Title: Shadow of the Bear (first published as Snow White and Rose Red: A Modern Fairy Tale)
Author: Regina Doman
Date of Publication: 1997
Series: Fairy Tale Novels
Age Appropriateness: This is definitely a book for an older audience. While the handling of the material is excellent, it is not material that a younger audience should be exposed to: drugs, violence, adult situations. That being said, the material, especially the adult content, is written to pass over the head of an innocent reader. I would suggest fifteen or sixteen as an ideal audience.
Overall Rating: Excellent. The story is beautifully told and true in the best sense of being universal. The author includes metaphysical conversations that would provide a teenage reader with a viable alternative to the “life is bland and boring” and “why do bad things always happen to me?” brands of teenage angst. Instead, the book allows the reader to participate in a reality greater than the humdrum and everyday. The story is also unapologetically Catholic, allowing a deeply Christian charism to inform the moral actions of the characters, giving a whole new color to an already strong tale.
Objectionable Content:
Language: Dang, lousy, weirdo, stupid, damnation (2), fool, idiot, jerk, hellions
Violence: Two girls and a boy have a snowball fight. Three boys attack a boy and a girl. The girl is bruised and passes out from a heart condition, but is otherwise unharmed. The boy with the girl beats up the other three boys to keep them from attacking the girl. A girl pushes another girl who has just insinuated that the sister of the first girl is a prostitute. Two girls try to question a third girl by hurting her. A girl hears a man beating someone. A man grabs the hair of a boy he has tied up and beaten. A man shoots at an unarmed girl. A man pinches the neck of a trapped girl to make her answer his questions. A girl fleeing kidnappers is grabbed and manhandled by one of her captors. A man hits a girl in the head with a gun. A boy grabs another boy to force him to let go of a girl. A man uses a plastic bag to partially suffocate a girl. A man attempts to kill a girl by suffocating her with a plastic bag. A boy kicks a man who is threatening to kill him and a girl. The girl strikes him with a brass candle-lighter. A man shoots at a boy, hitting him in the arm, and then the man shoots him again.
Adult Content: A girl is described as wearing very short skirts. A girl has a crush on a boy. A girl says she would probably go to the prom with a boy if he asked her. A girl talks about a boy calling her. A boy moves so close to a girl she thinks he’s going to kiss her in public. Instead, he asks her to go to a dance with him. A boy asks a girl to a dance. A couple is described as being “heavily involved with each other.” Another couple is describes as being involved with each other. A boy puts his arms around a girl to slow dance with her. Underage students smoke cigarettes. A boy swing dances with a girl. A boy kisses a girl on the forehead. Underage students drink beer. A girl goes into a bedroom with a boy to watch a movie. The boy tries to kiss her, but she resists. The boy starts to force her to do what he wants, but she escapes by saying she needs to use the bathroom and climbing out a window (the language is ambiguous enough that a young reader might not understand that she just escaped a near-date-rape).
A girl tells a boy she thinks that she’s falling in love with him. A girl insinuates that another girl is a prostitute. A girl verbally challenges another girl’s relationship with a boy. A girl is told that boys “track down girls in order to score off them.” A girl publicly yells at a boy for trying to take advantage of her. When a boy rescues a girl from a kidnapper, he holds her in his arms and strokes her cheek. A boy hugs a girl and rocks her gently to calm her. A boy cradles a near-unconscious girl whose life he just saved. A boy kisses a girl.
Disturbing or scary elements: A city is describes as dangerous. A girl hears a woman cry out. A girl sees her mother with another figure looming over her. A man says his feet have been numb for a couple of hours. A girl fears a man is a drug dealer. A boy says he was in juvenile detention for drug possession. A boy talks about beating up three boys who looked like they were trying to drown his brother. A woman says her husband died of cancer and a boy said his mother died of the same. A boy recovering from near-frost-bite is in pain. A boy advises a woman to lock her door. A girl is afraid a boy might be planning on robbing her family. A girl is afraid of a boy. A girl feels faint. A girl remembers her dead father. A boy tells a girl about a man who was murdered by being shot and strangled in a robbery. A girl tells her sister a boy might be a drug-dealer. A girl remembers seeing drug deals conducted on the playground of her school. A girl suspects a boy may have doctored a gift of cookies. A boy and two girls jump onto a train that has started to move.
A girl ruminates on the frailty of life. A boy invites two girls to see his “special place.” He takes them to an abandoned church. One of the sisters is afraid, but is comforted by the other. The floor of the church is unstable and there are rats there. The effect of the church on the boy and one of the girls worries the other girl. A girl has a premonition that something terrible happened in this church and later finds out that a murder took place there. A girl notices that a boy looks furious about something. A boy pretends to be dead after being beaten in a snowball fight. A girl talks about her nightmares. A boy talks about a nightmare he has. A boy talks about a friend of his being killed in a robbery. A girl misses her dead father. A girl is afraid of a dangerous-looking boy. A man yells at a couple of girls when they accidentally startle him. Two girls see a friend of theirs engaged in suspicious activity. Two girls get lost in run-down part of the city. A mother is nervous about her daughter being out late with a boy she doesn’t know.
At a dance people pretend to be having a good time, but a girl sees through this pretense. A boy is forced to leave a dance because an adult believes he is a drug-dealer. A boy and a girl are waylaid by three boys who demand money and later attack them. The girl passes out during the attack. Two boys talk about how their friends were attacked and robbed; one of the boys tells the other he can’t keep visiting two sisters because the visits put them in danger. A girl tells a friend about how a boy tried to take advantage of her. A girl bawls out a boy for trying to take advantage of her. An old woman talks about how a friend of hers was killed in a robbery which probably involved drugs. A girl suspects that her friend might have been involved, but the old woman thinks the girl’s friend is looking for the murderer. A boy warns two girls that if they look for their friend they will be in danger. The boy tells the girls how his mother was attacked and their house was ransacked because their friend was sheltering there.
Two girls and three boys kidnap a girl. The kidnappers offer to pay the girl for information about her friend and threaten to take her to someone who will make her talk when she refuses. The kidnappers say someone will give the girl third degree. One of the kidnappers says that it will teach the girl’s sister a lesson because the girl’s sister earlier escaped from him. A girl walks into a dark basement without a light and is afraid of what she will find there. In the dark, she comes across a boy who is tied up and gagged. A group of kidnappers threaten to tie a girl up. A man threatens to shoot a trapped girl. A man ties up a girl and threatens to use her to make a boy give the man information. A boy threatens to throttle another boy if the boy doesn’t explain why he kidnapped a girl. A man is holding a boy and a girl hostage and plans to kill one of them right away.
Both the boy and the girl would rather be killed than see the other die. A man threatens to harm a girl’s sister if she doesn’t do what as he tells her. A boy tells a girl that they’re going to die if their kidnapper comes back. A man threatens to kill a boy and a girl. A man tells a girl her sister is dead. A man shoots at a boy and a girl. A man tells a boy that he strangled his friend because the friends wouldn’t tell the man something that would put the boy in danger.
Morally problematical content: A girl is depressed about the death of her father and a move to a big city. A girl doubts her mother’s wisdom in inviting a stranger into the house. A girl is frustrated when her mother and sister don’t show more common sense regarding the stranger. A boy and his brother were in juvenile detention for possessing large amounts of drugs, though the boys were framed. There is a drug problem at a school attended by two sisters. A girl is uncomfortable in the presence of a stranger and later is unable to sleep. A group of boys mercilessly pick on a girl at school. A girl is insecure about her physical appearance. A group of girls mercilessly tease another girl. A girl resents being pressured to make friends. A girl is hurt by a harsh grade on her paper. A girl resents her grade and verbally expresses this resentment in front of class.
A man and a woman hold a debate about the nature of art and truth. The man insists that art is about form and not truth. The woman implies that truth is relative. A girl offers to “pound” boys who have been verbally tormenting her sister. A boy startles a girl by placing an icepack on her neck and then teasing her about a boy. Two girls and a boy have a discussion about the nature of reality and how people figure into it. A girl talks about a man being rude. Two girls and a boy discuss the nature of beauty and ugliness, good and evil. Two girls and a boy with standing-room-only-tickets at an opera sit in seats other patrons have abandoned. A boy gives some money to a pan-handler. A boy feels sorrow and loss for the death of a friend.
A boy asks two girls to keep a secret, but says it’s all right for them to tell their mother. A boy playfully pretends to be a bear. A boy talks about his father, from whom he and his brother are estranged. Two girls are depressed when a friend can’t visit them. A boy makes a sarcastic comment about a girl’s obedience to her mother. A girl feels jealous of her sister. A girl is angry at herself for being insensitive and feels that life is unjust. A boy talks about God being unjust. He later clarifies this statement by saying that God doesn’t always make sense to him. A girl asks directions from a woman and then finds out the woman is a prostitute. A girl admires herself in a mirror. A boy agrees to a girl’s curfew, without having any intention of abiding by it. A girl is depressed about being alone. A girl tells a boy to shut up. A girl lies to a boy and he calls her a liar. A girl feels vulnerable in a crowded room. A boy puts his arm across the back of a girl’s chair protectively. Some boys make fun of another boy. A boy swing dances with a girl. A boy feels uneasy when he sees a police car and tries to avoid the police. A boy teases a girl for following her mother’s rules. A boy dances a slow dance with a girl and she feels uncomfortable when his hands move across her back. A boy plays a movie in a bed room, hoping to lure a girl into the room with him. A girl lies about needing to use the bathroom in order to extricate herself from a dangerous situation. An officer is initially unfriendly to a girl, but helps her notwithstanding.
A girl wakes up in a strange bed after passing out due to a fainting spell. She discovers she was brought there by a friend and is safe. A boy verbally chastises his brother for not being careful enough. A boy picks up and carries a girl who is too dizzy to walk. A girl leans against a boy for support. A girl worries about a boy she is interested in. A group of girls verbally abuse another girl. A girl lies to a principal about an incident. A principal punishes a student more harshly than she deserves. A mother questions a principal’s judgment. A girl tells boys that they’re not real men and that she pities them. Two girls search through yearbooks for information on their friends. A girl bends the truth in order to talk to someone about their friends. A girl complains about detention. A man yells at two girls who were trying to help him. A girl eavesdrops on a conversation. A girl is accosted by girls who antagonize her. A girl follows a man home in order to find information on her friends. A girl uses a can to eavesdrop on a man in his basement. A girl unlawfully enters a man’s house in order to free someone she heard being imprisoned and beaten. A man antagonizes a boy. A girl allows herself to become a potential murder victim in order to save a boy. A boy gives CPR to a suffocating girl. A girl, finding herself in a hopeless situation, questions the justice of the universe. Two girls, having escaped potentially deadly situations, discuss their experiences.
Artistic Content: Beautifully written and well-paced, the book in some ways very closely mirrors the fairy-tale, Snow White and Rose Red, it re-tells. The book, however, provides a much more contemporary and accessible approach to its subject matter, as well as dealing with issues universal to adolescents and adults. The characters have depth and potential to develop without being saccharine. The plot moves flawlessly toward the fairy-tale conclusion without being predictable or trite.
Overall Message: The story supports both the Christian fairy-tale theme of good vs. evil as well as meaningfully incorporating elements any modern teen would be dealing with both in and outside of a school setting. Characters within the story are clearly portrayed as good or evil based on personal choices and are held suitably accountable by the athorities within the framework of the story. The story also flouts stereotypes and refuses to use easy devices as the vilifying of authority figures or blessing morally dubious acts simply because they are committed by a sympathetic character. The story, like all true fairy-tales, holds its denizens to a strictly moral code in order to ensure a happy ending after the harrowing adventures are over.
Buy it here: http://www.lulu.com/content/1006728
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Saturday, December 1, 2007
A BEAR CALLED PADDINGTON by Michael Bond
Title: A Bear Called Paddington
Author: Michael Bond
Date of Publication: 1958
Series: Paddington
Age Appropriateness: All ages. Though not all ages will perhaps understand the humor inherent in the book, all ages will be able to sympathize with the erstwhile bear. There is no material that would be offensive to the youngest child, with the possible exception of Paddington’s uncanny ability to get himself into trouble.
Overall Rating: Excellent. The book is both wonderfully innocent and hilariously funny.
Objectionable Content:
Language: the worst word in the book is “nasty”
Violence: A bear accidentally runs into a man and knocks him down.
Adult Content: n/a
Disturbing or scary elements:
A bear has to travel by himself because his guardian had to go into a home for retired bears. A bear is worried he doesn’t have enough money to pay for room and board. A bear is very hungry. A bear talks about getting his head stuck in a cup when he tries to drink. A woman asks a man what he had done to a bear when she finds the bear covered in cream and jam. A bear slips and falls into a saucer of hot tea. A taxi driver threatens to charge extra for transporting a sticky bear. A driver is startled and narrowly misses hitting a bus. A man and a woman appear to be arguing with another man. A bear thinks a woman may be a bit fierce. A bear feels homesick for his aunt. A man is a little bit afraid of his housekeeper.
A bear finds he can’t get out of a bath and calls for help. A bear fears he’s going to drown in a bath because he forgets to pull the plug out. A bear hits himself in the eye with grapefruit juice. A bear gets lost in a crowd. A bear is unable to immediately rejoin the adult looking after him. A bear pushes a “stop” button on an escalator, thinking that it’s an emergency. A bear gives a rude man a hard stare, causing him to collapse into a chair, sweating. A bear feels sick after riding an elevator. A bear can’t see and thinks someone turned all the lights off. A bear knocks over a display stand onto himself. A woman and a girl talk to a store detective about a missing bear. A bear falls off a small tower he constructed.
A bear is startled when a store detective knows his name. A man waves his fist at another man. An adult is alarmed by a small bear in his dressing room. A man tries unsuccessfully to cheat a bear. A bear gets stuck in a prompter’s box. A family is anxious about a bear who’s been missing for a couple of hours at high tide and the family finds his hat floating in the water. A bear gets stuck in a box that came with a set of magic tricks.
Morally problematical content:
A bear stows away on a ship from Peru. A family takes in a bear, though they think it might be illegal. A family gives a bear an English name because no one can pronounce his Peruvian name. A bear stands on a table to eat. A woman complains to her daughter about what happens when she leaves her husband alone for five minutes. A bear is reluctant to take a bath. A bear asks if he can sit in a puddle instead of taking a bath. A family neglects to report a stowaway to the authorities. A bear draws a map of Peru on a bathroom floor with shaving cream. A bear bails water out of tub using his hat to keep the water from getting dangerously deep.
Two children warn a bear about what an adult will say if they don’t clean up a mess. A family pretends not to recognize a bear after he has had a bath. A girl tells a bear that he’s “the stickiest bear imaginable.” A bear saves a piece of bacon in his suitcase for later. A bear decides not to tell a adult about bailing out the bathtub. A bear decides not to tell an adult that he’s stored a piece of bacon for later. A man looks at a bear’s hat distastefully. A man is rude to a woman and suggests she try shopping in the bargain basement. A bear stares very hard at a rude man, causing the man discomfort. A young man who works for the rude man approves of the bear’s actions. A rude man gives a cold look to his employee. A bear stares very hard at the rude man. A woman rests her shopping bag on a bear’s head and the bear pushes it off. A bear discovers that he’s knocked over a window display and tries to put it back together.
A bear accidentally ruins a man’s painting and tries to fix it by painting his own picture over it. A boy hopes to get sick to avoid school. A bear gives a man a hard stare because the man held his painting up the wrong way. A woman is offended when a bear doesn’t want to check his coat if he has to pay for it. A bear accidentally drops a sandwich on a man’s head. A bear talks loudly in a theatre. A bear watching a play doesn’t understand that the actors are just acting and tries to intervene. A bear goes to rescue a girl from the play he believes has been thrown out by her father. A bear gets ink all over his sheets when he writes letters. A bear is given a magic trick set and practices with it. A bear believes he has made a jar of marmalade disappear. A disagreeable man crashes a party to get a free meal. A bear accidentally destroys a man’s watch. A man tells a lie about how much the watch cost. A man storms out of a party he crashed. A man laughs at another man. A man pretends to pull a sovereign out of his ear.
Artistic Content:
The book is told in a series of short stories revolving around the bear Paddington. The episodes are short and charming. The characters besides Paddington are not given much depth, but character studies would bore the young audience the book is intended for. The stories of the well-meaning bear with “a strong sense of right and wrong” are charmingly told without being saccharine, and an older audience can appreciate the humor that does not get crass or vulgar.
While Paddington often does things that should not be imitated by a child, he is never, ever intentionally naughty. Sometimes he doesn’t immediately own up to something he has done, but out of a sense of sheepishness, not because he means to be deceitful. He is always found out later, anyway. The adults in the story are usually kind, helpful and protective with the exception of a few minor characters.
Overall Message:
A well-meaning bear often gets into scrapes but always lands on his feet.
BUY IT HERE:
Author: Michael Bond
Date of Publication: 1958
Series: Paddington
Age Appropriateness: All ages. Though not all ages will perhaps understand the humor inherent in the book, all ages will be able to sympathize with the erstwhile bear. There is no material that would be offensive to the youngest child, with the possible exception of Paddington’s uncanny ability to get himself into trouble.
Overall Rating: Excellent. The book is both wonderfully innocent and hilariously funny.
Objectionable Content:
Language: the worst word in the book is “nasty”
Violence: A bear accidentally runs into a man and knocks him down.
Adult Content: n/a
Disturbing or scary elements:
A bear has to travel by himself because his guardian had to go into a home for retired bears. A bear is worried he doesn’t have enough money to pay for room and board. A bear is very hungry. A bear talks about getting his head stuck in a cup when he tries to drink. A woman asks a man what he had done to a bear when she finds the bear covered in cream and jam. A bear slips and falls into a saucer of hot tea. A taxi driver threatens to charge extra for transporting a sticky bear. A driver is startled and narrowly misses hitting a bus. A man and a woman appear to be arguing with another man. A bear thinks a woman may be a bit fierce. A bear feels homesick for his aunt. A man is a little bit afraid of his housekeeper.
A bear finds he can’t get out of a bath and calls for help. A bear fears he’s going to drown in a bath because he forgets to pull the plug out. A bear hits himself in the eye with grapefruit juice. A bear gets lost in a crowd. A bear is unable to immediately rejoin the adult looking after him. A bear pushes a “stop” button on an escalator, thinking that it’s an emergency. A bear gives a rude man a hard stare, causing him to collapse into a chair, sweating. A bear feels sick after riding an elevator. A bear can’t see and thinks someone turned all the lights off. A bear knocks over a display stand onto himself. A woman and a girl talk to a store detective about a missing bear. A bear falls off a small tower he constructed.
A bear is startled when a store detective knows his name. A man waves his fist at another man. An adult is alarmed by a small bear in his dressing room. A man tries unsuccessfully to cheat a bear. A bear gets stuck in a prompter’s box. A family is anxious about a bear who’s been missing for a couple of hours at high tide and the family finds his hat floating in the water. A bear gets stuck in a box that came with a set of magic tricks.
Morally problematical content:
A bear stows away on a ship from Peru. A family takes in a bear, though they think it might be illegal. A family gives a bear an English name because no one can pronounce his Peruvian name. A bear stands on a table to eat. A woman complains to her daughter about what happens when she leaves her husband alone for five minutes. A bear is reluctant to take a bath. A bear asks if he can sit in a puddle instead of taking a bath. A family neglects to report a stowaway to the authorities. A bear draws a map of Peru on a bathroom floor with shaving cream. A bear bails water out of tub using his hat to keep the water from getting dangerously deep.
Two children warn a bear about what an adult will say if they don’t clean up a mess. A family pretends not to recognize a bear after he has had a bath. A girl tells a bear that he’s “the stickiest bear imaginable.” A bear saves a piece of bacon in his suitcase for later. A bear decides not to tell a adult about bailing out the bathtub. A bear decides not to tell an adult that he’s stored a piece of bacon for later. A man looks at a bear’s hat distastefully. A man is rude to a woman and suggests she try shopping in the bargain basement. A bear stares very hard at a rude man, causing the man discomfort. A young man who works for the rude man approves of the bear’s actions. A rude man gives a cold look to his employee. A bear stares very hard at the rude man. A woman rests her shopping bag on a bear’s head and the bear pushes it off. A bear discovers that he’s knocked over a window display and tries to put it back together.
A bear accidentally ruins a man’s painting and tries to fix it by painting his own picture over it. A boy hopes to get sick to avoid school. A bear gives a man a hard stare because the man held his painting up the wrong way. A woman is offended when a bear doesn’t want to check his coat if he has to pay for it. A bear accidentally drops a sandwich on a man’s head. A bear talks loudly in a theatre. A bear watching a play doesn’t understand that the actors are just acting and tries to intervene. A bear goes to rescue a girl from the play he believes has been thrown out by her father. A bear gets ink all over his sheets when he writes letters. A bear is given a magic trick set and practices with it. A bear believes he has made a jar of marmalade disappear. A disagreeable man crashes a party to get a free meal. A bear accidentally destroys a man’s watch. A man tells a lie about how much the watch cost. A man storms out of a party he crashed. A man laughs at another man. A man pretends to pull a sovereign out of his ear.
Artistic Content:
The book is told in a series of short stories revolving around the bear Paddington. The episodes are short and charming. The characters besides Paddington are not given much depth, but character studies would bore the young audience the book is intended for. The stories of the well-meaning bear with “a strong sense of right and wrong” are charmingly told without being saccharine, and an older audience can appreciate the humor that does not get crass or vulgar.
While Paddington often does things that should not be imitated by a child, he is never, ever intentionally naughty. Sometimes he doesn’t immediately own up to something he has done, but out of a sense of sheepishness, not because he means to be deceitful. He is always found out later, anyway. The adults in the story are usually kind, helpful and protective with the exception of a few minor characters.
Overall Message:
A well-meaning bear often gets into scrapes but always lands on his feet.
BUY IT HERE:
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman
Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Date of Publication: 1995
Series: His Dark Materials
Awards: Carnegie Medal in the UK in 1995
Age Appropriateness: This is a difficult call for this book. If you intend to have your child read it, I would not recommend younger than sixteen. Even at this age, though, the elements of rebellion against authority would feed into a sense of teenage angst and would probably not be advisable even then.
Objectionable Content:
Language: hell (5), half-arsed, damn, God as an exclamation (4)
Violence:
A girl remembers that an adult beat her twice. An adult twists a child's arm and threatens to break it. A woman strikes a man. A child's ears are boxed. An adult demon (please see below for the discussion of demons) attacks a child's demon, causing the child pain. A child is chased and captured by two adults in a net while their demons attack her demon, causing her pain. The two adults are almost immediately killed by arrows, and blood gets on the child. A child hears the story of how her mother's husband (not her biological father) tried to kill her and her father, but her father shoots and kills her mother's husband instead. A child's demon is attacked by possessed clockwork bugs, causing the child pain. An anthropomorphized bear is attacked by humans while recovering his property. The bear almost bites someone's head off, but is stopped by a child. A man threatens to shoot people if they touch the bear's property. A bear kills a seal. A company of men is attacked with arrows and several are killed or wounded. A child is kidnapped.
A child is caught spying and is attacked by three men. She bites one of them, but they grab her demon, causing her intense pain and roughly forcing her to come with them. A child is forced into a cage so that her demon can be cut away from her. A child is forcibly separated from her demon, causing her pain. A woman is attacked by a possessed clockwork bug. Children throw snow at soldiers to blind the soldiers and protect themselves. Witches shoot soldiers who are preparing to shoot children. A bear attacks these same soldiers. An adult's demon attacks a child's demon, causing the child pain. The child is struck and dragged in a kidnapping attempt. Two children are roughly tossed around in a kidnapping attempt. The kidnappers are torn apart by a bear. A child is thrown forcibly into a cell. Two bears battle each other in graphic detail. The fight ends when one bear tears off the jaw of the other bear.
The victorious bear tears the other bear apart and eats his heart while it's still warm. Witches attack a group of bears and a child. Soldiers in a zeppelin shoot at bear with machine-guns. Bears use a fire-hurler to shoot down the zepplin. A child's demon is caught by an adult demon, causing the child pain. Two children flee while pursued by an adult's demon. An adult deliberately electrocutes a child's demon, killing the child.
Adult Content:
A child sees two adults flirting. A child hears about an illicit sexual affair between her two parents (her mother was married to someone else). A child sees two adults passionately embracing. The child sees the man kiss the woman in a manner that "seemed more like cruelty than love." The demons of the two adults play in a way that looks like it should cause pain, but causes pleasure. A witch talks about how she stayed with a man long enough to bear his child.
Disturbing or scary elements:
A child sees a man try to poison another man. A child knocks a glass out of a man's hand. The man twists her arm behind her back painfully. He threatens to break her arm, and later threatens to make her wish she was dead. A child hears a discussion about a "severed child." A man shows a group the head of a man that's been scalped, trepanned (hole drilled into the skull) and mutilated. An adult's demon threatens a child. A child is told that two heretics were silenced by the Church. There is a rumor about children being kidnapped. A child is enticed away and his alcoholic mother blames herself for the fact she never sees him again. Childen discuss the theoretic kidnappers, the "Gobblers." Two children play in a catacomb among coffins and skulls.
A child plays with the skulls. A child has a nightmare about headless bodies. The Gobblers start kidnapping children in Oxford. Children discuss what the Gobblers do to their victims and whether they are pirates or cannibals. A girl hears that her best friend has disappeared and can't get any adults to help her. A girl discusses with her demon what might happen to the kidnapped children. She thinks they might be cut in half, or be enslaved. A child mentions how her parents died in an aircraft accident. A woman makes another woman leave her party and threatens to make her lose her job. A girl hears that the kidnapped children become a kind of sacrifice. The girl learns her guardian is behind the kidnappings and that her uncle is being held prisoner. A girl is pursued by two adults intent on kidnapping her. A girl is told fairly grotesque ghost stories about what haunts the northern forests. A girl is forced to hide when the police are looking for her.
