BOOK REVIEW: "The Stone Traveler" by Kathi Oram Peterson

  Description:

  Sixteen-year-old Tag can’t believe he’s in this much trouble. He’s not actually a member of the gang known as the Primes — all he did was spray paint some graffiti that caught their attention. In all honesty, ever since his dad and brother left, Tag just wants to be alone. And it’s certainly not his fault that the Primes nearly beat up his goofy cousin, Ethan. But his mom is furious about these gang-related activities and insists that Tag spend the whole summer at his grandpa’s lakeside cabin, which is not Tag’s idea of a good time. So he does what any self-respecting teenager would do: run away. But he doesn’t get far before he encounters three strange men carrying an even stranger object — a stone that glows with radiant light as bright as a thousand sparklers. Tag doesn’t steal the stone — not exactly. He feels like he is supposed to take it. But he doesn’t expect the stone to transport him through space and time to a place he’s never seen before — a place that looks an awful lot like the ancient lands described in the Book of Mormon. And he definitely doesn’t expect to join Sabirah, the entrancing daughter of Samuel the Lamanite, on a quest to rescue her father and brother from the evil King Jacob. And he absolutely doesn’t expect to be captured by Jacob’s minions and prepared as a sacrifice to the evil idol of the city. But just as Tag faces his death, a terrible storm begins to break, and the ground cracks into jagged pieces. And he’s not sure which event will impact his life more: his captor’s knife coming at his body, the violent tempest sweeping the land . . . or the men who later appear, glowing even more brightly than the traveler’s stone.

My Review:

  I'm excited to share my thoughts about this amazing novel!  Kathi Oram Peterson created an inviting, non-stop, heart-pounding fictional world. I found it to be a great entertainment combination of endearing characters mingled with Book of Mormon flair. I found The Stone Traveler to be very exciting, and I had a heart -felt investment in the characters from the start.  I enjoyed the well paced action, as well as the inner turmoil of both Tag and Sabirah.  There were constant  highs and lows, which made for a good read. I found myself cheering for Tag and Sabirah when they achieved something , or smoothed out an inner struggle.

  Some of my favorite things about this novel was the time travel. I thought the "stone", and means to be the vessel in which to time travel, to be seriously ingenious.I especially liked the link of the Three Nephites- very cool indeed!   ( Both were great Book of Mormon tie- ins.)  

Also, when Kathi wrote about the Savior's visit to the Americas, I wept.  It was incredibly touching, and wonderfully written.  I was hoping Kathi would write about this historic visit, and at first I thought she side stepped it, but  I was so happy to continue on and read about it.  It has to be my favorite scene in this novel. (True perfection, Kathi.  Perfection.)

  The Stone Traveler was written well, and the over all flow of the novel is perfect. 

This is a good novel to buy for youth too. Consider it for a Christmas gift.  My son really liked it.

 I like Kathi Oram Peterson's work, but I admit this is my favorite novel of hers so far. And I think the cover art on this novel is amazing.

  Kathi, congratulations on another successful, and awesome novel!  I appreciate you giving me this opportunity to read and review your novel. It was definitely worth it. Keep up your hard work-

I hope to read many more novels from you.

Watch the You Tube video here

Click here to buy this novel