Spiderwick Chronicles - The Seeing Stone, Volume 2 [Hardcover]

By Ben

The authors of this book are Tony Di Terlizzi and Holly Black. There are three siblings and their names are Jared, Simon and Mallory. Simon gets kidnapped by goblins while he is playing in the yard. Then Jared and Mallory have to save Simon. They find all different types of creatures along the way.

The main character of the story is Jared. It takes place in the present in a small town. The topic of the story is fairies, trolls and goblins. I think the authors are trying to say you never know what will exist or what will happen.

My favorite part is when they find Simon. The book is surprising. People who are 9-10 and like fairies and trolls would like this book.

According to Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the text of this story was left for them by three mystery kids.

And after spending the first book introducing the world of strange fey creatures, the second book in the Spiderwick Chronicles deals with the first clash with them. "The Seeing Stone" throws our three juvenile heroes into the midst of grotesque and eerie creatures, and despite the book's tiny size, it's a solid little fantasy story.

After a rotten day at school, Jared's day actually manages to get worse -- he sees Simon being captured by an invisible force and dragged into the woods. According to Thimbletack, he was kidnapped by goblins -- and now if Mallory and Jared want to save him, they have to use the "lens of stone" to find him (sort of a multi-lensed viewing monocle that lets you see faerie creatures). And Jared is desperate enough to take it.

But the lens only allows them to SEE the goblins -- fighting them is a much harder problem, and they only have a short time before the monsters try to EAT Simon. With only the lens and a few small weapons, they venture off into the forest... but there are dangers other than the goblins in the woods nearby, and even if they find him, how can they avoid being captured as well?

A wounded griffin, a sludgy lake troll, grotesque toadlike goblins and little leaf-winged grass-haired sprites -- Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi certainly up the amount of supernatural goings-on in "The Seeing Stone." And given a late development that allows the kids to see the stranger side of the world, these aren't going to be the last fey creature they encounter in this series.

And Black and DiTerlizzi's shared writing style brings this seemingly simple tale to exquisite, creepy life ("Hairless cat-like ears stuck up from their heads, and their teeth were pieces of shattered glass and small jagged rocks"). Though the storyline is pretty simple, the writing weaves a web of subtle, eerie strangeness around the seemingly ordinary circumstances, and makes it almost believable that evil goblins might be in the woods near your home.

And Tony DiTerlizzi's artwork is simply perfect for the story that he and Black are telling. Lots of intricate pen-and-ink drawings, depicting the pretty ethereal nature sprites, the weird multilensed "seeing stone," the drippy long-nosed troll, and spiky trees hung with cages. The highlights are an old newspaper clipping about a boy gone missing -- it seems to be important, though not yet clear.

Simon basically serves as a damsel in this book, but Jared's intense attachment to his twin is shown by him almost throttling Thimbletack to get the lens, and Mallory gets to kick goblin butt with her fencing sword. What's more, the kids' involvement in the world of the fey becomes more concrete when they gain a brand-new pet. Wonder how their mom will react.

The second chapter of the Spiderwick Chronicles, "The Seeing Stone," expands the eerie fey world into the more everyday one, and adds in some very nasty little creatures. It's sure to only get worse.

This book rocks. They finally put goblins and creepy things in The Spiderwick Chronicles. This book is about Mallory, Jared, and Simon finding something called the seeing stone. The seeing stone lets you see trolls and goblins that you can't see without it. Simon gets taken away by goblins and after Jared and Mallory find him they meet a hobgoblin named Hogsqeal. The best thing about this book is because it is like an adventure. My favorite part is when Simon finds a kitten in a cage near a goblin camp. My favorite character of this book is Thimbletack because he talks funny. The thing I don't like about this book is that it's not something you would read at bed time. I think everyone should read this book.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 4 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars