Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Mrs.N

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief by Wendelin Van Draanen

Sammy loves looking out her Gram’s window with binoculars, even if it is kind of boring most of the time. But one day, when she’s checking out the Heavenly Hotel, she just happens to notice a thief helping himself to a wad of cash.  Without thinking, she waves at him.  Now she’s starting middle school AND in the middle of a mystery.

The mystery itself is an Encyclopedia Brown type – nothing scary, a burglar, some clues and some good old fashioned detective work.  The characters go a bit deeper, Sammy and her best friend Marissa are inseparable, and both girls have been abandoned by their parents in very different ways.  Sammy’s mother has left her with her Gram, while Marissa’s parents are wealthy and high powered, with type to spare for anything and everything but their own children.  There’s a lot to like in this book and I’d happily recommend it to children especially in grades 3 and 4, although younger readers who are advanced might be okay with the content.  My main caution on the content would be the issue of parental supervision and interest.  For some children this will be unconcerning, others will feel stress or anxiety regarding how the parents treat children in this book.  I did happen to run across a comment that faulted Sammy herself for being too violent, but please judge that for yourself after reading the content disclosure below.

One last thought: Marissa’s younger brother is very fat.  There are multiple comments about the candy and sweets he eats. I think it’s always a bit touchy when overweight characters also are show as being to blame for their condition through overindulgence.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A woman calls a man a flirt.  A girl has had a crush on a boy for ages and asks a friend if she thinks he’s cute.  A girl sees a man with his shirt half off as he is changing into another outfit.
Profanity – “darn,” “dumb,” “shoot,” “jerk,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A character pokes another character in the butt with a pin.  She gets punched in the nose (causing a bloody nose) in retaliation.  Sammy worries that perhaps her grandmother is tied up with duct tape in a closet.  A girl tackles another girl and threatens her. A person slams a Dumpster lid on another person, trapping that person.  A police officer draws a gun.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Samantha mentions that kids get suspended for passing out cigarettes. An adult buys cigarettes. Two adults smoke cigarettes.  A man smokes a cigar.
Frightening or Intense Things – Samantha seems to live with Grams and doesn’t want to get into where her mother is.   She said her mother left her there and she is afraid of questions from the cops.  When she first started living there she slept with Grams because she had bad dreams, now she sleeps on the couch.  Sammy can’t legally live with her Grams, because it’s subsidized housing for the elderly, so her living situation is precarious.  About midway through the book she upsets her grandmother so much that her grandmother won’t answer the phone and arranges for her to sleep at a friend’s house. Sammy has gotten a ticket for jaywalking.

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Half Moon Investigations

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Mrs.N

Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer

Fletcher takes being a detective very seriously.  He has a badge that he earned from a Private Detective Academy.  He’s eager to get started solving real crimes, not just kids’ stuff.  But he never suspected just how dangerous real detection can be!  When a popular girl hires him to solve a crime where the prime suspect is a member of a prominent crime family, Fletcher jumps at the chance.  But it’s not long before he’s in over his head.  He’s already suffering some pretty serious injuries, when he finds himself on the wrong side of the law. And he has the most unlikely ally possible: Red Sharkey, his prime suspect, a boy he’d written off as a career criminal.  As Fletcher tries to figure out whose behind a series of seemingly unrelated crimes, he learns that looks are often deceiving.

I was a little disappointed, because I was really expecting to love this, but it never really caught me.  I liked its message and how it (hopefully) will get kids thinking about making judgments based on appearances, but I was never eager to pick it up again.  As far as a mystery goes, there are definitely decent clues to follow and while suspenseful, it’s more action movie type suspense than thriller suspense.  It would be appropriate for students in the third grade and up.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Valentines and lovey-dovey notes are mentioned as is hiring someone to tell another person that you like them. Fletcher says people are looking at him but not in the good “I wonder if he’s single” kind of way.  Fletcher’s sister is popular with the boys and has a boyfriend, who she needs to dump almost immediately because he’s seeing someone else.  When a boy meets a girl about a job, people joke/tease that it is a date.  An old lady spies on people and sees some extramarital affairs, she mentions kissing, but nothing else.  One boy suggests to another that he is getting “romantic ideas” about a girl.  He’s not.

