The Secret Soldier

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Mrs.N

The Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson by Ann McGovern

The beginning of third grade can be a difficult transition for some readers. They’re not quite ready for chapter books, not because they can’t read them, but because what they can read doesn’t interest them at all.  While the rest of the class is tearing through Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House, they stumble along trying to find something that works for them. They often will express that they can’t find anything they like, in that fatalistic tone that makes parents despair that their children will never become readers. The Secret Soldier has been my secret weapon, capturing the interest and attention of girls who just haven’t caught the reading bug.  My only disappointment is that I don’t often have an appropriate follow up.

This is a beginning chapter book, the sentences are clear and easy to understand.  The chapters themselves are of a manageable length.  But the message of the book is in no way diluted by the simplicity of the text. McGovern lays out what life was like for girls at the time of the revolution.  She explains how few choices they had and how much of their lives were dictated by others.  But what is truly special about this book is that Deborah Sampson, the secret soldier in question, really existed.  In a time period where women’s rights were incredibly limited, Sampson found a way to be who she wanted to be, to fight along side men, to see America and eventually, to earn a living by telling her tale.  It’s a great story, simply told and has relevance for today’s girls.

Great for: An amazing female role model. This will also open doors to reading biographies of other strong women.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A woman has a baby on the way.  Deborah gets married and has children.  She binds her chest with cloth to appear as a male.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Her father died.  Soldiers drill and hide guns and powder.  An illustration (not sure if all versions have illustrations) shows a man who has been shot, others show men with guns. Another close relative dies.  Deborah saw men shot, watched them die, heard them cry in pain.  She is shot several times herself and removes a bullet from her own leg.  She takes care of a dying man and buries him when he does die.  People get sick and die.  She falls ill.  Deborah slips into a coma.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking –A man comes to see her drunk on rum.  She watches men drink.  She is given wine by a doctor.
Frightening or Intense Things – Children are sent away to live with relatives or strangers when their parents are too poor.  Some are contracted to work as servants for a period of 10 years.

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George vs. George

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Mrs.N

George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer

George vs. George shows the Revolutionary War from both the American and British perspective.  Don’t be deceived by the fact that it is a picture book; in fact, it is full of interesting information and is definitely intended for older audiences.  It has lots of great features that will help students learn about the structure of a non-fiction book while keeping them engaged.  There’s a helpful flow chart to show how the government of both England and the colonies worked back then.  Illustrations of people who were alive during the time period come with cute quotes, that happen to be actual quotes from the era.  Uniforms and motives of participants are laid out in illustrations and sidebars.  An index is provided.

Age Recommendation: I would say that this could be best read and understood by students in Grades 3 and up. I would expect a third grader would do better if the book were presented as a read aloud or in a reading group where adult assistance was available.  Please carefully review the content as there are some graphic bits about the atrocities of war.

Unnecessary racism: A stereotypical Indian chief appears to give us information about George Washington.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – British soldiers “chased women”.  Newspaper reports at the time report that British soldiers drive naked women into the streets.
Profanity – In a quote from the time period, the term “Negroes” is used. “For God’s sake”.
Death, Violence and Gore – Cannons fire.  The death rate in London is high. London has public hangings.  Tar and feathering is mentioned and shown in an illustration, but the true horror of what it does is not relayed or discussed.  A straw man is hung.  Five colonists are shot and killed in the Boston Massacre.  Men are drawn holding guns.  Men hold hatchets during the Boston Tea Party. Gunpowder is smuggled in, armies are raised.  Injured, bloody and dead bodies are shown in illustrations.  War is shown.  Newspapers report that redcoats butcher old men and infants.  Ben Franklin warns of hanging.  A man visits cockfights.  Armies loot and burn.  Many soldiers die of illness.  A ship is on fire.  It is reported that while fighting with the British, Indians burned homes, tortured and killed whole families, scalped the dead and even ate some of their victims. (I have never heard this, but it seems slightly sensational to include it in a children’s book even if it is true.  It is also far more likely to perpetuate negative stereotypes and the demonization of minorities.)  Evidently as revenge, Washington’s soldiers burned Native American villages, collected scalps and made pants from the skin of Indians.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – British soldiers got drunk.  A man drinks wine.
Frightening or Intense Things – Slavery is mentioned of course, and the author does state that Washington owned slaves.  Smuggling is also covered.

