She has been in a coma through Reef’s trial and awakens in great pain. Leeza suffers a serious concussion, as well as broken bones. The 17-year-old, who is known as Leeza by her family, is in mourning for an older sister, Ellen, It shatters the window of a car driven by Elizabeth Hemming, who is seriously injured. On a night of petty vandalism, Reef throws a rock off an overpass. In their circle, the only person who takes school seriously is Scarlet, known as Scar, Reef’s sometime girlfriend. The youth steal rum from a street drunk and smoke marijuana. He lives in a foster home in Halifax and hangs out with friends Bigger and Jink, who exhibits a “pit-bull tenacity and a wild-eyed demeanor.” One of her kindnesses is to present young Chad with a smooth-edged “sick stone,” which she encourages him to rub when not feeling well.Īt 17, Reef is a juvenile delinquent. The grandmother is the only person who has ever shown the boy love. His resentful grandfather is a bitter, violent alcoholic who abuses both his wifeĪnd the unwanted boy. He is raised in poverty by maternal grandparents. His deaf mother was unable to care for him. SynopsisĬhad Kennedy, known as Reef because he once accidentally inhaled a lit reefer (marijuana cigarette), has had a rough childhood in Nova Scotia. Of a friend was killed when her car was struck by another driven by a youth fleeing the police, a reckless act that ended a life and altered many others. He was inspired to compose The First Stone when the daughter “Every piece of fiction I’ve ever written - whether novel or short story - has grown out of something that has bothered me, kept me awake at night, wouldn’t leave me alone,” he once wrote. He also conducts professional development workshops for educators of students

He has written more than 20 books, including educational texts and materials. His first book, Of Things Not Seen, was published in 1995. He later received a $10,000 grant from Telefilm Canada to develop it into a screenplay. His first short story, “The Invitation,” was included in three anthologies.

A schoolteacher forģ3 years before retiring, Aker became a writer after attending a writers’ workshop in Massachusetts in the summer of 1988. HeĮarned an arts degree (1976), an education degree (1977) and a master’s in education (1991) at Acadia University. Don Aker was born on 21 October 1955, in Windsor, Nova Scotia, and grew up in rural Hants County.

The First Stone by Don Aker