Profanity – “butt face”, “hell” as a location, “Oh my God,” “God,” “moron,” “shut up,” “shove your second…shove your accusations,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Different types of school fights are described: the self-explanatory headlock; the pinwheel, where opponents run at each other eyes closed and arms spinning; the hold me back, in which people mainly yell hold me back and hope someone intervenes so they won’t have to fight.  School fights sometimes include threats like “I would have murdered you.” A girl threatens to beat someone.  The principal keeps a record of children and their offenses.  Being suspended is depicted by a stick figure being lynched.  A toddler hurls a block at another toddler causing bleeding.  One boy knocks another to the ground and tells him to back off or he’ll “be sore and sorry.”  A boy is hit with something heavy, like a club and loses consciousness.  He ends up hospitalized with bone bruising, a broken nose and a badly injured hand.  None of this is treated as scary, it’s sort of matter of fact and casual.  He describes his face after the attack as looking like “someone had dropped a pound of rare steak on my face, and it had stuck.” There is a fire. A girl hit an admirer in the face with a microphone knocking out four of his teeth.  A character’s mother died prior to the start of the book.  A boy punched another kid in the stomach.  Two boys are attacked by people wielding golf clubs.  Two people fall and are badly hurt. A 10 year drives a car into another car, causing the air bag to deploy.  A boy punches another boy in the arm.  A woman hits a man in the head with a piece of wood.  A man threatens a child.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
Gross-Out Humor – there is some gross-out humor here. A boy has lots of snot dripping from his nose. One type of school fight means that sometimes people go to the bathroom in their pants.

 

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The Case of the Spooky Sleepover: A Jigsaw Jones Mystery (#4)

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Mrs.N

The Case of the Spooky Sleepover (Jigsaw Jones Mystery, # 4) by James Preller

Like Encyclopedia Brown, Jigsaw has his own detective business.  So when popular kid Ralphie has a problem, he turns to Jigsaw.  An is Ralphie’s problem ever a big one; he thinks his house is haunted!  Of course, in order to solve the mystery properly, Jigsaw has to sleep over.  Hence, the case of the spooky sleepover.

Jigsaw Jones is another extensive mystery series.  A step or two harder than Nate the Great, it’s a good choice for second graders who are ready for chapter books and many beginning third graders.  Although this one had some slightly scary content (see below) I think that’s pretty out of character for the series, which overall seems to have the same type of non-threatening mysteries as Nate the Great.  Jigsaw Jones mysteries also feature occasional illustrations making the transition to chapter book easier.

Bonus: Jigsaw’s “client” in this book is Ralphie who is described as having “dark eyes, dark skin, dark hair” and being “the most popular kid”.  His detective partner is Mila Yeh, who from the drawings in the book appears Asian.  So a thumbs-up from me for the inclusion positive minority characters.  I know some people feel that at this level it’s tokenism, but I’m happy to have them there!

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Jigsaw wears clean underwear for his sleepover.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Ralphie’s older brother tells a ghost story.  In the story he says that a man was killed.  He tells the younger boys that the box he’s holding contains the rotting flesh of the dead man’s body.  He takes things out of the box gives them to the boys to touch, the man’s slimy eyes, his wrinkly ear and his hand.  (These items turn out to be grapes, a dried apricot and a glove filled with mud).
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Ralphie asks if Jigsaw believes in ghosts, and not the friendly kind like Casper.  He believes his house is haunted. He hears chains rattling and WooOOOOooo noises.  The kids watch a movie called Zombies Ate New Jersey.  No details about the movie are given though.

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Nate the Great on the Owl Express

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Mrs.N

Nate the Great on the Owl Express
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat & Mitchell Sharmat

I’m afraid I needed a bit of a palate cleanser after reading You, so I went with Nate the Great. There are approximately 8 bajillion Nate the Great books and they are in that sweet spot of beginning chapter book so if your kid likes them, you could keep them on a steady diet of early reader mysteries for awhile. I would have loved to start you with the original, Nate the Great, but this one was in my collection and sometimes, you’ve got to go with what you’ve got.

Nate the Great is a boy detective who works with the help of his dog, Sludge. He has been hired to be a bodyguard for an owl who can’t fly.  He joins the owl on a cross country train trip. On the train, he interviews potential suspects and then falls asleep. When he awakes the owl is gone!  Nate must think fast to solve the mystery.

My copy of the book includes a non-fiction section at the end with extra notes and activities.

This is a great pick for kids who are advanced readers.  Even a kindergartener or first graders who could manage the vocabulary could understand it and it wouldn’t be too scary.  On the other hand, it also works for struggling third grade readers. Interspersed with pictures (in my copy, they’re even in COLOR!) it’s accessible, enjoyable and versatile.

