Forever in Blue – The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Mrs. N

I have to say, as much as I do love this series, I am ready to smack Carmen, and I’m a bit tired of Brashares feeling the need to inject drama into everything.  This series is escapist reading.  I shouldn’t have felt depressed and worried only 60 pages in.  But I’m sure many of you know that teenagers are often set on finishing a series like this just for the sake of finishing.  So take my fuddy-duddy complaining with a grain of salt.  It’s been awhile since I was 18.

I think that one of the reasons I didn’t like this as much as I hoped was because I didn’t see much growth from the characters.  They acted like themselves, I get it, but people do change between their sophomore year in high school and their freshman year in college.  At least I hope they do.  So it was less than thrilling to me to see the girls continue to struggle with the same type of issues.

Also, I had some concerns with how it all ended SelectShow

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Pretty much everyone is having sex in this book.  I think it’s limited to one time per set of characters.  As you would expect, there’s also kissing, pressing up against each other, wanting sex, fantasizing about sex and discussion of virginity.  This book does feature characters using protection (whoo-hoo!), but not all of the characters (booo!)  One character has a pregnancy scare and there is discussion of periods related to that subplot.  There’s also a character who cheats on her boyfriend by kissing a thirty year old man who is married with two children.  He wants to make passionate love to her, but they resist.

Profanity – “God,” “shit,” “bitch,” “hell” and someone thinks about giving someone the finger.

Death, Violence and Gore – During an archeology job, a character works with ancient skeletons.

Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A character drinks a beer and says she’s formed an acquaintanceship with beer over the past year.  A character is offered wine during dinner.  Two characters drink beer.  One chapter starts with the following quote from W.C. Fields: Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore, always carry a small snake.

Frightening or Intense Things – A character has a pregnancy scare.  Someone’s great-aunt had a stroke.  A character suspects her brother needs anti-depressants.

Posted in Mature Teen, Teen | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Girls in Pants – The Third Summer of the Sisterhood

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Mrs. N

I think this is about when I should admit that even though I’m a grown-up, I really couldn’t wait to get back to reading this each time I put it down.  The style that Ann Brahsares uses really compels you to keep reading.  As with the earlier books, she flips between the story arcs of the different characters.  Often, she’ll leave a character right when something interesting is about to happen.  And then you find yourself saying, well, I could just keep reading until we get back to Tibby’s story.  But then something really interesting will be about to happen to Lena, and you think, or I could just keep going until I find out about Lena again.  Addictive.  Alternately, it could encourage page flipping and skim reading, but I think for a lot of teens this style of writing will make this series hard to put down.

Again, we skip the school year, and find ourselves in the final summer of high school, with the girls preparing to head off to college.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – As you would expect, there is continued partial nudity, with the girls going swimming in their underwear this time, and one girl bringing a boy to swim with her.  There’s more kissing, talking of feeling physical attraction for others and plenty of talk about one boy wanting a girl, his eyes lingering on her breasts.  Two characters discuss their prior sexual relationship.  A 17 year old is involved with a 21 year old and hopes they one day make love.  As in the first book in the series, the age difference here is something that may require discussion as one participant is under 18 and the other is over 18.

One of the girls gets a sibling.  We are there for the whole labor which is described in detail, including use of the terms contractions and cervix.  After the baby is born the mother puts it to her breast.

Profanity – “damn” used twice, “for God’s sake,” “ass,” “so help you God,” “dang it,” “hell”

Death, Violence and Gore – A secondary character reveals that he had a baby brother who died.

Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – We’re told that leaving art supplies out for an artist is like leaving “drugs out for an addict.”  Lena tells us that observing someone closely is either like poetry or “like getting really, really stoned.”  We continue to hear about the family member with an alcohol problem (very minor subplot).

Frightening or Intense Things – A young child falls out of a window and has a fractured skull, wrist and collarbone, but is ultimately okay.