A reference is made to feuds between "gyptian clans" leading to occasional bodies floating ashore. A girl is told that information about her had been gathered and relayed to others since her birth. A promise is made to avenge the kidnapping and harm of their children. A girl sees an badly injured man who is in considerable pain. The man talks about the ambush and death of his comrades. A child and her companion here that one of their comrades has been shot. A child is very seasick. A man talks about how he saved a witch who was being attacked by a giant bird. There is a discussion of the process of "intercision" being used on children. A girl sees a bear chewing a bloody chunk of meat and is frightened by the bear's presence. A bear feints at a man and frightens him. There is a discussion about the experimental station called Bolvangar, meaning fields of evil, and how animals avoid it because of the evil aura. A girl hears how a bear went on a rampage and killed at least two men. A girl's demon pulls away from her, causing her pain. A bear attacks a priest's house to recover his property. A demon is uneasy when he sees what he thinks might be an enemy demon. There is a discussion about the defences of Bolvangar and the soldiers who guard them having wolf demons.
A girl finds a boy without a demon, which in their world is an abomination, "unnatural and uncanny." The girl discovers that the kidnapped childen are having their demons cut away, like this boy. The demonless boy dies. A girl mourns the dead boy, and gives him a coin to replace his lost demon. A bear tells a girl that he was banished for killing another bear. A bear lets a girl see his claws and teeth and talks about how powerful they are. A girl asks a man about trepanning (boring holes in the skull) and he explains why people do it. A girl hears how her protector was injured. A girl and her demon are afraid of being cut apart and say that they'll kill people before they let that happen.
A kidnapper sells a kidnapped child to the experimental station. Children speculate about what happens to them at the experimental station and whether they'll be killed because none of them have come back from being taken from the other children. A girl tells how one of her friends was taken away, and another girl knows she is talking about the demon-less boy who died. The boy was promised by an adult that no harm would come to him, that he was just going to go to sleep for an operation, a cut that wouldn't hurt. A girl is taken from her friends by an adult. A girl finds the demons of the severed children kept in cages. A girl sees an adult whom she fears. A group of chilren talk about the adult who kidnapped them. A child overhears a conversation between adults about a method of separating children from thier demons. A child overhears how her father is under sentence of death.
A child overhears how an adult is eager to watch the demons being cut away from the children. A girl hears how adults who have captured her are going to cut away her demon to keep her from repeating what she's overheard. A child confronts a woman about the demons being cut away and the adult lies about what happens. Childen escape a burning building. Children see guards with rifles and wolves about to attack them. An officer gives orders to his troops to fire upon the fleeing childen. A girl bullies other children to keep moving through the snow to keep them from giving up. Children hear how their recuers killed a number of adults. A girl is told about a bear killing another bear. A girl remembers how she was nearly severed from her demon. A balloon carrying passengers is out of control in harsh weather. Strange, ugly creatures attack the balloon and are fought off. A child falls out of a balloon and fears that she's stranded. A girl is captured by bears. A child is frightened to hear that she is not alone in her cell.
A girl discovers that her cell-mate is crazy but not violent. A girl hears how her friend will be killed if he tries to rescue her. A girl learns how a bear killed his own father. A bear demonstrates how sharp his claws are and how strong is paws are on the carcass of a walrus. Bears talk about what they'll do when they fight to the death. A girl is afraid for prisoners in a palace being torn down. A girl helps heal a wounded bear and gets blood on her clothes. A girl nearly dies of cold in her sleep and her eyelids are temporarily frozen shut.
A girl eats a raw seal kidney. A girl hears about how a bear was drugged. A bear talks about how another Bolvangar was planned for their land, but is now prevented. A girl hears about how her friends were attacked. A father is horrified to see his daughter, thinking that he will have to kill her to complete his experiment. Instead, he kills her friend. A girl hears about how her father has kidnapped her friend to finish his experiment. A girl crosses a treacherous bridge, which almost collapses beneath her. A girl cradles her friend's dead body.
Morally problematical content: I have divided this section into sections to more easily cover some of the general issues as opposed to some of the more prevalent issues.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Adults consume poppies as a mild stimulant (poppies are the source of opium, which can be refined to make heroin). Three children smoke a stolen cigarette. A boy is described as having an alcoholic mother who is usually too drunk to take care of him. Two children steal wine and become so drunk they throw up. One of the children insists she still likes to feel that way.
Lying/Dishonesty/Stealing/Other Objectionable Content:
A girl sneaks into a room she's forbidden to enter and hides. Children engage in non-lethal warfare with each other. A girl tells lies with impunity, even though the adult she is speaking to is well aware of her duplicity. A boy steals food. A woman promises to deliver messages to the parents of kidnapped children, but has no intention of doing so. A girl tells gruesome stories about her uncle to another child. A child disobeys a direct order from the adult responsible for her in order to run around looking for her friend. A child screams at an adult that she hates them for not being concerned about her friend. A child is attracted to and decieved by an adult's glamour. This adult teaches the child things like how to apply make-up and behave like an adult.
A child disobeys an adult and is punished. A girl tells an adult scary stories for attention. A child runs away from an adult when the child discovers that this adult kidnapped her friend. A child tells a stranger lies. A boy tells a younger girl frightening stories about what might be happening to the kidnapped children. Anthropomorphized bears are spoken of as pitiless mercenaries. An adult speculates as to whether the kidnapped children are killed or not.
A girl finds out the story she has been told about her parents' death is a lie. A girl is told that her father's land and property were confiscated because he killed the husband of her mother to protect the girl. The child was placed in the care of a convent but her father took her from there and left her in the care of Oxford scholars instead because her father hates the Church. A child finds out that her father's wishes concerning her care have been disregarded, probably because her father is a prisoner. A man suggests that a group give up a child to the authorities because there is a bounty on the child's head and the authorities won't leave the group alone til she is found. A man speaks of revenge for the kidnapping of their children.
A girl insists she be brought along on a dangerous mission and tells herself that the adults can't stop her from going. Frightening rumors are told about a child wanted by the authorities. A man tells a child how a clockwork bug is powered by an evil spirit. A group of men gamble with cards. A child's body is cremated after he dies to prevent the body from being eaten by wild animals. A man describes to a child the process of trepanning (drilling holes in the skull), which is done so "the gods can talk to them." A child lies to her captors to keep them from finding out who she is. A child is made to undress to take a shower. An adult lies to a child about whether or not she was kidnapped, telling her she fell asleep and had a nightmare. He denies that the party she was with was attacked, also a lie. Children talk fearfully about having their demons cut away. An adult lies to a child about what having a demon cut away is like.
A child blows up a building to allow other children to escape the experimental station. An adult helping the heroine asks one of her friends if he will be duly compensated for his efforts and asks if there is going to be any more trouble. A child lies to and flatters a mad man in order to get information. A girl lies to and tricks the king of the bears. A girl feels rejected by her father when he seems upset to see her. A verse from The Book of Genesis is quoted, but has clearly been tampered with by the author to distort the original meaning. An adult compares the cutting away of a child's demon to the Church's creation of castrati. An adult claims he can destroy original sin and death. A child believes an adult is crazy, but doubts her ability to judge him. A child wonders why "they" hate children so much and want to tear them apart. An adult says he wants to end the Church and "all those centuries of darkness." A man claims he cares about a woman, but if she leaves him, he won't give her another thought. A child decides to go seek out Dust (see below).
Magic/the occult:
Alethiometer:
An alternate universe is visible in the Aurora Borealis, apparently revealing where Dust comes from. An alethiometer ("truth-reader") warns against an adult's research. A prophecy warns of a girl making a great betrayal. The alethiometer is placed into a child's care. Adults can only ask questions of and receive answers from it when they have years of study and many books. The child teaches herself to read the alethiometer with almost no effort at all. A group of adults bring this child on a dangerous mission because she can read it. It is said to answer questions like an intelligent being and its knowledge is flawless and omniscient. They are said to originate in Prague as the result of an experiment to create a compass to detect the planets.
Demons: Demons in the book are defined as a person's soul, but, in this alternate universe, are not only physically separate from a person's body as an animal, but are usually the opposite gender and often have a conflicting personality. For example, the heroine's demon often tries unsuccessfully to keep her from doing something naughty, scary or dangerous. A child's demon can change forms at will, but an adult's demon will be fixed in a form that says something about the person's personality. For example, servants have dog demons. A demon dissolves when an person is killed. There is a prohibition against touching another person's demon. Unwanted contact with a demon causes the demons owner nausea and severe pain. Such contact is considered unnatural.
It is said that it is better to die than to have one's demon cut away. A child who is separated from his demon looks for it til he dies. People are afraid of a person without a demon as they would be afraid of a ghost. Children talk about having their demons experimented on and are uncomfortable. Struggles between children are resolved by discovering who has the stronger demon. Demons can be cut away and still stay near their human, but then both the human and demon have no will of thier own and are just mindless slaves that do others bidding. Demons are said to be what makes people different from animals.
