Susie Salmon was brutally murdered at 14-years old. She is in heaven (her own version) and observes life unfolding for her family and the killer after her demise. This book is well-written, but I found it disturbing. I plan to release it and, hopefully, see what others think.

This book is being sent to megi53 (on July 26) as part of a trade.

My daughter will be so happily surprised when she gets home from work and sees that this book has arrived!

We'll both read and journal it and then find the perfect way to release it.

An update on the book's journey -- twixxy has read about one-third of it, loves it, and her AP Senior English teacher just added it to the recommended reading list for class book reports!

For that reason, it may be staying at our house longer than I originally thought.

I have read The Lovely Bones twice thus far. It is one of my favorite books because it combines family relationships with a murder mystery and wraps it all up in a first person account of heroine Susie Salmon's heaven. For my twelfth grade creative book report, I used the Lovely Bones as my novel. Everyone loved the general plot and how I played the role of Susie as she described the attitudes and actions of her family members and friends as her loss affected each one differently. The Lovely Bones is an amazing novel written by an even more amazing author, Alice Sebold. I recommend her memoir, Lucky, to anyone who wants to know more about Mrs. Sebold and why she wrote The Lovely Bones and especially, what horrific event spawned both of her incredible novels.

I loved this book! Decided to read it right away when I read stinalyn's thread about how she was "bored" on page 114. Different strokes -- that was in the middle of my favorite character, Lindsey's, visit to the gifted symposium.

(I just realized when reading the latest j/e in 2014 that there are spoilers to follow:)

The one-year-younger sister of the murdered narrator, Lindsey was described so lyrically: "eyes like flint and flower petals" (page 215). Or, as the killer George Harvey saw her: "5!5!5!".

That brings up a few non-1970s touches that sneaked into the narrative: a "middle school" girl playing soccer, ::gasp:: calling her boyfriend on the phone, "hanging out" with him; seat belts and even baby seats commonplace in cars. It also drove me nuts the way the den/study/family room was upstairs in some scenes and downstairs in others. (Or did this suburban family in which the mother knit winterwear for her children have two such rooms?) And was Susie's charm bracelet silver or gold? Just as a female calling a male was unheard of in polite 70s society, metals were not mixed back then. Ah, the memories!

My favorite scene that didn't include Lindsey was when women greeted Ruth with rose petals toward the end, while Susie and Ray were making love in Hal's motorcycle shop.

Fabulous! I'm sure I'll want to reread another copy someday, but for now this one is being wild-released in honor of Watson's challenge.

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Part of Watson's Release Challenge.

Left between Park Four theater and gravel path to railroad tracks (since a gravel path to railroad tracks played a role in the story of Susie and Ray!).

I see that this was last left in Ballou Park (Danville, Va) in 2009. I obtained it from the Danville Life Saving Crew in March 2014. It would've been interesting to know how they came to have it.
I'm particularly glad I read it after I watched the movie. It goes along with the cliche; the book is much better than the movie, although the movie is great. The book is fantastic. Even for individuals who do not believe in a god or heaven, this gives a different perspective. You start to think more, about life, love, grief, and the effects of dwelling on the past.