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Five 4ths of July

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Mrs.N

Five 4ths of July by Pat Raccio Hughes

Many students are not aware that the Declaration of Independence was not marking the end of the American Revolution.  Those long ago dates and documents have become a jumble to them.  Who can blame them really?  We don’t mark Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown on October 19th, nor do we stop on September 3rd (so often Labor Day) and think about the Treaty of Paris.  But July 4, 1776 is a date that leaps out from that mess of names and numbers and demands attention.  Hughes reminds readers clearly and forcefully that 1776 was indeed a long way from the end of the war.

The book opens a year after the famous declaration as not-quite-15 year old Jake Mallery and his friends celebrate their Patriotism.  They talk at length about their local hero, Benedict Arnold. (This will surely catch the attention of those who only remember Arnold’s treason).  The war is far enough from them that they are full of patriotic songs and bravado.  Each new chapter in the book vaults us a full year into the future.  As the time passes, the war draws closer until it is upon them.  The result is a book that not only follows the progress of the revolution and the attitudes of the colonists, but a coming of age novel.  At 14 Jake is brash, argumentative and proud.  At 19 he is a changed man.  Hughes manages to share how deeply war affects him, while not making all of his personality changes due to the war.  Moreover, she made me like a character that I started out actively disliking.

It was a bit slow to start, but I found myself heavily involved in the book.  There are parts of great tension and of great sadness.  The jumping forward a year is not nearly as jarring as I anticipated, as Hughes fills in back story through reminiscing.

Due to the content and very difficult vocabulary I would recommend this for teen readers.

Sample tough vocabulary: portent, firmament, chattel, malfeasance, harangue, officious, pomposity, Gasconading, vehemently, capitulate, impudence (one of my favorite words), ascertain, insinuations,  pabulum, popish and some ship specific vocabulary:  brigantine, snow, trysail, abaft, mainmast, boom, luff, rigging, lee, taffrail, quarterdeck,

What’s with the Indians? For some inexplicable reason Hughes likes Indian analogies, explaining that a family sits “silent as Indians” or that people are “still as Indians.”  No idea why she randomly indulged in this stereotyping/racism, it doesn’t happen often, but it is jarring when it does.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Tim “has his eye on” Sarah, the prettiest girl in town.  Asa is going to call on a girl.  Jake sexually harasses a servant by questioning her about which friend she is going to spend the night with. He then sings her a lewd song about a woman who has lain with a man repeatedly and gotten pregnant. A general is more interested in whoring than fighting.  A girl says a boy “took liberties”.  There is some kissing.  Pre-marital sex occurs between teens, we are given very few details about it. When a boy is ill a girl removes his clothing to tend to him.  There is a birth out of wedlock.  There are marriages and wedding bans published.  Jake makes a joke about which end a pole goes in.  There’s a song about a girl who lets her lover in.  Boys gaze at girls bosoms.  A boy says he’ll die if he doesn’t kiss a girl.  A boy pulls a girl down to lie with him.
Profanity – “damn/ed”, “blast the man”, “jackass,” “hell,” “God damn,” “middle finger,” “shitehole,” “whoreson” “bastard,”