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The Second Summer of the Sisterhood

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Mrs. N

The second book in the series meets up with the girls a whole year later. Usually with series books there’s an expectation that things pick up where they left off, but Brashares decided to skip the school year in favor of bringing us to the next summer vacation.  This can be a bit disconcerting for some readers as the book starts.  I often had the feeling that I had missed something, then needed to remind myself that it was deliberate, and I’d missed a whole year.  For readers who struggle with comprehension, this may be difficult.

Like its predecessor, this book does a great job of tapping into the conflicting feelings teens have of feeling invisible to those they love and feeling like everyone’s focused on them.  The tone of the series remains the same, so I would expect anyone who liked The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants to like this as well.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The girls pretty much pick up where they left off, except that in this book, a single parent of one of the girls begins dating too!  There is much more kissing in this book, on the lips, while laying on top of each other, and it’s written about in a much sexier manner than in the prior book.   One girl receives a letter where the boy has written about wanting to make love and then crossed it out until it was unreadable.  One of the girls has X-rated fantasies (we do not know the content of these).  Two characters do more than kiss, although the details how much is left hazy, we do know he removes her shirt and undoes her bra.

We learn more about the girls’ parents, as we’re kept informed of one parent’s dating life, and how concerned the girl is about what her mother might be doing with her date.  Another mother confesses that before she was married she lived with a man as if “we were already married.”  She also shares that when she came home from meeting with an ex, that was the night that she and the girl’s father made her sister.

A male character impregnates a (minor character) girl and plans on marrying her.

Again, the girls are occasionally in their bras and underwear, they are sometimes seen this way by boys, or seen entirely topless by boys.

Profanity – “damn,” “hell,” “shit,” “bastard”

Death, Violence and Gore – We learn that a secondary character’s dad died.  Another secondary character dies.  We learn more about Bridget’s mother’s death, including a scene depicting how Bridget found her mother, that some may find disturbing.

Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A boy looks hungover.  There is beer in a fridge (although no implication that it is for teens).  A boy writes that he drank a “couple of pints.” A boy uses a fake ID to by beers for himself and two others, although he is the only one shown drinking.  Another boy is offered wine.  The girls’ mothers drink a bottle and a half of wine.  Lena suspects that at parties when the girls were small the adults did bong hits.  There is one reference to someone doing a lot of decorating acting like “Martha Stewart on amphetamines.”

Frightening or Intense Things – We learn that Bridget’s mother was institutionalized for a period of time after high school.  All other upsetting info is listed above.

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Winner – Paper Bag Princess

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Mrs. N

Congratulations to gideonfrog! You’ve won your very own copy of The Paper Bag Princess. I’ll be contacting you shortly.

Posted in Primary Grades, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Mrs. N

I know that for many summer vacation is already over and the kids are starting back to school.  Some of us though, have one final week left of vacation and I’m planning on clinging to it by reading one of the best YA series set during summer vacation – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.  Check out the info, and if you have a teen who’d rather stick her head in the sand than sharpen pencils and pack her backpack, here’s a way to give her one final escape.

Great for: Teens, provided parents are comfortable with the content.  There are four main characters: Tibby, Lena, Carmen and Bee.  They tend to be “types” but this means that there is something for almost any reader to connect to, be it divorce, negotiating a parent’s remarriage, sibling relationships, athleticism, being an artist, feeling left out or left behind and of course, negotiating teen love and lust.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – This is a coming of age novel about four female friends.  It contains several references to the size of their breasts.  The girls appear in their underwear several times throughout.  They try on clothes and admire each other’s butts and sometimes they tell each other that they’re sexy.

One of their rules is that you can’t let a boy take off the pants, but you can remove them yourself in the presence of a boy.  There are statements about boys viewing them sexually, such as “boys got you to trust them, then went in for the grope,” and references to boys talking to your breasts.

All four girls start out as virgins.  There is one character who has sex during the book, but it is not explicitly stated, what is stated is that she went farther than she was ready for, and this has a lot of repercussions for her emotionally.  There is discussion of wanting sex.  There is a fair amount of kissing between the girls and their love interests.  Two characters of the opposite sex see each other naked accidentally, an overreaction by the girl makes her family believe the boy involved is a rapist.