Witches: They are a race of females who mate with human males to produce offspring. They live for hundreds of years, stay young, and dress in "strips of black silk." They fly and can separate themselves from their demons for long distances. One of the heroine's friends saved a witch's life and had a son by the witch, so that witch clan agrees to help the heroine's friends. The witches also employ men as servants. The witches have prophecies from hearing "immortal whispers," especially one referring to a child who has a great destiny to fulfill. They believe in predestination and know about the proximity of thousands of other alternate universes. Different clans ally themselves with different groups, both good and evil. They fly to war in great numbers.
Witch demons can also perform magic, like unlocking doors with snow. Witches are also incredible archers and don't follow a concept of personal property. The cold doesn't harm them, so they can do without heavy clothes (bare arms are mentioned frequently in connection with them). A witch tells a child that "there are secrets even from the most high" in connection with destiny.
The Church: In this alternate universe, the Church (clearly Catholic Christianity), referred to as the Magisterium, retains many of its defining outward characteristics (priests, nuns, saints, oratories, etc.) but has a huge amount of secular authority. It is responsible for the actions of the Oblation Board (called after the medieval practice of oblates), which kidnaps children and tortures them by cutting away their demons. The Church's chief concern is "experimental theology": scientific research often conducted in violation of human rights.
The Church supports Mrs. Coulter, who originated the idea of cutting children's demons away. Mrs. Coulter is deliberately associated with the Madonna in imagery. The Church is also spoken of as reinstating the Inquisition. Experiments are referred to as "theological matters." The Church has the power to impose and execute a death sentence. The Church fears Dust and is trying to find a way to do without it. The Church says that dust is the physical manifestation of original sin.
Dust: For most of the book, this element is defined as an elementary particle with peculiar habits. It is attracted to humans, specifically adults. Dust does not appear to be attracted to children. Dust is apparently what powers the alethiometer. It is somehow connected with whether or not a person's demon can change and is partly what is being researched at the experimental station. The heroine is told by an (evil) adult that it is bad, wrong, evil, but that if children have their demons cut away, they won't ever have to worry about Dust. The heroine decides that if so many bad adults think that Dust is bad, Dust must be a good thing.
Armored Bears: A bear is incomplete without his armor. A bear is paid for his services with alcohol. The bear also allowed himself to become inebriated at a previous time, which led to his bondage among humans, when they stole his armor. His armor is apparently, like a human's demon, his soul. A bear, however, makes his own armor. A bear threatens to kill people if they stand between him and his armor. A bear can only be tricked when he is acting like a human (getting drunk, for example, is a human thing). Bears treat their prisoners well in case the prisoners can be useful to them later. The king of the bears wants to be human and wants to be baptized as a human. A bear names a child "silvertongue" when she succeeds in lying to another bear. A bear defeats another bear in battle by trickery.
Artistic Content:
The story itself is fairly well-paced, though it stutters along at times and some of the relationships between the characters don't have enough explanation. It must be said, however, that to use the excuse of a parallel universe to attack an existing institution with blantant untruths is puerile in the extreme. Also, there are clear elements of wish-fulfillment (for example, the witches who are very sensual and nearly ageless). The story also lacks a clear sense of right and wrong. The Golden Compass lacks the moral compass that make epic fiction memorable and applicable to reality.
Overall Message:
This a complicated area for this book. Most of the traditional authority figures in the book are evil and intent on harming helpless children. Lyra, the heroine, though a thoroughly engaging waif, is, as her name might imply, a liar. She seeks to protect her friends, but unwittingly betrays one to his death. Lyra's parents are wicked and disfunctional in the extreme, and neither actually care for their child. Lyra's decision as the book ends is probably the closest one can come to an overall message: If all the authority figures think something is bad, then it must be good.
Buy it here: While I try to be as objective as possible in other areas of this review, here I must follow my conscience. I have deliberately neglected to provide a link for the purchase of this book from my site. I do not wish to be held responsible for anyone buying this book, even if it would profit me financially.
As a Christian parent, I would never allow my child to read this book, as I would not allow him to read anything I felt was detrimental to his moral well-being. The decisions he makes for himself in adulthood, of course, will be his own. I would hope, after seeing the contents of the book, other Christian parents would feel the same and NOT support the book nor the upcoming film.
Author: Philip Pullman
Date of Publication: 1995
Series: His Dark Materials
Awards: Carnegie Medal in the UK in 1995
Age Appropriateness: This is a difficult call for this book. If you intend to have your child read it, I would not recommend younger than sixteen. Even at this age, though, the elements of rebellion against authority would feed into a sense of teenage angst and would probably not be advisable even then.
Objectionable Content:
Language: hell (5), half-arsed, damn, God as an exclamation (4)
Violence:
A girl remembers that an adult beat her twice. An adult twists a child's arm and threatens to break it. A woman strikes a man. A child's ears are boxed. An adult demon (please see below for the discussion of demons) attacks a child's demon, causing the child pain. A child is chased and captured by two adults in a net while their demons attack her demon, causing her pain. The two adults are almost immediately killed by arrows, and blood gets on the child. A child hears the story of how her mother's husband (not her biological father) tried to kill her and her father, but her father shoots and kills her mother's husband instead. A child's demon is attacked by possessed clockwork bugs, causing the child pain. An anthropomorphized bear is attacked by humans while recovering his property. The bear almost bites someone's head off, but is stopped by a child. A man threatens to shoot people if they touch the bear's property. A bear kills a seal. A company of men is attacked with arrows and several are killed or wounded. A child is kidnapped.
A child is caught spying and is attacked by three men. She bites one of them, but they grab her demon, causing her intense pain and roughly forcing her to come with them. A child is forced into a cage so that her demon can be cut away from her. A child is forcibly separated from her demon, causing her pain. A woman is attacked by a possessed clockwork bug. Children throw snow at soldiers to blind the soldiers and protect themselves. Witches shoot soldiers who are preparing to shoot children. A bear attacks these same soldiers. An adult's demon attacks a child's demon, causing the child pain. The child is struck and dragged in a kidnapping attempt. Two children are roughly tossed around in a kidnapping attempt. The kidnappers are torn apart by a bear. A child is thrown forcibly into a cell. Two bears battle each other in graphic detail. The fight ends when one bear tears off the jaw of the other bear.
The victorious bear tears the other bear apart and eats his heart while it's still warm. Witches attack a group of bears and a child. Soldiers in a zeppelin shoot at bear with machine-guns. Bears use a fire-hurler to shoot down the zepplin. A child's demon is caught by an adult demon, causing the child pain. Two children flee while pursued by an adult's demon. An adult deliberately electrocutes a child's demon, killing the child.
Adult Content:
A child sees two adults flirting. A child hears about an illicit sexual affair between her two parents (her mother was married to someone else). A child sees two adults passionately embracing. The child sees the man kiss the woman in a manner that "seemed more like cruelty than love." The demons of the two adults play in a way that looks like it should cause pain, but causes pleasure. A witch talks about how she stayed with a man long enough to bear his child.
Disturbing or scary elements:
A child sees a man try to poison another man. A child knocks a glass out of a man's hand. The man twists her arm behind her back painfully. He threatens to break her arm, and later threatens to make her wish she was dead. A child hears a discussion about a "severed child." A man shows a group the head of a man that's been scalped, trepanned (hole drilled into the skull) and mutilated. An adult's demon threatens a child. A child is told that two heretics were silenced by the Church. There is a rumor about children being kidnapped. A child is enticed away and his alcoholic mother blames herself for the fact she never sees him again. Childen discuss the theoretic kidnappers, the "Gobblers." Two children play in a catacomb among coffins and skulls.
A child plays with the skulls. A child has a nightmare about headless bodies. The Gobblers start kidnapping children in Oxford. Children discuss what the Gobblers do to their victims and whether they are pirates or cannibals. A girl hears that her best friend has disappeared and can't get any adults to help her. A girl discusses with her demon what might happen to the kidnapped children. She thinks they might be cut in half, or be enslaved. A child mentions how her parents died in an aircraft accident. A woman makes another woman leave her party and threatens to make her lose her job. A girl hears that the kidnapped children become a kind of sacrifice. The girl learns her guardian is behind the kidnappings and that her uncle is being held prisoner. A girl is pursued by two adults intent on kidnapping her. A girl is told fairly grotesque ghost stories about what haunts the northern forests. A girl is forced to hide when the police are looking for her.