Death, Violence and Gore –  As the book takes place during the Revolutionary War, there are numerous deaths.  A brother returned from war witnessed horrors he wouldn’t even speak of.  Sometimes retellings are full of excitement, as they are when boys haven’t been to war. They speak glowingly of how Arnold’s horse was shot nine times and fell upon him and how when Arnold was threatened by a bayonet he pulled his pistol and killed the Tory.  King George is burned in effigy.  One boy worries that the Tories will force them from their homes to the frontier where they will be slaughtered by Indians.  Service is required at 16 but boys may join younger with permission.  A soldier nearly loses a leg.  A man is beaten by his father with a gun causing a bleeding head wound. A woman lost several children soon after their birth.  There are threats of fist fights.  A man is tarred and feathered. The parent of a major character dies.  Girls are worried about being killed with bayonets.  A young soldier’s head is blown off and his body crumples.  A battle is described in some detail; there are blood covered bodies, men writhe; their cries are unheeded.  Wounded men are abandoned.  A man receives a musket ball to the brain.  Blood from a killed soldier splatters on those who killed him.  Characters we like are wounded and killed.  There are various hits/punches/hits to the head.  There are references to hanging.  A man’s hand is nearly severed by a cutlass.  A cutlass slices a man’s face revealing bone.  We witness the death scene of a character we are close to.  Prisoners who attempt escape are shot or drown.  Prisoners must bury their own dead.  The decaying body parts of previously buried men poke through the sand.  Prisoners dies frequently and suffer from smallpox, broken heads, pestilence, poison, yellow fever, ships fever, infected cuts, scarlet fever and die in their own bloody excrement, Weapons and ammunition mentioned include:  cannons, blunderbusses, grenades, powder flasks, stink pots, cutlasses, muskets…
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Two boys joke about “the rum incident” but we have no further details.  A captain indicates that his crew is ashore, drinking.  Boys get drunk on rum punch.  Someone stole rum once.  Boys drink beer and ale.  Rum rations are given on the prison ship.
Frightening or Intense Things –  People are forced to flee their homes as soldiers invade.  Prisoners are paraded publicly.  Jake and his father often disagree.  His father orders him to serve.  A father abandoned his family (or died, it is uncertain).  A servant must take his master’s place in the army.  The British march on a town, burning homes.  Basically, it outlines just how close to home (or in the actual homes) the war reached.  The section that takes place on the prison ship is incredibly sad and explains that the prisoners were so thin they looked like skeletons.

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July – We Fight for Independence!

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Mrs.N

In a few days there will be fireworks displays, parades and cookouts, all in honor of our country’s independence.  But how did we get there?  All month long I’ll be reading about the American Revolution and the people who fought for our country.  I do hope this undertaking won’t cause any unpleasant elementary school flashbacks; I’m afraid I’ve spent my life a bit overexposed to the Revolutionary War.  Growing up in a small town just miles from a decisive battle, we were fed all sorts of historical lore.  Supposedly, British troops were quartered in my village, even exercising their horses by jumping them over the (still standing) cemetery wall.  I don’t know whether it was pure academic intoxication from being so close to a critical part of history or an utter lack of organized curriculum, but I was taught about the war every single year from first through fifth grade. Clearly unable to break free of the siren call of the revolution, I’ve lived in both Boston and Philadelphia since college, which means I should be an expert on that whole time period by now.  Sadly I’m not, but it’s fairly easy for me to envision the locations I read about and at least I have a working knowledge of how to pronounce Hessian.  While I’d love to personally walk you past historic buildings and battlefields showing you where all these stories take place, I’m afraid our tour this month will be strictly virtual.  So go ahead, get in the holiday spirit and pick up some books on the American Revolution.

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Ella Enchanted

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Mrs.N


Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

I have loved Ella Enchanted since I first read it, way back before it was made into an amazingly mediocre movie.  Cinderella retellings abound but this is a particularly charming one.

Even before her mother passed away Ella was saddled with major fairy tale baggage, a fairy blessing bestowed at birth.  A gift I’m sure many parents have secretly longed for, “Ella will always be obedient.”  But true obedience is far more dangerous than it is helpful.  Ella is subject to every whim of those who surround her, from her disinterested father to her soon-to-be stepsisters to ogres who long to eat her.  She has grown up strong-minded and rebellious and very much able to take care of herself.  But as she starts falling for the heir to the throne, Prince Char, Ella begins to realize the full gravity of the curse.  How can she let him in when she could be his downfall?

A fairy tale where the girl is intelligent, strong and funny and respected for these qualities is to be lauded.  Luckily, the book is clever and interesting too.  In my book this is a must read for girls who like fairy tales or strong heroines.