A recurring element that may be of concern to some is that there is often an age gap between the girls and their love interests.  A 14 year old kisses a 17 year old, a 15 year old kisses an 18 year old and a 15 year old lies and says she is 16 while pursuing a 19 year old.  In real life this happens.  Girls are attracted to, and date older boys.  They get involved in sexual relationships with older boys.  But it is something worth talking about, especially since in one case, the relationship evolves between a girl and her coach.  Girls need to talk to adults about the emotional ramifications of these experiences, as well as the legal implications.  Regardless of what you feel, the law is meant to protect, and several of the situations above would be at best questionable from a legal standpoint, and in the case of the 15 and 19 year old, statutory rape.  I don’t think Brashares is wrong to write about it, it’s a very real part of life, but I do think it’s something that girls should talk about with an adult they trust.  Also of interest, and possibly because the sex occurs off screen, there is no discussion of contraception or protection from STDs.

Profanity – “Jesus” used twice, “assed, “for God’s sake,” “asshole” used twice, “goddammit”, “I swear to God,” “oh God,” “hell”
Death, Violence and Gore – The girls say the penalty for breaking the rules of the pants is a severe spanking.  A character breaks a window in anger.  A guinea pig dies.  A secondary character dies.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – One underage main character has a glass of wine.  Several underage characters (who are not main characters) drink, from camp coaches at a bar, to teens at a party.  Although no characters smoke or do drugs, there are a few drug references:  “If you painted your house those colors, they’d call you a drug addict” and something makes Lena feel as though she is tripping.
Frightening or Intense Things – A secondary character suffers from leukemia.  This is a major part of the storyline and quite sad.

There is much past loss referred to throughout the story.  One character has lost his parents and brother in a car crash.  Another has a father who is in treatment for alcoholism.  Yet another lost her mother at a young age. We are led to believe her death is somehow related to depression or mental illness but there are not many details given.

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Quick Picture Book Pick – Paper Bag Princess

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Mrs. N

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

To wrap up our princess theme, I have a special treat for you:  my all time favorite princess picture book, Robert Munsch’s The Paper Bag Princess. It would hard not to love this reversal of your typical damsel in distress tale.  When a dragon lays waste to Princess Elizabeth’s castle and clothes, and carries off her intended, Prince Ronald, Elizabeth does not mope or cry.  She grabs a paper bag and springs into action.  Using her brains (no acts of violence necessary for our heroine), she outwits the dragon and saves Ronald.  When he expresses displeasure with her appearance, and a rather sad lack of gratitude, Elizabeth does not think twice.  She kicks Ronald to the curb and waltzes off into the sunset by herself.

The giveaway in now closed.

I have a beautiful brand new copy of this for your little princess.  To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me your favorite princess book.  It can be one I reviewed, or one I missed.  If you don’t have a favorite, just tell me one you might want to try.  The contest will be open through midnight EST on Sunday, August 29.  Make sure you leave some way to reach you in the comments, and check back on Monday, August 30th for the winner!  At this time, I can only send to the U.S. and Canada.

Posted in Little Ones, Primary Grades | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Princess Bride

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Mrs. N

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman

If you haven’t already read The Princess Bride, please do so immediately.  I can wait.  No really, you don’t want me to spoil anything for you.  It’s that good. It’s stay-up-late-reading-under-the-covers-with-a-flashlight good.  It’s answer-uh-huh-to-a-string-of-questions-before-the-person-you’re-talking-to-gets-mad-that-your-attention-is-elsewhere-good.  It’s everyone-on-the-train-is-staring-at-you-because-you-are-laughing-out-loud good.  It’s so good that even though it was published in the seventies, my large city library has no available copies.  They’re all checked out.

Maybe you’ve seen the movie and loved it. Don’t worry! The book won’t disappoint. If you’ve neither seen it or read it, then you probably need to take some time off of work to remedy that. Technically, this is an adult book, but I believe it has a lot of appeal for teens, advanced middle school readers or even as a read aloud.  In fact, especially as a read aloud, particularly if you need to entertain some older readers. It really has everything.  As Goldman himself advertises,

“Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison.  True love.  Hate.  Revenge.  Giants.  Hunters.  Bad men.  Good men.  Beautifulest ladies.  Snakes.  Spiders.  Beasts of all natures and descriptions.  Pain.  Death.  Brave men.  Coward men.  Strongest men.  Chases. Escapes. Lies.  Truths.  Passions.  Miracles.”