A reference is made to feuds between "gyptian clans" leading to occasional bodies floating ashore. A girl is told that information about her had been gathered and relayed to others since her birth. A promise is made to avenge the kidnapping and harm of their children. A girl sees an badly injured man who is in considerable pain. The man talks about the ambush and death of his comrades. A child and her companion here that one of their comrades has been shot. A child is very seasick. A man talks about how he saved a witch who was being attacked by a giant bird. There is a discussion of the process of "intercision" being used on children. A girl sees a bear chewing a bloody chunk of meat and is frightened by the bear's presence. A bear feints at a man and frightens him. There is a discussion about the experimental station called Bolvangar, meaning fields of evil, and how animals avoid it because of the evil aura. A girl hears how a bear went on a rampage and killed at least two men. A girl's demon pulls away from her, causing her pain. A bear attacks a priest's house to recover his property. A demon is uneasy when he sees what he thinks might be an enemy demon. There is a discussion about the defences of Bolvangar and the soldiers who guard them having wolf demons.
A girl finds a boy without a demon, which in their world is an abomination, "unnatural and uncanny." The girl discovers that the kidnapped childen are having their demons cut away, like this boy. The demonless boy dies. A girl mourns the dead boy, and gives him a coin to replace his lost demon. A bear tells a girl that he was banished for killing another bear. A bear lets a girl see his claws and teeth and talks about how powerful they are. A girl asks a man about trepanning (boring holes in the skull) and he explains why people do it. A girl hears how her protector was injured. A girl and her demon are afraid of being cut apart and say that they'll kill people before they let that happen.
A kidnapper sells a kidnapped child to the experimental station. Children speculate about what happens to them at the experimental station and whether they'll be killed because none of them have come back from being taken from the other children. A girl tells how one of her friends was taken away, and another girl knows she is talking about the demon-less boy who died. The boy was promised by an adult that no harm would come to him, that he was just going to go to sleep for an operation, a cut that wouldn't hurt. A girl is taken from her friends by an adult. A girl finds the demons of the severed children kept in cages. A girl sees an adult whom she fears. A group of chilren talk about the adult who kidnapped them. A child overhears a conversation between adults about a method of separating children from thier demons. A child overhears how her father is under sentence of death.
A child overhears how an adult is eager to watch the demons being cut away from the children. A girl hears how adults who have captured her are going to cut away her demon to keep her from repeating what she's overheard. A child confronts a woman about the demons being cut away and the adult lies about what happens. Childen escape a burning building. Children see guards with rifles and wolves about to attack them. An officer gives orders to his troops to fire upon the fleeing childen. A girl bullies other children to keep moving through the snow to keep them from giving up. Children hear how their recuers killed a number of adults. A girl is told about a bear killing another bear. A girl remembers how she was nearly severed from her demon. A balloon carrying passengers is out of control in harsh weather. Strange, ugly creatures attack the balloon and are fought off. A child falls out of a balloon and fears that she's stranded. A girl is captured by bears. A child is frightened to hear that she is not alone in her cell.
A girl discovers that her cell-mate is crazy but not violent. A girl hears how her friend will be killed if he tries to rescue her. A girl learns how a bear killed his own father. A bear demonstrates how sharp his claws are and how strong is paws are on the carcass of a walrus. Bears talk about what they'll do when they fight to the death. A girl is afraid for prisoners in a palace being torn down. A girl helps heal a wounded bear and gets blood on her clothes. A girl nearly dies of cold in her sleep and her eyelids are temporarily frozen shut.
A girl eats a raw seal kidney. A girl hears about how a bear was drugged. A bear talks about how another Bolvangar was planned for their land, but is now prevented. A girl hears about how her friends were attacked. A father is horrified to see his daughter, thinking that he will have to kill her to complete his experiment. Instead, he kills her friend. A girl hears about how her father has kidnapped her friend to finish his experiment. A girl crosses a treacherous bridge, which almost collapses beneath her. A girl cradles her friend's dead body.
Morally problematical content: I have divided this section into sections to more easily cover some of the general issues as opposed to some of the more prevalent issues.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Adults consume poppies as a mild stimulant (poppies are the source of opium, which can be refined to make heroin). Three children smoke a stolen cigarette. A boy is described as having an alcoholic mother who is usually too drunk to take care of him. Two children steal wine and become so drunk they throw up. One of the children insists she still likes to feel that way.
Lying/Dishonesty/Stealing/Other Objectionable Content:
A girl sneaks into a room she's forbidden to enter and hides. Children engage in non-lethal warfare with each other. A girl tells lies with impunity, even though the adult she is speaking to is well aware of her duplicity. A boy steals food. A woman promises to deliver messages to the parents of kidnapped children, but has no intention of doing so. A girl tells gruesome stories about her uncle to another child. A child disobeys a direct order from the adult responsible for her in order to run around looking for her friend. A child screams at an adult that she hates them for not being concerned about her friend. A child is attracted to and decieved by an adult's glamour. This adult teaches the child things like how to apply make-up and behave like an adult.
A child disobeys an adult and is punished. A girl tells an adult scary stories for attention. A child runs away from an adult when the child discovers that this adult kidnapped her friend. A child tells a stranger lies. A boy tells a younger girl frightening stories about what might be happening to the kidnapped children. Anthropomorphized bears are spoken of as pitiless mercenaries. An adult speculates as to whether the kidnapped children are killed or not.
A girl finds out the story she has been told about her parents' death is a lie. A girl is told that her father's land and property were confiscated because he killed the husband of her mother to protect the girl. The child was placed in the care of a convent but her father took her from there and left her in the care of Oxford scholars instead because her father hates the Church. A child finds out that her father's wishes concerning her care have been disregarded, probably because her father is a prisoner. A man suggests that a group give up a child to the authorities because there is a bounty on the child's head and the authorities won't leave the group alone til she is found. A man speaks of revenge for the kidnapping of their children.
A girl insists she be brought along on a dangerous mission and tells herself that the adults can't stop her from going. Frightening rumors are told about a child wanted by the authorities. A man tells a child how a clockwork bug is powered by an evil spirit. A group of men gamble with cards. A child's body is cremated after he dies to prevent the body from being eaten by wild animals. A man describes to a child the process of trepanning (drilling holes in the skull), which is done so "the gods can talk to them." A child lies to her captors to keep them from finding out who she is. A child is made to undress to take a shower. An adult lies to a child about whether or not she was kidnapped, telling her she fell asleep and had a nightmare. He denies that the party she was with was attacked, also a lie. Children talk fearfully about having their demons cut away. An adult lies to a child about what having a demon cut away is like.
A child blows up a building to allow other children to escape the experimental station. An adult helping the heroine asks one of her friends if he will be duly compensated for his efforts and asks if there is going to be any more trouble. A child lies to and flatters a mad man in order to get information. A girl lies to and tricks the king of the bears. A girl feels rejected by her father when he seems upset to see her. A verse from The Book of Genesis is quoted, but has clearly been tampered with by the author to distort the original meaning. An adult compares the cutting away of a child's demon to the Church's creation of castrati. An adult claims he can destroy original sin and death. A child believes an adult is crazy, but doubts her ability to judge him. A child wonders why "they" hate children so much and want to tear them apart. An adult says he wants to end the Church and "all those centuries of darkness." A man claims he cares about a woman, but if she leaves him, he won't give her another thought. A child decides to go seek out Dust (see below).
Magic/the occult:
Alethiometer:
An alternate universe is visible in the Aurora Borealis, apparently revealing where Dust comes from. An alethiometer ("truth-reader") warns against an adult's research. A prophecy warns of a girl making a great betrayal. The alethiometer is placed into a child's care. Adults can only ask questions of and receive answers from it when they have years of study and many books. The child teaches herself to read the alethiometer with almost no effort at all. A group of adults bring this child on a dangerous mission because she can read it. It is said to answer questions like an intelligent being and its knowledge is flawless and omniscient. They are said to originate in Prague as the result of an experiment to create a compass to detect the planets.
Demons: Demons in the book are defined as a person's soul, but, in this alternate universe, are not only physically separate from a person's body as an animal, but are usually the opposite gender and often have a conflicting personality. For example, the heroine's demon often tries unsuccessfully to keep her from doing something naughty, scary or dangerous. A child's demon can change forms at will, but an adult's demon will be fixed in a form that says something about the person's personality. For example, servants have dog demons. A demon dissolves when an person is killed. There is a prohibition against touching another person's demon. Unwanted contact with a demon causes the demons owner nausea and severe pain. Such contact is considered unnatural.
It is said that it is better to die than to have one's demon cut away. A child who is separated from his demon looks for it til he dies. People are afraid of a person without a demon as they would be afraid of a ghost. Children talk about having their demons experimented on and are uncomfortable. Struggles between children are resolved by discovering who has the stronger demon. Demons can be cut away and still stay near their human, but then both the human and demon have no will of thier own and are just mindless slaves that do others bidding. Demons are said to be what makes people different from animals.
