of bookrays ahead of it on Mt TBR. Thankyou for sending it to me.

I really quite enjoyed this story because of the angle that it was written from. The characters are believable and the demise of the family probably inevitable. I admire the strength of character in the little sister, but just want to slap the mother. Not sure where this is going next, I may hand it on to family or friends for holiday reading.

I've given this to my sister-in-law to read.