The only sections that may be slightly less appealing to a younger audience are the parts where Goldman talks directly to the reader, especially the first chapter, but I think that high school age readers will appreciate those as well.  If you were using this as a read aloud, you could skip or edit this section for the little ones, just be sure to read it yourself!

Great for: Lovers of adventure and humor.  The movie version was a huge hit, and the book is even better; and for those of you who love quoting the movie – never fear, Goldman was responsible for the screenplay of his own book, so almost all your favorite lines will still be here.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Despite William Goldman’s front cover claim that this is a “hot” fairy tale, it’s pretty tame.  You have a few kisses, including the kiss that blew away the five great kisses since 1642 B.C.  There’s one reference to building a bed for two.  Buttercup’s breasts are mentioned twice.  Farm boy is shirtless in one scene.  A starlet is described as top-heavy.  The prince and princess kiss on the cheek.

Profanity – “bitch” twice, “hell” three times, “shit”, “Jesus”, “ass”, “feculence” and “spick”

Death, Violence and Gore –

Animal – A R.O.U.S. (Rodent of Unusual Size) wanders out of the fire swamp to die. A few are stabbed, and the live ones eat the dead.  Humperdinck strangles an orangutan with his bare hands.  A wild dog is tortured and killed (the torture is sucking the life out of him, so not particularly graphic, just may be disturbing to some). A snake and 7 king bats are killed.

Human – You would not have the most quotable line of the movie “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die,” if Inigo’s father had not been murdered.  We are witnesses to his murder in the book, as well as the injury to Inigo’s face that caused his scars. Fezzik’s parents are killed by plague.  When a character is captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts he offers “you can chop off my head then and there.” An R.O.U.S. bites a character.  The wound festers.  There is discussion of the possibility that the snow sand goes on forever stripping your flesh from your bones.  A skeleton is found in the snow sand.  There are countless threats of killing, including plans for murder.  Buttercup is dragged by her hair.  A few characters die, though fair warning is given – if you ask me, I’ll tell you who, but I wasn’t about to ruin it for everyone.   A character is warned that being in the water might result in being mutilated by sharks. For my money though, the most gory scene is one where Inigo is injured in a duel and has to cover a wound to his stomach.  There is talk of him pushing his hand into his insides and not thinking about what he’s touching.

Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – In the beginning section, Goldman says that he “stayed in and got bombed” when his book didn’t do well.  Ulcers are treated with coffee dolloped with brandy.  A character is given wine and brandy to recover from injury.  Inigo is either a drunkard or alcoholic, and is shown very drunk several times.

Frightening or Intense Things – The princess is kidnapped and her life is threatened.  During the kidnapping attempt, she is often in danger and at a few points nearly dies.  The whole attempted rescue from the kidnapping is also relatively tense especially the part in the fire swamp, where the characters face R.O.U.S. (Rodents of Unusual Size), snow sand, and sudden bursts of flame.  The book includes torture of both animals and humans and this may be disturbing to some.

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The Princess and Curdie

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Mrs. N

The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald

Folks, sometimes I read a book just so you don’t have to.  It was an absolute slog trying to get through this sequel to The Princess and the Goblin.  MacDonald, a minister, is clearly on a moralizing tear.  There are long sections on accountability, responsibility, and believing in things you cannot see.  There are examples of the evils of alcohol and greed and a nice little piece on how it is a privilege to be poor.

His vocabulary doesn’t get any more accessible either, keep an eye (and a dictionary) out for atomy, carbuncular, circumfulgent, adit, and opprobrious – to name some of the hardest words I bumped into.