Age Recommendation: I’ve had very strong third grade readers who enjoyed this book, but I would generally recommend it for grades 4 and up.  It is interesting enough to capture the attention of young teens as well, despite being sometimes considered “children’s.”

Great for: This is the gold standard as far as I’m concerned, exactly what a fairy tale retelling should be.  Enjoy!

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A story is told about a genie that loved a goose girl.  There’s a giant wedding (not a really big one, but one where giants get married to each other).  When her father loses his money, he plans to marry Ella off to a wealthy man.  A parrot orders Ella to kiss him.  A fairy blesses Ella’s father and his new wife with eternal love.  There is dancing and a people holding each other.  There’s bannister sliding which leads to a someone being caught in another’s arms.  There are repeated proposals and refusals.  Two people fall in love, one confesses.  There’s a kiss on the cheek, one on the mouth. People have children.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – If you ordered her to cut off her own head, she would have to do it.  A girl says she has to obey her elders or her father will slap her.  Ella punches a girl giving her a bloody nose.  Her mother becomes sick and dies.  The funeral is described and Ella must close the coffin lid.  A fairy worries that doing big magic will set off a chain of events that could have serious consequences, like killing someone.  Ogres eat people.  They have pointy teeth and blood under their fingernails.  Sometimes they eat them raw, other times they cook them first. There’s much discussion about how they would parcel out their prey and how they would cook their prey.  A girl sees the bones of her pony after the ogres have eaten him. A man slaps a girl across the face when she won’t stop screaming.  A laundress gives a housemaid a black eye.  Chores cause a girl to have bloody hands.  Ella’s father thinks robbers should be put to death.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Father pours wine and offers it to Ella.  The prince has ale.  Father and a guest drink brandy and pour some for Ella.
Frightening or Intense Things – When Ella does not obey an order, it makes her physically ill.  Another girl orders Ella not to eat.

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Beauty

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Mrs.N

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast by Robin McKinley

Beauty has grown up in a city, the youngest daughter of a wealthy merchant.  While her two oldest sisters are completely beautiful, she is small and plain. Her father loses everything when much of his sailing fleet is destroyed and the family must make a new life for themselves. They move north with the fiance of Beauty’s sister, taking a small house on the edge of a dark forest.  They soon become used to their new life.  Beauty’s father is called back to the city on business, but as he returns he becomes lost in the forest.  He enjoys the hospitality of an enchanted castle and upon leaving cuts a single rose to take to his youngest daughter.  This causes the beast to make his first appearance and extract that promise that either Beauty’s father will return or send his daughter in his stead.  Of course, Beauty goes, and I’m pretty sure you all know the story from there.

This was a lovely retelling, although very heavy on the description and low on the action.  It will most likely appeal most to teens and tweens with an excellent vocabulary and an affinity for historical novels.  There’s nothing wildly interesting or original about this retelling, it’s just a very pleasant version, done very well.  Beauty is both intelligent and initially plain, something lots of girls will find encouraging.

Great for: Teens and tweens who loved the Disney movie and want something with a similar feeling.  Although McKinley’s story is very different from the Disney version, the heroine being a bookworm remains the same.  The enchanted castle also has some of the same feel, with the animated furniture and feasts.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Mother married at 17; father was 40.  Sister Grace is engaged at 19 to man of 28.  They plan on marrying after he returns from a sea voyage, but her father would prefer they marry first and “perhaps start a baby.”  A mare dies birthing a foal.  There are proposals, weddings and someone has babies.  There’s courting.  There is kissing, but it is not described.  A horse flirts with a mare.
Profanity – “hell,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Beauty’s mother and baby sister died.  Her father has lost ships (and therefore men) at sea.  They fear robbers and cutthroats.  An aunt is widowed.  The beast cuts himself on glass and bleeds.  The beast will die if beauty does not return.  A few invisible servants discuss that murder should be allowed in the case of evil magicians.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Beer is mentioned several times, and offered as payment for services.  They drink wine.
Frightening or Intense Things – The magic and the beast’s castle all have a slightly sinister feel to them, but nothing that will scare or alarm the intended audience.

