The Lovely Bones Lesson Plan

Susie reveals right away in the novel that she’s been murdered and by whom. What do you think of this method of storytelling, giving the details of the story away instead of creating suspense and slowly revealing them? What does it reveal about the genre of the novel? Explain.

Some students might find that this authorial choice squanders the concept of suspense, which could have helped to capture readers’ attention. However, most students should be able to see that giving these details away is another way of engaging readers, especially since the premise of the novel—Susie is telling the story from the afterlife after she’s murdered—is engaging in and of itself. This...