BDCHS Advanced Reading discussion

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold is set in the 70s and 80s of Pennsylvania. Susie Salmon was murdered on December 6, 1973 by one of her neighbors, George Harvey.
The book begins with Susie cutting through a cornfield on her way home from school. She runs into Mr. Harvey, who then asks her if she wanted to see the secret clubhouse he built for the other kids in the neighborhood. Mr. Harvey then traps, assaults, and murders Susie in the underground room.

Susie begins to realize what heaven really is; an infinite span of worlds constantly adapting to accommodate the dead's desires. Susie meets Holly, the Vietnamese girl she shares a heaven with. Their intake counselor, Franny, helps them get settled in and answers the few questions the girls have about heaven. Franny was shot in the face by a man looking for his wife while she was helping the homeless and destitute.

Back on Earth among the living, Susie's father, Jack, takes the phone call from the police saying that they found her elbow. More evidence is recovered with time which clearly tells the Salmon family that Susie is dead.

The story then switches focus for a while to bring in a new character, Ruth Connors. Ruth was one of Susie's friends while she was still alive. Ruth's connection with Susie accentuates after Susie is murdered. Susie touches Ruth as a spirit as she's leaving the cornfield to go to heaven which allows Ruth to see Susie in her spirit form, spooking Ruth while also warning her about the danger lurking within the neighborhood.

The book continues with the search for Susie's killer, which Jack Salmon takes an obsessive role in. The search is eventually officially called off, but Jack and Lindsey, Susie's younger sister, keep looking for evidence. By now, they've determined that George Harvey is indeed Susie's killer, despite having no real evidence to support their claims.

Lindsey eventually breaks into Mr. Harvey's home and steals a notebook in which are all the plans for the underground room as well as other things. Mr. Harvey fails in stopping Lindsey from running away, and takes it as a sign that if he stays in the neighborhood any longer, he will be caught.

George Harvey travels to Manchester, Maine where he starts to chat up another young girl, but is hit by a falling icicle and falls down a ravine, where he dies on impact.

The novel concludes with Lindsey and Samuel's (a family friend turned boyfriend turned husband) daughter, Abigail Suzanne, playing on a blanket in the sunlight. Susie finally says that she's meant to remain in the thoughts of her loved ones and is finally at rest from adjusting to death.

A major theme within the story is mortality. Throughout the novel we see Susie's wants and needs follow her into the afterlife, despite her inability to reach the people she left behind. It is through the course of events that Susie is finally able to let go of her past life and what-could've-been's and accepts death as it is, a place in memories. Mortality is also highlighted when Susie's family struggles to cope with their loss. Susie's mother walks out and travels across the United States, stopping and building a small life in California in order to cope.

What I learned from this book is that sometimes in order to move forward, we need to let go of certain aspects of our lives, which doesn't mean that we should forget them entirely, but that we should keep them in moderation, rather than letting them consume us. I also learned that creepy neighbors down the street are to be avoided. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 because I felt like Susie was a dynamic character and I was able to empathize with her, despite our lives being totally different. I also liked the chill the story sent down my back. Overall, I feel like the story was excellent and I recommend it to people who like small adventures in human nature.