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The Goose Girl

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Mrs.N

The Goose Girl (Books of Bayern) by Shannon Hale

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, is twice stripped of her title.  The first time is shortly following her father’s death. Her mother publicly declares her younger brother Calib to be next in succession. Privately she reveals to Ani that she will not rule as planned.  Instead Anidori will be sent to Bayern to marry a prince, a diplomatic move intended to prevent a war.  Deep in the forests between Kildenree and Bayern, Ani loses her title once again. This time she is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting.  Selia, backed by a core of traitorous guards, massacres those in the company loyal to Princess Ani.  Though luck, Anidori escapes into the forest but Selia has put a sinister plan in motion. She will ride to Bayern posing as the princess and take Ani’s place as the prince’s bride.  With nothing left and nowhere to go, former Crown Princess Anidori-Kiladra is fortunate to get a position tending the King of Bayern’s geese.  Missing the only identity she’s ever known, Ani must figure out who she is and how she will expose Selia for a fraud.

This is the first book in Hale’s Books of Bayern series which includes Enna Burning, River Secrets and Forest Born.  I love the whole series, although I think the first two are the strongest.  Hale writes strong heroines which I always enjoy.  However, it’s Hale’s way of somehow making her stories seem full of old-fashioned fairy tale magic that really makes them special.

Age Recommendation: With the amount of violence and sexual undertones, I’d probably recommend this for students above Grade 5, with some parental discretion at Grade 4.  It’s definitely intended for an older audience than Princess Academy.

The vocabulary in this book is difficult: presumption, retinue, gelding, inquire, dignitaries, mendicants, succor, wrathful, inevitable, berating, passivity, vigilant, condescension, squander, mercenaries, tetchy, surreptitiously, din, pungent, languid, coerced, fatuous, mortified, puissantness, imbecile and castigation are among the words that stood out to me.

Great for: Bonus points for a strong female heroine, as well as starting a a great series.  Young readers love the familiarity of a series and often will continue once they’ve found something they like, so I’m always in favor of well-written ones.  Although Hale’s brand of princess-fantasy is different from Gail Carson Levine’s, I do believe that there will be overlap in their audiences.

Sex, Nudity, Dating –  Birth, sex and violence are all interwoven in this book.  While there isn’t too much overtly sexual, there are sexual undertones in certain parts that concern me.  There are wet nurses, and we hear of babies being held to the breast.  A girl holds hands with a man.  A horse’s birth is described. Ani’s marriage is arranged to the son of a king.  Ani worries about stories she’s heard where naive young girls marry murderous men.  While threatening her, a man asks Ani if she likes that he’s a man.  There is a story of a woman who nurses her child on one breast of blood and one of milk.  A man removes his shirt.  A boy is teased about a girl and told repeatedly to give her a kiss. A girl’s leg and undergarment are exposed to a man.  A man tells a woman that he can’t love her as a man loves a woman. Ani admits she is lovesick.
Profanity – “shut up,”
Death, Violence and Gore –  A maid worries that Ani will fall in the pond and drown and her face will turn purple.  The queen smacks her daughter.  A beloved relative dies. Ani watches a parent die.  Wolves are shot by arrows.  A mother cuts her wrist and washes her daughter in her blood to remove a curse.  There are many killed, and their sword wounds described. Swords are bloodied, men are stabbed from behind, run through with swords.  There are fears that throats will be slit and threats that throats will be slit.  Corpses hang on the city walls, smelling of sour meat and fresh blood.  Ani is worried she’ll be run through and her body will be left for beasts to devour.  A wall is stained with the blood of the dead.  A beloved horse is killed, butchered and displayed.   A javelin dance is a rite of passage. Men and boys still dance if pierced, some are killed.  Ani threatens the traitors that her mother will hang them and dogs will nibble their feet and birds pluck out their hair.  Characters are stabbed, held hostage at knifepoint, punched, threatened.  A man threatens to bite off Ani’s finger.  A man is killed with a quarterstaff.  A woman is assaulted with a pole.  A man is stabbed through the heart. A man asks to gut someone.  A suggested punishment is that someone be placed naked in a barrel of nails and dragged through the street by four horses. Weapons break skin, crack bones. A room is filled with lifeless bodies.  A man is wounded and sticks his hand in the hole created and brings out his fingers covered in blood.  A war is planned and armies readied. A story is told about men returning from war after being defeated and their women stripping to the waist, exposing their breasts. The women then tell the men to see them as they did when they first touched them in the marriage bed; to see them as they did as they suckled their children and to see them as the enemy would see them when they took them to their beds and their bastard children.
Frightening or Intense Things – The princess is almost constantly in danger.  Most of the scary parts are clearly outlined in the violence section above.