On top of that, Princess Irene doesn’t even surface until Chapter 19 and when she does, she’s considerably less helpful, useful and interesting than she was a book ago. Also, the violence increases to a remarkable level (if the threats of roasting alive don’t get you, the difficulty in removing a mattock from the brain of a freshly murdered bulldog just might).  Finish up with a kiss between the newly betrothed Irene and Curdie (ages 9, so no, that’s not her writhing on the cover in some editions, and 13 respectively) and you may find you’ve strained your eyeballs what with all the rolling.

Age Recommendation: Definitely for Grades 6+. You know. If you want to inflict something dark and moralizing on them.
Great for: People who are looking for Christian allegories.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The princess and Curdie kiss.
Profanity – There is one “ah, God” but I don’t think MacDonald means it in a cursing sort of way.  Curdie is called “a booby of a miner.”
Death, Violence and Gore – There are countless threats, ranging from threats of roasting people alive, burning down houses with all occupants trapped inside to plain old threats of killing.  Curdie shoots and injures a pigeon.  Curdie is attacked by birds which tear his flesh, Lina fights them to protect him and is injured herself.  Lina crushes many things (people, animals) in her powerful jaws.  Curdie digs his mattock into dogs (see aforementioned bulldog) and dreams of putting it through the skull of an evil doctor.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Curdie drinks wine. His beast animal drinks wine.  Everyone drinks wine.
Frightening or Intense Things – The kingdom is in peril, there are wars.  Curdie is trapped in a dungeon.  The whole end of the story ends on a rather down note with the city collapsing and killing all its inhabitants. I think we’re supposed to be okay with this ending because a. it happens after Curdie and Irene are dead and b. those people were greedy and immoral and deserved it (please see above about a minister on a moralizing tear).

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The Princess and the Goblin

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Mrs. N

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

I remember reading and loving this as a child, but I’m fairly astonished by that not because it’s not a great book, but because the vocabulary in this book is killer.  MacDonald himself says that he does not write for children, but rather the childlike and he is not kidding.  This book could be used for SAT vocabulary prep: enmity, undulating, ancestral, subterranean, globular, ludicrously, excogitated…we’re definitely talking about a challenging read.  That coupled with MacDonald’s 19th century turn of phrase makes sections of this quite dense going indeed.

The princess in question here is eight year old Irene, whom many modern readers will find to be quite babyish for her age. If you don’t focus on her age, you have a marvelous fantasy story about goblins, friendship and believing.  Incidentally, MacDonald seems to have been a favorite of both C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, so do with that what you will.

One day, Irene dashes up a set of stairs in her nursery to find herself in a hallway filled with doors.  Upon exploring she finds more stairs, more doors, and eventually a woman sitting at a spinning wheel who declares herself Irene’s great-great-great-great grandmother.  Meanwhile, Curdie, working late in the mines to earn money for a present for his mother, discovers he is on the verge of breaking through the cave wall into the goblin world.  Upon investigating further, he overhears a goblin plot to wreak havoc on the human kingdom.  It takes Curdie, Irene and a bit of help from that secret great-great-great-great grandmother to put things right again.

Age Recommendation: As mentioned above, this is a very challenging read and for that reason I would say it’s probably best for Grades 5+, but if you have an advanced reader on your hands, they might be able to handle it slightly before that.

Great for: Reading aloud to your older child.  It’s not just young children that love to be read to.  This story would be a good read aloud to children grades 4 and up.  It will require some effort on your part to help with the difficult vocabulary.

This is also a princess book that boys can easily get into.  There’s a lot of adventure and Irene is definitely Curdie’s equal.  In fact, he and Irene take turns saving each other, so neither gender comes up as the ultimate savior of the other.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – The princess promises Curdie a kiss.  At the end she does give him one kiss on the mouth.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – A goblin queen died in childbirth.  A goblin creature gets shot with an arrow.  Curdie kills a goblin creature (a goblinlike animal).  Curdie is shot and injured by the king’s men-at-arms.  The goblin prince threatens to skin his stepmother’s toes. Curdie cuts the goblin queen’s face in a skirmish.  There are several battles between humans and goblins although all specific violence is listed above.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – One solider is accused of “taking too long a pull at the ale jug.”
Frightening or Intense Things –  The princess is under nearly constant threat from the goblins.  It is a bit intense when she and her nurse are lost after dark.  There is a plot to capture the princess and marry her to the goblin prince.  There is concern that the princess will be killed if captured and the king doesn’t comply with demands.  Curdie is captured and trapped by the goblins.

