48 pages • 1 hour read
Don AkerThe First Stone
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Reef (Chad Kennedy)
Reef is the novel’s teenage narrator. When the story begins, he is anti-social, abuses drugs, hates authority, and still mourns the loss of his beloved grandmother, Nan, who died of cancer. Her husband was abusive and abused alcohol, and Reef was glad when he died.
Reef never knew his father. His mother was deaf and died giving birth to him. His grandfather blamed him for the death of his daughter and took his anger out on him. His grandmother did what she could to protect Reef, but he was truly alone after she died. His grandfather quickly sent him into the foster system, which led to new torments.
When the novel begins, Reef has friends, but they are loners like him. He describes himself as someone who prefers working alone. He mentions this as if he is a lone wolf who prefers solitude, but the truth is that working alone guarantees that no one will see if he makes a mistake. Many of Reef’s mistakes arise from a lack of impulse control, but he describes his recklessness as a decision to live in the moment: “Reef Kennedy lived in the moment. Life was now. Not ten years, ten months, ten minutes from now. He could be dead in ten minutes” (97). Reef puts his needs and whims above anything else: “He hated it when things interfered with his plans” (31). This is ironic because he has no plans besides indulging his impulses. When Judge Thomas sentences him, Reef acts as if it is an inconvenience and an attempt to interfere with his nonexistent plans.
Reef has a softer side, but people must work to find it. He got his nickname because while over-aggressively smoking a reefer cigarette, he inhaled so strongly that the ash got in his throat and made him cough. Reef associates his nickname with the coral reef, which he learned about in fourth grade: “He liked what a reef could do, like thinking of himself as living rock, liked pretending that it was possible to protect those you loved” (35). Reef’s mounting losses cause him to dehumanize people to protect himself from emotions. When he talks about living with the Barkers, he includes himself in the dehumanizing language: “It was the price you paid for living with a foster family like the Barkers. You were just two ears on a body, ears that had to listen to every complaint and criticism and rant they threw your way” (60).
Reef isn’t able to protect Nan from cancer. However, when he meets Leeza, he wants to protect her and gradually realizes it might be possible. However, he doesn’t know that he is responsible for her pain. He is so fascinated by her that, for the first time, he prefers listening rather than boasting to impress her. Leeza tells Brett, “He’s a great listener. And the funny thing is, I don’t think he even knows it” (231).
This ability to listen eventually extends to Alex. Initially, Reef’s internal monologue toward Alex is anti-gay and violent. However, they share a moment of real bonding when Alex shows him the scars from his suicide attempt.
Ultimately, Reef learns to take accountability for his actions and his future. Instead of honoring his grandfather's cynical, mocking rules, he internalizes the five rules of Frank’s house. When he loses Leeza after meeting her mother, there is no sign that he will pressure her into seeing him. He hopes that she’ll see him in a volleyball picture, but that’s all. He also continues to give presentations after he has fulfilled the obligations of his sentencing. Reef is committed to helping others, regardless of what he can attain for himself.
Leeza Hemming
Leeza Hemming is Reef’s love interest and a foil for him. Like Reef, she has experienced a recent loss. Her sister, Ellen, died of cancer. Unlike Reef, despite her bereavement, there are no indications that Leeza is prone to misbehavior, melodrama, or anti-social behaviors. She has a good relationship with her mother and stepfather, and she is kind. When the reader meets her, she is volunteering at a rest home, where she shows great instincts for comforting the elderly and suffering. A nurse tells her, “For someone so young, you know a lot about older people” (21).
Before the rock hits her windshield, Ellen’s death is her major source of sadness and difficulty. She has an irrational feeling that she could have done more for her sister. Unlike Reef, who views everyone else as burdening him out of spite and disdain, she is prone to accepting burdens that are not her responsibility.
After waking from her three-week coma, Leeza becomes a stranger to herself. Her world collapses into a blur of pain, recovery work, brief bouts of self-pity, and uncertainty. Her identity is thrown into question during rehabilitation when she temporarily becomes a creature of pure reactivity whose entire schedule is determined by others.
Leeza also represents the fragility of the human body. Her arms, ribs, and pelvis break. She loses weight and muscle. Her recovery and physical therapy cause her nearly as much pain as the wounds. She also symbolizes the profound nature of emotional wounds. Near the end of the novel, she is dejected after losing Reef. She knows her body will heal but wonders about her emotional wounds. Between the grief over her sister’s death and her injuries, Leeza spends the entire novel in some state of recovery or convalescence. In the hospital, Leeza realizes that, in the aftermath of Ellen’s death, she has had to act stronger than she feels: “I’m tired of every goddamn part of every goddamn day in this place! But most of all, I’m tired of pretending to be strong. I did that enough for Ellen. I can’t do it for you too!” (197). Now that she is at her limit with pain and frustration, she wants people to be strong for her.
Ultimately, Leeza sends Reef away after he apologizes, but she is conflicted, unlike her mother. Leeza is not as optimistic as Brett but more optimistic than most of the youth in the novel. The fact that she wants to contact Reef may make their reconciliation possible. Her desire to believe that people can change can apply to Reef but also to herself.
Alex
Alex is one of the members of Frank’s group home. Like the other boys, he is a troubled youth with a dark history, but his aggressive optimism—at least on the surface—disarms Reef. Alex is openly gay, which allows the author to use him as a narrative tool to highlight Reef’s development and moral maturity.
When he meets Alex, Reef is repelled by what he sees as his flamboyant mannerisms and habits. However, they experience one of the novel’s most effective moments of bonding. Alex is brave enough to tell Reef he is in denial when Reef tells him there’s nothing he needs to confront: “Naming it’s the first step in facing it” (245). Alex is one of Frank’s success stories.
Alex tells Reef that no one has ever said more hateful things to him than his father. He understands denial because he said the same thing as Reef on “the night [he] gave [him]self these” (245). He shows Reef the scars on his wrists from a desperate suicide attempt. Reef finally gives in and finds the words and courage to be vulnerable: “When he’d finally found the first one, the second, and then the third, the others just seemed to find the way on their own” (245). The reader does not get the text of their conversation, but Alex’s commitment to the program—and, by extension, to Reef’s recovery—is evident in the change that Reef then experiences.
Alex also creates the strongest possibility for Reef and Leeza to reconcile. He contacts Brett and tells her everything he has learned about Reef. Only through Alex does the reader learn the most terrible details about Reef’s upbringing. Aker uses Alex as a narrative device to explain exactly how much Reef has changed. He also symbolizes Reef’s moral growth and increasing ability to accept others.
Frank Colville
Frank runs the home for at-risk youth where Reef lives after sentencing. He is a former convict who is now devoted to youth outreach. He is as tough, stubborn, and compassionate as he needs to be. Frank is never intimidated by Reef’s outbursts. He provides him with the five rules of the house that replace the rules of Reef’s abusive grandfather.
Frank is a mentor and father figure. He understands the importance of routine, structure, and personal accountability. Frank tells Reef that humans are not well suited to “life in flux” and that people like the boys in the home need structure (43). Reef’s bluster does not intimidate him because he knows where it comes from. Frank understands the boys in his care better than any of the other adults because he was like them. He is a symbol of legitimate rehabilitation and optimism. He is also the only person who tells Reef he is proud of him when Reef decides not to get revenge on Rowdy. Frank is one of the novel’s greatest successes. He beat the odds by improving his life after prison, not just for himself but also for others. He has served as a cautionary tale for the boys in his home, and, at the story’s conclusion, Reef resembles Frank more than anyone else.
