First published in 2003, The First Stone is a novel about a troubled boy and a grieving girl, both running their own course to heal their broken pasts. Reef, the main character, cannot contain his anger after his grandmother’s passing - the only person he felt really loved him. Leeza, the supporting character feels like her life has been turned upside down and kicked away after her older sister dies. Don Aker crafts a special and clever plot, making the two characters’ lives collide in unexpected ways.
The novel is recommended to readers in their mid-teens because of some mature content and “a fair bit of swearing”. Though it is dark story, Aker manages to inject some humor and light into the complicated and heavy plot. The book has a sequel called The Fifth Rule, published in 2011.
Don Aker is the author of over 20 books, and previously had the occupation of a high school teacher and university instructor. He has received several awards and prizes such as “the Canadian Library Association's Honour Book Award, the White Pine Award, the Ann Connor Brimer Award, and the Canadian Authors Association Lilla Stirling Award.” Born in 1955, in Windsor Canada, Aker now resides near Port George in Nova Scotia, Canada.