In the book itself:
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – The owl eats mice (not during the book or anything, we just learn that she does in order to know how to care for her).
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

In the extra activities section:
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – We learn what an owl eats (hint: small animals) and also that they spit out pellets of fur and tiny bones. We learn that owls have sharp talons to tear their food apart and that they eat as many as six mice a day. An illustration the kind of guard you see outside of Buckingham Palace shows that guard holding a rifle. Notes on Ancient Egypt tell us that people believed Egyptian kings could come back to life and that his body was valuable even after he died. It also explains that the pyramids are tombs. A joke in the Jokes and Riddles section reads: “How do you know owls are wiser than chickens?” “Have you ever heard of Kentucky Fried Owl?”
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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You

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Mrs.N

You by Charles Benoit

I should have guessed from the title that this would be written in the second person, a conceit which generally irritates me to no end.  What I couldn’t have known is that it also doesn’t have chapters, which it turns out, also irritates me to no end, especially when I’m not enjoying a book and want a clear way to feel like I’m making progress through it.

The opening sequence begins with “you” finding yourself covered in blood and surrounded by broken glass.  Immediately you have to start figuring out exactly how you came to this point.  It’s a mystery, where you are the likely suspect.

Only, it’s not really a mystery.  It’s a book where a boy pretty much whines about his lot in life.  How he’s an unsuccessful hoodie, excluded by the powerful jocks who doesn’t do well in school (but could, if he tried, he just doesn’t care) and takes risks to get a buzz since his parents won’t notice anyway.  Other fun moments happen when he’s listening to the girl he likes, but rather than hear anything she’s saying, he’s imagining what things would be like if they dated, especially sexually.  And then he has to fake answers to her questions because, as I mentioned, he wasn’t actually listening to her as much as he was fantasizing about her.

So how did I end up choosing this in the first place, since it’s not quite a mystery and I didn’t actually enjoy it?  YALSA, that’s how.  See, it was a quick pick for reluctant readers which makes me feel like the YALSA people really didn’t get this book.  Because a big part of this book is trying to show just how much the author “gets” kids that aren’t successful in school.  I don’t know.  Maybe outsiders and kids who wear hoodies are reading and saying “whoa, this guy gets me”.  But I didn’t get that impression at all.  I figured they’d be rolling their eyes, just like I was, at another adult who thought they got it.  And then there’s the fact that the book is basically lecturing you that every decision in your life works together to point you down a certain path.  Sure, it’s doing it in a slick highly affected package with a fancy shiny twist at the end, but it’s saying the same thing that the main character spends most of the book pissed off about:  “Listen up young men!  Your choices matter!  Make something of yourself.  OR ELSE.”

Also of note, reluctant readers are often struggling readers.  Not always, but often.  You is not straightforward.  A high level of inference is required to understand what is going on, otherwise you’re not really getting much out of the book at all.  So I’d make sure your reluctant reader is actually a strong reader.

Normally, I would rate a book with this level of sexual content and violence as a teen book, but I’m leaning towards mature teen on this basically because there is absolutely no emotion behind any of the sexual content (nor is there concern) but there is plenty objectification of women.  The violence in some cases seems to stem from anger issues (the kind for which one should seek professional help) in the main character.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A boy clearly likes a girl and thinks about what would have happened if they’d hooked up. Guys comment that a girl is cute but “kinda small in the boob department.”  A guy has hooked up with girls, fooled around with them for something to do.  Now he wants to kiss a girl and do more, “do it all” with her.  A magazine contains an ad for Viagra (but then again so does every pro-sporting event you can possibly watch on television these days).  A male character thinks about “screwing” a female character even though his “nuts are frozen solid.”  He also thinks about what kind of things she likes to do “sexwise.”  A character says that in Romeo and Juliet there are jokes about virgins, hand jobs and erections.  He then refers to the work as “porn”.   Online “pornos” are discussed. A couple sticks their tongues down each other’s throats.  A girl rubs herself agains a guy’s leg every time she sees him.  They have been “banging”.  People “get busy”.  Given the context it is clear that this means they had sex.  The main character relates that his parents gave him “the Talk.” He once wrote a report on STDs.  A male character jokes to a female character that there are better things she can suck on.  She responds with “suggestive comments”.  There’s a rumor about a strip poker club.  There’s a conversation where we learn that if you tell a girl she’s beautiful that you’ll have her naked and posing for a webcam within the hour.  A guy jokes that he can’t afford any more escort-service bills.  A girl’s chest is referred to as large and perfect.  A character says the the porn filter on his computer is lame and that he’s found his way around it.  Evidently there is a topless scene the the Zeffirelli (movie) version of Romeo and Juliet.  An older man looks down a teenage girl’s shirt. A girl was shopping at Victoria’s Secret.  A teen stares at the pictures of models in their lingerie that are displayed on the store windows. A guy says that a girl “spreads her legs”.  He also talks about sluts.  He collects a girl’s thong as a souvenir after they have sex twice.  A male character has sex with a female character for the sole purpose of annoying another male character.