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Rapunzel, the One with All the Hair

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Mrs.N

Rapunzel, the One With All the Hair by Wendy Mass.

The Kindle version is only $2.51!

Just like Mass’s retelling of Sleeping Beauty, this is told from alternating viewpoints.  In one chapter we meet Rapunzel, snatched away from her parents on her birthday.  The next introduces us to tall, uncoordinated, chess-playing Prince Benjamin. I actually preferred this to Sleeping Beauty.  Rapunzel’s imprisonment helps her become a better person and Benjamin remains his same slightly awkwardly cute self throughout. Not even rescuing his lady fair makes him into a strong macho knight.  Again, this wasn’t the most compelling or fascinating book I’ve read, but the story was cute enough.  I particularly like the way the love story is managed.  For her part, it is the very first time Rapunzel has thought a boy was cute.  Benjamin watches his three-year old sister’s marriage be arranged and knows that at 13 the same fate awaits him.  The end result of his meeting Rapunzel is a hug, and permission to marry whom he chooses when the time comes.  It’s just wonderfully age appropriate.  Another added bonus involves the basic telling of Rapunzel.  If you’re familiar with the story, you’ll know that essentially, Rapunzel is owed to the witch because her mother craved rampion (or insert name of vegetable/weed here) so strongly during pregnancy that she (stole/brokered a deal with the witch).  This essentially lays the blame for Rapunzel’s imprisonment with her mother. In Mass’s version, Rapunzel realizes that her mother would never act to endanger her and that clearly she must have been bewitched.  It’s a simple change that removes the culpability from the mother.

Because of the complete innocence of the romance and the simplicity of the retelling, I’d recommend this for Grades 3-4.

Great for: Fans of Tangled who want more Rapunzel stories.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Rapunzel’s birth is mentioned.  People are married at 12 or 13.  The prince’s parents appear to be discussing a betrothal for his 3 year old sister.  The prince’s cousin becomes engaged.  The prince becomes engaged. There is a hug.  A girl likes a boy.
Profanity – “darn,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Rapunzel laments that she’ll never be rescued and blackbirds will come pick her bones clean.  Rapunzel tells the witch that she’ll face the hangman’s noose.  The prince is treated with leeches (which suck his blood) after an injury.  Animals are hunted.  They plot to kill a troll.  The witch and the prince fight.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Lords and ladies drink ale and brandy.  The cook sleeps off six cups of ale. A hermit offers ale to the boys but then reconsiders saying they aren’t of age.  At one point someone asks “Have you drunk too much ale?” to mean “Are you crazy?” The hermit smokes a pipe.
Frightening or Intense Things – A witch comes and take Rapunzel from her home.

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Entwined

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Mrs.N

Entwined by Heather Dixon

Another version of The Dancing Princesses, Entwined is a lovely mix of enchantment and humor.  Azalea, the oldest of the twelve princesses makes a promise to her mother that she will take care of her sisters.  She swears this on her dying mother’s beloved handkerchief that is embroidered with silver thread.  Without realizing that magic in the silver compels her to keep her vow, Azalea does her best.  She puts off suitors, stands up to their father and finds a secret passage in the palace leading to a beautiful pavilion where the girls can dance away their sorrows.  What Azalea doesn’t know is that by trying to alleviate their pain from losing their mother she is leading them into a dangerous trap.  The silver laced world beneath the palace where they dance is home to handsome Keeper. As the nights pass Azalea begins to fear Keeper, and with good reason.  He is far more powerful and sinister than she anticipated. It will take all of Azalea’s strength as well as help from the the King and the girls’ suitors to save them and the entire kingdom.