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Princess Academy

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Mrs. N


Shannon Hale has to be one of my favorite YA authors. And yes, I realize that her books are shelved in Children’s in most libraries, but Princess Academy is more appropriate for younger children than much of her work. Please be careful with any of the books of Bayern:  Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets or Forest Born. They have much more mature themes and violence.  I will review them here eventually, as I love them dearly, but it’s worth a warning that they are not things I would give to third graders.

In re-reading Princess Academy, I was struck by how much I really do like it and what a good job Hale does of  drawing you into the fantasy world she’s created. The first time I read it I was annoyed by the ending and it colored my love for the book. Here’s the thing; Hale goes through a lot of trouble to explain the social classes of the fantasy world she’s created.  The isolation of Mount Eskel (the main setting) from the rest of the kingdom, and its status as a territory have made its residents not only of the lowest possible social class, but prey to exploitation by the more knowledgeable traders.  There is a good deal of shock when the oracle predicts the prince’s bride will be from Mount Eskel, in part because no one there is considered worthy of being a princess.

The reason the ending bothers me so much (and yes, consider yourself warned that I’m giving you a major spoiler) is that the prince does not end up choosing a girl from Mount Eskel.  Believe me, you are not rooting for him to pick the main character, Miri, yet Hale’s choice to make his bride a fellow noble really struck an off note with me.  It was as though Hale abandoned her crusade for equality among the classes and decided she’d rather take a stand against arranged marriages.  I think it would have been possible to create a character who had an existing relationship with the prince who was not herself a noble and achieve both a statement on social class and one on arranged marriages, but that simply didn’t happen.

On re-reading I was not nearly so bothered by this (and it’s really unlikely that age-appropriate readers will notice or care). This time I was captivated by the world Hale created and the bravery and ingenuity shown by her characters.

I received some complaints from students that the beginning is boring.  There is an initial part in which Hale needs to establish her fantasy world where the story does not have much action.  Most students who made it past this point did enjoy the story greatly; the action picks up once the girls go to the academy.

The vocabulary can be difficult for younger readers because some of it is very specific like “quarry,” and some is made up.  Making up words is quite common in fantasy and science fiction books, but it means that children must be strong enough readers that they can determine the meaning of words solely from the context.  I’ve only had a few third graders who were able to read this, I would go with fourth grade and up.  Miri herself is 14, but honestly she feels a bit younger; they are always speaking of how small she is.  There’s also a bit of commerce and diplomacy that may be difficult to understand for younger readers, but those sections aren’t vital to appreciating the rest of the story.

Great for: People who root for the underdog. Miri time and again doubts that she is capable and yet proves she is smart, strong and a good friend.

Age Recommendation: This would be appropriate for an advanced third grade reader and would hold interest of many students older than that.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Miri likes Peder.  At one point she has an impulse to kiss his cheek, but really the most that happens between them is some hand-holding.  A girl from the Princess Academy becomes betrothed to the prince.
Profanity – None
Death, Violence and Gore – Miri’s mother died a week after her birth.  The book relates the story of her working in the quarry, having a bad fall, delivering Miri early and subsequently dying. Girls are punished by hand lashings at the Princess Academy.  Miri’s sister is injured in a quarry accident. One of the bandits dies.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None
Frightening or Intense Things – Girls are locked in a closet for misbehaving at the Academy.  When Miri is in the closet, there is a rat in there with her and she is worried and remembers hearing of a baby who died from a rat bite.  At one point the bandits attack and hold the girls for ransom.  This whole section is very suspenseful as the girls try to escape and the bandits threaten their lives, including threatening to slit their throats.  The villagers arrive to save the girls and there is a confrontation. There are some injuries during the bandit attack and during the rescue.

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