The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told… until now. There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by … strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside. At the top of the stairs, Gwendy catches her breath and listens to the shouts of the kids on the playground. From a bit farther away comes the chink of an aluminum bat hitting a baseball as the Senior League kids practice for the Labor Day charity game. One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: “Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.”
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Great story; quick read and original.
Gwendy, a plump 12 year old girl, is determined to lose weight. She meets a stranger, Mr. Ferris, who gives her a button box. Buttons of different colors represent different continents and the red button means any wish at all. Also there are 2 levers on the box, one dispenses a small unique shaped chocolate, which when ate, provides the will power to avoid sweets and second helpings. The other lever dispenses uncirculated silver dollars from the 1800’s. Mr. Ferris fails to tell Gwendy what happens when buttons are pressed, but Gwendy suspects bad things happen. From the time Gwendy receives the button box till Mr. Ferris returns to take it back after Gwendy graduates college, Gwendy’s life improves. She is very responsible for the care of the button box while it is in her possession, using it judiciously. Ending was a bit lack luster.
Not your usual King story.
Enjoyed this read for sure. Kept me interested and engaged
ok it has Stephen King written all over this. Thats all i can say read it.
It’s nice to know that some people consider not doing the wrong thing.
I have always loved Stephen King books, this one is no exception. It was just shorter than I wished. But the characters were good, he always writes with a weird twist.
Then only reason I didn’t give this book five stars is that I have read all of Mr. King’s five star books. It was a bit lesser.
My favorite author – Stephen King!
This is a cool idea and well written. I wish it had been a longer story.
It was a good book but very short and I thought over priced for what I got. Come on Steve you can do much better!
Interesting coming-of-age book!
Not bad. Kept my interest enough to finish it.
Great concept. Wish it had been expand by a few hundred pages. Very short but good.
Typical SK for me …. I devoured it! Fantastic!!
Love all of Steven Kings books. Great story line
Not my favorite, but readable.
I like anything King.
Great book, but too short!
Just found it hard to believe that anyone would write a story and let the lead person think they were to blame for the crap that happened with Jim Jones.