Profanity – “hell,” “crap,” “ass/asshole,” “arsed,”  “Jesus,” The main character admits to cursing “every fifth word” when around his friends. “piss”.  In trying to determine whether or not another character is a dork, our narrator first assumes he must be “retarded” which he then switches to “queer”.   “Queer” is then used repeatedly. Retarded is used repeatedly as well.  “F-U”, “F-bomb”, “screwing with me”, “damn,” “work up the balls to,”
Death, Violence and Gore – He talks about getting the “piss beat out of him” by a senior.  This is described in some detail, he’s slammed into a wall, his collar is grabbed and tightened like a noose, he’s backhanded across the ear.  His friends suggest how he should have retaliated by kicking him in the nuts or popping him upside the head.  A student puts his hand through a bus window (leaving a scar). The official version is that he slipped but it is implied that it was intentional.  Later we learn that perhaps he really had wanted to punch a random kid in the face. One guy uses his forearm to pin another against a locker.  There’s a rumor about the principal’s car blowing up.  A character punches a paper towel dispenser.  He seems to have a habit of punching things, other people, windows, his bedroom wall.  While it is not explicitly stated, a major character dies.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Teenagers (freshman? sophomores?) steal beers from the neighbors fridge.  Teenagers smoke cigarettes.  The main character talks about catching a buzz.  Someone wonders if another kid’s parents did drugs.  Two characters share a joint.  Teenagers drink wine and whiskey.  Characters are drunk.  A character is known for making good margaritas.  A character says he has a “drunken mother.”
Frightening or Intense Things – A character is possibly bulimic and this is treated as a joke.

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Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Mrs.N

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective by Donald J. Sobol

Encyclopedia Brown is one of the classics when it comes to children’s mysteries.  The book is a collection of short mysteries, one per chapter, that lay out a set of clues.  Once Encyclopedia has the answer, readers can see if they too are brilliant detectives by guessing themselves and then flipping to the back of the book to see if they’re right.  It’s a highly engaging format, especially for readers who are bright enough to deduce things, but may lack the attention span for longer books.

The stories do feature some recurring characters and the clues are all laid out for you.  In most cases, you can actually deduce the solution, which makes it more fun.  I never really got many of them as a child, but as an adult I can usually guess correctly.  After all these years, I’m still fond of good old Encyclopedia.  Also, Sally, his partner makes her debut in this book.  She is still awesome.  She’s an excellent athlete, pretty and smart.  Plus she can beat up a bully.  Go Sally!

NB: The copy I read is the genuine, published in 1963, article.  If anyone has made any modernizations or updates to the text since then, I am none the wiser.

I would happily recommend this to students in third and fourth grade particularly.  There is no reason it couldn’t be read by younger students who are advanced readers although there would be far greater difficultly for them to solve the cases.  The violence and crime is all very old fashioned and generally not scary.  This would also be a great pick for gifted students, particularly if you don’t allow them to peek at the answers.  It would be fascinating to have readers write their own guesses and explanations of the crimes.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Encyclopedia Brown asks his first client if he needs a murder or kidnapping investigated (he doesn’t).  There is an alleged hold up involving a gun.  A boy is interested in trading for a sword.  The civil war is mentioned.  Sally has a solid left punch and hits a bully, right in the jaw.  He pushes her.  She punches him again.  This continues for awhile.  A bank robber carries a gun.  A policeman carries a gun.  Shots ring out during a purported robbery.  A knife is stabbed into a watermelon.  It was supposed to be used to commit a crime.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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Clues in the Woods

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Mrs.N

Clues in the Woods (Liza, Bill & Jed Mysteries) by Peggy Parish

This is the second book in the the series that begins with Key to the Treasure.  Having solved one mystery, the children are anxious to solve another, and their Gran is ready.  She’s been leaving scraps outside for the neighbors to feed to their kittens, but those scraps are disappearing before the girls get to them.  Liza, Bill and Jed are on the case, but almost as soon as they start investigating, other things begin to go missing as well: their new puppy, Liza’s sweater.  Of course, in the end they solve the puzzle and are very surprised at how things turned out.

