Gaps in Stone Walls

by John Neufeld

When the wealthiest man on Martha's vineyard is killed, the island inhabitants start to select their suspects, including a fearful twelve-year-old Merry, who had good reason to hate Ned Nickeson. Reprint.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Middle Grade

Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

"I always wanted to be a writer. I started writing early, and badly, sending off short stories to national magazines when I was ten or eleven. They were all returned.

"But I kept at it. All through high school and college. Everything I sent out came back. Thanks but no thanks.

"I moved to New York and worked in a publishing house. I kept writing. In fact, I was fired from my first job for spending more time on my own projects than on the publishing house's.

"I wrote on.

"In 1968, an editor from a small California publishing house and I had lunch. She gave me an outline for a story she thought I could write well. I knew immediately I had to try.

"But what I wanted to do was write a short book, full of emotion and detail and excitement, for readers of all ages. I didn't know that Edgar Allan would be regarded as a children's book.

"It was.

"And when it was, everything fell into place. The minute Edgar Allan was launched successfully, I sat down to write Lisa, Bright and Dark. It, too, was a success so there was no turning back. Although I do write books for adults, the ideas that stimulate me always seem to come to me in the form of a story for young readers. I get ideas from everywhere: from the newspapers, from radio, from lunches and talks I have with friends.

"Right now, if I never get another idea, I have more story lines to work on than my lifetime probably permits."

Both Edgar Allan and Lisa, Bright and Dark, were selected as among the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times. Lisa, Bright and Dark was filmed for television, and aired as a Hallmark Hall of Fame on NBC-TV. Mr. Neufeld's other books have as recently as spring 2000 been cited as among the best of last year's Young Adult titles by the New York Public Library and YASLA.

(From: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/au...)

Reviews

[Joni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read might be a misrepresentation - I read the first little bit, was both bored and confused (hard to achieve in a book for a fourth grade reading level) and put it down without A) intending to ever pick it up again or B) skipping to the end to find out who did it, because I didn't even care. It's too bad that a book with such promise could be so boring.

[Kathy MacMillan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late 19th century, hereditary deafness affected at least 1/5 of the population of Chilmark, a town on Martha’s Vineyard. Among this group is Merry Skiffe, an artistic 12-year-old whose peaceful life unravels when wealthy miser Ned Nickerson is murdered on a dark road one Saturday night and Merry finds herself among the four residents of Chilmark who have no alibi.

[Angela Sangalang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my ASL class. What I loved most about it is the author doesn't give away which of the characters are deaf and which are not. You figure it out as you continue reading. Such was the Deaf community in Martha's Vineyard long ago where this novel was set. It's an interesting story on its own, but also a great read for some ASL history.

[Suzanne Goldsmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, and was surprised to learn the history of the deaf population on Martha's Vineyard in the 19th century. There were so many deaf in Chilmark that sign language was used widely by the hearing as well as the deaf. Wish this book was still in print.