Witches: They are a race of females who mate with human males to produce offspring. They live for hundreds of years, stay young, and dress in "strips of black silk." They fly and can separate themselves from their demons for long distances. One of the heroine's friends saved a witch's life and had a son by the witch, so that witch clan agrees to help the heroine's friends. The witches also employ men as servants. The witches have prophecies from hearing "immortal whispers," especially one referring to a child who has a great destiny to fulfill. They believe in predestination and know about the proximity of thousands of other alternate universes. Different clans ally themselves with different groups, both good and evil. They fly to war in great numbers.
Witch demons can also perform magic, like unlocking doors with snow. Witches are also incredible archers and don't follow a concept of personal property. The cold doesn't harm them, so they can do without heavy clothes (bare arms are mentioned frequently in connection with them). A witch tells a child that "there are secrets even from the most high" in connection with destiny.
The Church: In this alternate universe, the Church (clearly Catholic Christianity), referred to as the Magisterium, retains many of its defining outward characteristics (priests, nuns, saints, oratories, etc.) but has a huge amount of secular authority. It is responsible for the actions of the Oblation Board (called after the medieval practice of oblates), which kidnaps children and tortures them by cutting away their demons. The Church's chief concern is "experimental theology": scientific research often conducted in violation of human rights.
The Church supports Mrs. Coulter, who originated the idea of cutting children's demons away. Mrs. Coulter is deliberately associated with the Madonna in imagery. The Church is also spoken of as reinstating the Inquisition. Experiments are referred to as "theological matters." The Church has the power to impose and execute a death sentence. The Church fears Dust and is trying to find a way to do without it. The Church says that dust is the physical manifestation of original sin.
Dust: For most of the book, this element is defined as an elementary particle with peculiar habits. It is attracted to humans, specifically adults. Dust does not appear to be attracted to children. Dust is apparently what powers the alethiometer. It is somehow connected with whether or not a person's demon can change and is partly what is being researched at the experimental station. The heroine is told by an (evil) adult that it is bad, wrong, evil, but that if children have their demons cut away, they won't ever have to worry about Dust. The heroine decides that if so many bad adults think that Dust is bad, Dust must be a good thing.
Armored Bears: A bear is incomplete without his armor. A bear is paid for his services with alcohol. The bear also allowed himself to become inebriated at a previous time, which led to his bondage among humans, when they stole his armor. His armor is apparently, like a human's demon, his soul. A bear, however, makes his own armor. A bear threatens to kill people if they stand between him and his armor. A bear can only be tricked when he is acting like a human (getting drunk, for example, is a human thing). Bears treat their prisoners well in case the prisoners can be useful to them later. The king of the bears wants to be human and wants to be baptized as a human. A bear names a child "silvertongue" when she succeeds in lying to another bear. A bear defeats another bear in battle by trickery.
Artistic Content:
The story itself is fairly well-paced, though it stutters along at times and some of the relationships between the characters don't have enough explanation. It must be said, however, that to use the excuse of a parallel universe to attack an existing institution with blantant untruths is puerile in the extreme. Also, there are clear elements of wish-fulfillment (for example, the witches who are very sensual and nearly ageless). The story also lacks a clear sense of right and wrong. The Golden Compass lacks the moral compass that make epic fiction memorable and applicable to reality.
Overall Message:
This a complicated area for this book. Most of the traditional authority figures in the book are evil and intent on harming helpless children. Lyra, the heroine, though a thoroughly engaging waif, is, as her name might imply, a liar. She seeks to protect her friends, but unwittingly betrays one to his death. Lyra's parents are wicked and disfunctional in the extreme, and neither actually care for their child. Lyra's decision as the book ends is probably the closest one can come to an overall message: If all the authority figures think something is bad, then it must be good.
Buy it here: While I try to be as objective as possible in other areas of this review, here I must follow my conscience. I have deliberately neglected to provide a link for the purchase of this book from my site. I do not wish to be held responsible for anyone buying this book, even if it would profit me financially.
As a Christian parent, I would never allow my child to read this book, as I would not allow him to read anything I felt was detrimental to his moral well-being. The decisions he makes for himself in adulthood, of course, will be his own. I would hope, after seeing the contents of the book, other Christian parents would feel the same and NOT support the book nor the upcoming film.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
"THE BOOK OF THREE" by LLOYD ALEXANDER
Title: The Book of Three
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Date of Publication: 1964
Series: The Chronicles of Prydain
Awards:Regina Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Catholic Library Association, ALA (American Library Association) Notable Book
Overall Rating: Excellent. The story follows a young boy learning important life lessons in epic, though often surprisingly funny, circumstances. The good characters are likeable, honest, and believable.
Age Recommendation: Due to the violent content of the book, I would recommend twelve and up as an appropriate age range. If your child is less susceptible to violence (and, to be honest, none of the violence in the book was graphic in nature) then a younger age would find it enjoyable as well. If your child can read J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman (This is not a recommendation of either author!!!), then they will find Alexander tame by comparison, as well as being more enlightening.
Objectionable Content:
Language: Fool, drat, stupid, idiot. Most of these words are only used once in the book.
Violence: A boy is attacked by a mounted soldier and injured. A boy is attacked by a creature who attempts to strangle him, but the creature is unsuccessful. A boy is almost drowned in a river. A man and a boy are attacked by evil birds and escape. A boy wrestles with a creature. A boy sees from a distance people burned alive in wicker cages by the evil villian, the "Horned King." A boy and a man are attacked by mounted warriors. A boy and a man are attacked by zombie-like "Cauldron-born" warriors. A boy and a man are captured and beaten to keep them from speaking to each other. A witch strikes a bound man and breaks his sword, threatening to do the same to him. A girl speaks of being beaten by a witch, whom the girl then bit. A boy wildly swings a sword at a man. A boy raises a sword at a girl. A girl threatens to break a man's harp over his head. A creature injures himself falling out of a tree. A group is chased by Cauldron-born warriors, who they attempt to fight off. Wolves jump on two men, but do not injure them. A girl punches a man, giving him a black eye. A group is attacked by a small band of warriors and the group kills three of them. A group is attacked by a large force of warriors. A boy and a girl are chased and attacked by the evil villian, the Horned King. A boy is injured when he tries to draw a magic sword. The villian is defeated and apparently melts.
Adult Content: A girl kisses a dwarf on the top of his head. A boy and a girl become friends and he tries to protect her.
Disturbing or scary elements: There is a discussion about Annuvin, the "land of death"; Arawn, who rules Annuvin; and the Horned King, Arawn's champion. A boy's hands are burned when he tries to touch a magic book. Animals are scared by something and run away. The Horned King is described as wearing a mask of a human skull with antler horns and bloodstains on his arms. A creature says he wants to eat a boy. The Cauldron-born are described as dead men brought to life through black magic, who no longer remember that they were men. Cauldron-born are later described as having faces with a death grin and eyes like stones. A boy and a girl hear wailing voices they think are ghosts. A castle magically explodes. Bodies are seen among the ruins of the castle. A group is followed by a pair of Cauldron-born. A group hears wolves howling close to them. Bird are described as being imprisoned and tortured into submission (no details are given). A group is sucked into a black lake and fear that they're drowning. A group is captured and bags are put over their heads to keep them from seeing. A group is captured by "fairies," a motley assortment of Fair Folk including dwarves, elves, etc. A group hides from horsemen carrying torches. A man speaks of how he was imprisoned and tortured (no details are given, other than he was tempted to despair) .
Morally problematical content: A boy impetuously tries to make a sword and ignores his master. A boy talks back to his master. A boy tries to look at a book forbidden to him. A pig is consulted as an oracle. A boy runs into the forest against the rules and is lost. A boy is rude to a man who rescues him. A man makes a magic net out of grass and uses it against an enemy to protect a boy. Evil warriors are spoken of as having been created through necromancy (Cauldron-born). A witch tries to get information from a boy by charming him. A girl has a "bauble" she can cause to light up. A boy and a girl take swords from dead warriors. A group takes weapons from other dead warriors. A man has a magic harp that almost "plays itself" but whose strings snap when the man tries to "embellish the truth." A girl tries to use magic against enemy warriors and fails. A man is able to speak with animals and keep his valley hidden from men. This man is also able to keep animals from killing each other in his valley and can cause sleep. A creature is spoken of as neither wise like an animal nor learned like a man. A magic lake sucks a group under but does not harm them. A dwarf king is able to use magic to keep a group from using their weapons. A dwarf is unable to make himself invisible (which is something dwarves are supposed to be able to do). A discussion is made about whether or not to kill a wounded bird who might be an enemy. A boy is injured when he tries to draw a magic sword. The Horned King is defeated by the use of his secret name, which causes him to be struck by lightning and melt. A man speaks of how suffering gave him the ability to understand animals and nature.