It’s a simple chapter book that would work for the beginning of third grade as well as some advanced readers in lower grades. The vocabulary is pretty easy and although it’s a mystery, it’s never particularly suspenseful or scary. However, it’s pretty dated, a drawback that may keep some people from recommending the book.  In particular, Native Americans are not handled well in the book (see Racism below) and Bill seems to be particularly dismissive of his sister because she’s a girl.

Additionally, this is not exactly a good example of pet ownership.  They don’t think to ask what to feed the puppy, they decide to get him on the spur of the moment, they make him sleep outside, but don’t confine or contain him and he disappears.

Racism – They find an “Indian Camp” where the Indians are “all painted up”, “just as if they’re on the warpath.” Liza comments that they look so “savage.”  White people dress up like Indians.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “stupid,” “dumb,” both directed at Liza. “for gosh sakes,”  “oh phooey,”
Death, Violence and Gore – Gran has things for the new puppy because she saved her old dog’s things after he died. They worry their puppy might have been hit by a car; they search the road dreading what they might find. Indians shoot a bow and arrow.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Two children are reported missing, possibly runaways.   The children suspect they know where to find them, but won’t tell adults.

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Mysterious November

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Mrs.N

When the days get shorter and the wind begins howling through the trees, I am struck by the desire to be safe inside, warm and cosy.  In my imagination, this also involves a fire in the fireplace, a cup of tea or cocoa and a good book.  A mystery would suit perfectly.  There’s just something about feeling safe and warm that makes the contrast with a mystery so much more pleasurable.  This month I’ll check out some mysteries for your little ones.

One thing that is no mystery?  I’m officially out of posts.  I’d stockpiled a good few months before I had my baby and I’ve run out.  All books will be read and reviewed in real time now, so my deepest apologies if the posts aren’t quite as frequent.  I’ll do my best to stay on top of things!

If you find things are slow around here, check out some of my previously reviewed mysteries here.

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Sweetly

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Mrs.N

Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

My library copy has a little “HORROR” sticker on the spine, which was making me a wee bit nervous. However, the book did not give me the creeps too much, and the horror sticker was probably mainly referencing the hugely graphically gory final confrontation.  Which in all honestly, was just gross and leant not a bit of value to the book as a whole.  Ah well.

What if Hansel and Gretel weren’t the only children in the woods? What if Gretel (or Gretchen as she’s called here) had a twin sister?  And what if that sister never made it safely back?

Ansel and Gretchen were just children when their sister was lost to something in the woods.  Now they are 19 and 18 and have been asked to leave their stepmothers home.  They cross the country, in search of a new life, a fresh start, and end up stranded in a small town.  In order to earn some extra cash, Ansel takes a job doing odd jobs for Sophia, a beautiful young candy maker.  He is mesmerized by her beauty, while Gretchen feels safer, bolder after eating her candy.

It’s not long before Gretchen finds that woods are woods no matter where they are and that the things that lurk in the dark are just as terrifying on the other side of the country.  As Ansel becomes more enamored of their young hostess, Gretchen becomes more wary.  Befriending a local outcast, Gretchen seeks to make herself stronger and safer, just in case.