The romance in the story is sweet and done with a light touch, things don’t heat up beyond a few kisses.  Love is a major part of the story, but familial love is given just as important (if not more important) a role as romantic love.  The girls’ aren’t solely responsible for their own salvation, but nor are they purely decorative and in need of saving. In fact, some of the male characters are decidedly less in charge than the girls.  An opportunity for a modern ending is shunned though as Azalea avoids a non-traditional proposal.

The tension and danger are never terribly scary either, so I would say this would be fine for teens and tweens.  Middle grade students who feel up to the vocabulary and can comprehend the text should not encounter anything too old for their age.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A baby is born.  Quite a few characters kiss or imagine what it is like to be kissed. Kissing is described as like dancing, it is written in a very non-provocative way.  There is hand-holding.  There’s a reasonable amount of touching during dances.  Azalea will have to marry. Corsets and underthings are mentioned.
Profanity – “Who the devil are you?”, “dash it all,”
Death, Violence and Gore –  The Queen is ill and dies.  Magical curtains strangle servants.  A magic tea service bites fingers.  The High King tortured people, hacked them to pieces, stole their souls.  He also spent a lot of time plotting murders, drank a vial of his beloved’s blood, swore to kill the man who overthrew him and dismembered a princess.  There is repeated slapping across the face.  A man has a neck wound and the blood seeps through the bandage. Father’s hand is cut on a bayonet.  There’s a mention of ghosts. The king slams a man against a wall.  Azalea’s wrists are bruised from being grabbed.  A fan slices her arm. There are some fist fights, pistol shots and scratching. The most scary scene is where a magical version of Mother appears, once with her mouth sewn shut and once where her skin appears to melt off. After magic wears off, a person appears to have a skeleton face.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Wine is offered.
Frightening or Intense Things –  The book is not incredibly scary although there are some tense parts.  Azalea also has a tendency to go off in freezing cold storms and then fall very ill.

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Sleeping Beauty – The One Who Took the Really Long Nap

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Mrs.N

Twice Upon a Time #2: Sleeping Beauty, The One Who Took the Really Long Nap by Wendy Mass

Wendy Mass is super popular right now, which probably explains the recent reissue of this 2006 publication.  It was a completely uninspired piece of fluff.  The basic Sleeping Beauty tale begins without any major flourishes, she’s just an overprotected girl.  There are some bizarre seemingly anachronistic touches (like a slumber party with makeovers), but nothing particularly special.  As her tale unfolds, so does the tale of the prince that will become her rescuer.  His mother is literally part ogre (perhaps trying to cash in on the Shrek frenzy that lasted throughout the first decade of the 2000s).  Other than that, he’s a pretty milquetoast guy.  The story is told alternating between the point of view of the princess and of her prince.  I can’t commend it for being interesting or well written, but I do think it would play really well girls in grades 3-6 who enjoy their reading light and their plots without substance.  I can’t offer any endorsements of Sleeping Beauty as a strong female character, but the Prince (who has lived his live without a name) does choose to call himself “Princess Rose’s husband” in the end. It’s a bizarre pseudo-feminist wrap up that to reinforced my feelings that the Prince was a dull, dull boy rather than wiped away Rose’s past ultra girly behavior.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There’s a small amount of kissing. Girls think boys are cute.  A girl might be in love with a boy.  There’s a marriage at the end.
Profanity – “heck,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Someone is banged on the head.  Rose’s parents die (in the 100 years she’s asleep).  The prince’s mother, the ogre, eats people which makes it hard to keep a full staff of servants and also leads to literal skeletons in the closet.  The forest includes animals that could eat you.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Posted in Middle Grades, Primary Grades, Tween | Tagged , , | 2 Comments