And true to that little sticker on the spine, there will be a point of reckoning, and it will be mighty violent.  While I wouldn’t mark this as solely mature teen, I would mostly leave it to teenagers.  The final scenes are pretty bloody and when you throw in all the implications of sex and sexual activity earlier in the book, it’s something I’d say was for older readers.  Also important to know, there is a lot in this book about how owning and operating a gun properly makes you safer.  It’s something I think many parents would want to know about in a day and age when gun violence is becoming so widespread.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There are some references that make it clear Ansel is interested in a girl. Ansel asks a girl out to dinner.  A couple has a date.  A girl has never had a boyfriend.  Some people have dated.  A girl spent the night with a boy.  Nothing further is said about it.  A boy was in love with a girl. A boy takes his shirt off in front of a girl to get changed and she admires what she sees. An old woman tells a couple “no shacking up,” and advise the male that if he is going to “take a lady friend” to wear something better than a t-shirt.  A woman refers to a girl as “that brunette one you were hot for”.   An old woman says a girl ought to get “knocked up.” A boy kisses a girl on the forehead.  There is additional kissing.  We learn that a couple is having sex and sleeping beside each other in bed. Evidently, wolves can’t have mortal lovers.  There’s an implication that a girl is being held for the sexual pleasure of others. A girl wakes up in a boy’s bed and “pulls on fresh clothes” after kissing him.
Profanity – “damn,”  Ansel says a “string of curse words” which is not further elaborated upon,  “Hell/hell,” “ass/asses,” “dammit,” “jackass,” “goddammit,” “Christ,” “pissed off,”
Death, Violence and Gore – The children’s mother dies.  Their father has passed away too. A girl’s father died, possibly torn to pieces by wild animals.  The report on his death says he was “shredded”.  A girl hits her head on a tree trunk, it bleeds.  A man shoots a creature and the aims the gun at a person.  Another girl’s mother died of cancer.  A girl wants to learn to shoot a gun. A girl bites a boy.   There are multiple scenes involving the shooting of guns.  A wolf attacks, knocking a girl to the ground while “blood from a bullet wound on his shoulder spouts like a grotesque fountain” and splatters things.  A boy accidentally shoots a girl in the arm while aiming at something else.  The final facedown with the wolves is very bloody with humans and animals both bleeding profusely and violence being described in detail. Many people/wolves are shot with guns; there are some accompanying descriptions of blood spurting.  A wolf is shot, bleeding heavily.  A boy fights wolves.  A wolf eats a girl, chomping on something that was once wearing a party dress, he bites her hand, he has strings of  blood and tendons hanging out of his mouth.  A wolf has scratched a boy, he is bleeding.  A wolf is punched and his jaw breaks. A wolf bites a boy’s side.  A wolf is hit in the head with a wrench and it cracks his skull open.  A wolf bites a boy’s leg and arm.  A wolf’s teeth slip between the bones of a girl’s shin.  A wolf’s blood is splattered on a girl. A wolf is shot, fur and flesh are scattered.  A wolf clamps his jaws on a boy’s chest and shakes him like a rag doll.  A wolf grabs a girl’s shoulder, blood trickles down her dress. A girl is shot in order to also kill a wolf.  Blood soaks someone’s shirt.  A person is buried. A main character dies. Evidently, girls’ blood tastes best when the girl is close to 18 years old.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Gretchen and Ansel’s father took to drinking after their sister vanished.  A girl is handed a beer, which she drinks.  I believe she is of legal drinking age, but not positive. A girl’s grandfather has moonshine in a flask.  A girl drinks a lot of rum, by the shot.  Gretchen and her brother are offered mimosas even though they are underage.  Gretchen declines, her brother does not.
Frightening or Intense Things – From the start, children are lost in a forest where a witch lives.  They are concerned she might catch one of them.  They return home without one of their group.  Their mother blames them for the loss of their sibling. A person transforms into a monster.  There are many missing people. There are werewolves.

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Chocolate Fever

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Mrs.N

Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith

Henry loves chocolate.  His kind and over indulgent parents let him eat it for every meal, always.  And so, perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising when Henry is suddenly broken out in brown spots that smell suspiciously of candy.  But of course, this occurrence is highly unusual and Henry ends up in the hospital being stared at by a great number of shocked people.  Scared, he runs away and ends up in the middle of a truck hijacking gone wrong (which probably should be more scary, but somehow, isn’t) with his new friend Mac.  Oh, and Mac? Is black. In an incredibly awkward turn, the author attempts to relate the experience Henry has with being brown spotted with the racist treatment Mac has faced in his life.  Of course, Mac demonstrates to Henry that he truly understands because he is black and people have always stared at him.  Mac finishes his speech with “Black is beautiful.”  The whole exchange is extremely cringe-worthy and dated.

Barring the ill-advised foray into race issues, this is a pretty cute book about eating well, making friends and acceptance.  It’s short, has illustrations and is great for beginning readers.  I’d recommend it to second and third graders.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A drawing shows Henry in an undershirt and underpants.  Another drawing shows him in just his underpants, running through the streets.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – There is pushing and shoving as the students head to classes.  Some kids bully Henry and threaten to hit him.  Henry tells them if they touch him they will die.  Mac asks Henry if his parents beat up on him (they don’t).  Two men hold up a truck using guns.  They claim to be hijacking it.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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