Artistic Content: This book has humor, good moral sense, and good character developement. Alexander draws heavily on Welsh mythology, but does not merely rewrite it. The book as believable characters and a plausible plotline (for a fantasy work). Once a child is old enough to read it, the book will never be outgrown.
Overall Message: A boy's journey leads to wisdom and the adventures he longed for lead him to appreciate his home. Though some of the lessons are hard, they make him a better person and teach him to take responsibility for his actions.
Visit the offical Lloyd Alexander book website:
http://www.lloydalexanderbooks.com/
Buy it here:
Author: Lloyd Alexander
Date of Publication: 1964
Series: The Chronicles of Prydain
Awards:Regina Medal for Lifetime Achievement from the Catholic Library Association, ALA (American Library Association) Notable Book
Overall Rating: Excellent. The story follows a young boy learning important life lessons in epic, though often surprisingly funny, circumstances. The good characters are likeable, honest, and believable.
Age Recommendation: Due to the violent content of the book, I would recommend twelve and up as an appropriate age range. If your child is less susceptible to violence (and, to be honest, none of the violence in the book was graphic in nature) then a younger age would find it enjoyable as well. If your child can read J.K. Rowling or Philip Pullman (This is not a recommendation of either author!!!), then they will find Alexander tame by comparison, as well as being more enlightening.
Objectionable Content:
Language: Fool, drat, stupid, idiot. Most of these words are only used once in the book.
Violence: A boy is attacked by a mounted soldier and injured. A boy is attacked by a creature who attempts to strangle him, but the creature is unsuccessful. A boy is almost drowned in a river. A man and a boy are attacked by evil birds and escape. A boy wrestles with a creature. A boy sees from a distance people burned alive in wicker cages by the evil villian, the "Horned King." A boy and a man are attacked by mounted warriors. A boy and a man are attacked by zombie-like "Cauldron-born" warriors. A boy and a man are captured and beaten to keep them from speaking to each other. A witch strikes a bound man and breaks his sword, threatening to do the same to him. A girl speaks of being beaten by a witch, whom the girl then bit. A boy wildly swings a sword at a man. A boy raises a sword at a girl. A girl threatens to break a man's harp over his head. A creature injures himself falling out of a tree. A group is chased by Cauldron-born warriors, who they attempt to fight off. Wolves jump on two men, but do not injure them. A girl punches a man, giving him a black eye. A group is attacked by a small band of warriors and the group kills three of them. A group is attacked by a large force of warriors. A boy and a girl are chased and attacked by the evil villian, the Horned King. A boy is injured when he tries to draw a magic sword. The villian is defeated and apparently melts.
Adult Content: A girl kisses a dwarf on the top of his head. A boy and a girl become friends and he tries to protect her.
Disturbing or scary elements: There is a discussion about Annuvin, the "land of death"; Arawn, who rules Annuvin; and the Horned King, Arawn's champion. A boy's hands are burned when he tries to touch a magic book. Animals are scared by something and run away. The Horned King is described as wearing a mask of a human skull with antler horns and bloodstains on his arms. A creature says he wants to eat a boy. The Cauldron-born are described as dead men brought to life through black magic, who no longer remember that they were men. Cauldron-born are later described as having faces with a death grin and eyes like stones. A boy and a girl hear wailing voices they think are ghosts. A castle magically explodes. Bodies are seen among the ruins of the castle. A group is followed by a pair of Cauldron-born. A group hears wolves howling close to them. Bird are described as being imprisoned and tortured into submission (no details are given). A group is sucked into a black lake and fear that they're drowning. A group is captured and bags are put over their heads to keep them from seeing. A group is captured by "fairies," a motley assortment of Fair Folk including dwarves, elves, etc. A group hides from horsemen carrying torches. A man speaks of how he was imprisoned and tortured (no details are given, other than he was tempted to despair) .
Morally problematical content: A boy impetuously tries to make a sword and ignores his master. A boy talks back to his master. A boy tries to look at a book forbidden to him. A pig is consulted as an oracle. A boy runs into the forest against the rules and is lost. A boy is rude to a man who rescues him. A man makes a magic net out of grass and uses it against an enemy to protect a boy. Evil warriors are spoken of as having been created through necromancy (Cauldron-born). A witch tries to get information from a boy by charming him. A girl has a "bauble" she can cause to light up. A boy and a girl take swords from dead warriors. A group takes weapons from other dead warriors. A man has a magic harp that almost "plays itself" but whose strings snap when the man tries to "embellish the truth." A girl tries to use magic against enemy warriors and fails. A man is able to speak with animals and keep his valley hidden from men. This man is also able to keep animals from killing each other in his valley and can cause sleep. A creature is spoken of as neither wise like an animal nor learned like a man. A magic lake sucks a group under but does not harm them. A dwarf king is able to use magic to keep a group from using their weapons. A dwarf is unable to make himself invisible (which is something dwarves are supposed to be able to do). A discussion is made about whether or not to kill a wounded bird who might be an enemy. A boy is injured when he tries to draw a magic sword. The Horned King is defeated by the use of his secret name, which causes him to be struck by lightning and melt. A man speaks of how suffering gave him the ability to understand animals and nature.
Artistic Content: This book has humor, good moral sense, and good character developement. Alexander draws heavily on Welsh mythology, but does not merely rewrite it. The book as believable characters and a plausible plotline (for a fantasy work). Once a child is old enough to read it, the book will never be outgrown.
Overall Message: A boy's journey leads to wisdom and the adventures he longed for lead him to appreciate his home. Though some of the lessons are hard, they make him a better person and teach him to take responsibility for his actions.
Visit the offical Lloyd Alexander book website:
http://www.lloydalexanderbooks.com/
Buy it here:
Here is how this review board works
Here is how this review board works. I record or rate the following information for each book I review:
Title.
Author.
Date of Publication.
Series (if applicable).
Awards (if applicable). Note, however, that these awards can often be misleading as to the quality of the book.
Age Appropriateness. This is a tricky area. I will do my best based on the reading level and graphic quality of the book, but feel free to disagree with this assessment based on other information. You know your children better than I do.
Overall Rating: This will be based on the moral and literary quality of the book and, once again, this is a subjective rating.
Objectionable Content:
Language. I will list what specific negative words are used (or understandable substitutes; for example, cr*p). I won’t note how many times these are used unless there’s a very large number or a very small number.
Violence. I will attempt to note every instance and circumstance. For example: “boy is chased through the woods and threatened with a sword” or “dead bodies are seen on ground.”
Adult Content. As you can imagine, this is a tricky area. My goal is to provide you with enough information to make the judgment call yourself. I will try to note instances and explicitness. Depending on the author, some instances would probably only be understood by an older child but are not explicit enough to be understood by a younger child. I will also try to note instances that would affect the morality of the situation. For example, casual fornication vs. kissing by a married couple.
Disturbing or scary elements: These would be occurrences that don’t involve violence, but might still affect the sensibilities, especially of a child.
Morally problematical content: This is where I cover the “fuzzy grey areas.” Some parents might object to magic in a work, while others might object to the fact that the hero is a compulsive liar. I will try to cover anything here that one might find morally objectionable, and let you be the judge.
Artistic Content. This will be a general statement about the literary quality of the book, based on my experience and education.
Overall Message. What does the book say overall? What issues are addressed in it?
Buy it here: I will try to make sure that I have at least one vendor for every book that I recommend. I will say, however, that if I find a book to be without any redeeming value, I will not offer a link for purchase from my review. This method is also how I plan on funding the time it takes for me to post these reviews. Please seriously consider buying through my site to help fund this effort.
That all being said, I will very seldom make a moral judgment on the quality of the work I’m reviewing. I will try to provide you, as a Christian parent, with enough information to make your own call as to whether each book is appropriate for your unique, precious child. Making sure your child reads quality literature during his or her formative years is the moral, ethical responsibility of every Christian parent. My goal is to help you choose wisely. Enjoy!
Title.
Author.
Date of Publication.
Series (if applicable).
Awards (if applicable). Note, however, that these awards can often be misleading as to the quality of the book.
Age Appropriateness. This is a tricky area. I will do my best based on the reading level and graphic quality of the book, but feel free to disagree with this assessment based on other information. You know your children better than I do.
Overall Rating: This will be based on the moral and literary quality of the book and, once again, this is a subjective rating.
Objectionable Content:
Language. I will list what specific negative words are used (or understandable substitutes; for example, cr*p). I won’t note how many times these are used unless there’s a very large number or a very small number.
Violence. I will attempt to note every instance and circumstance. For example: “boy is chased through the woods and threatened with a sword” or “dead bodies are seen on ground.”
Adult Content. As you can imagine, this is a tricky area. My goal is to provide you with enough information to make the judgment call yourself. I will try to note instances and explicitness. Depending on the author, some instances would probably only be understood by an older child but are not explicit enough to be understood by a younger child. I will also try to note instances that would affect the morality of the situation. For example, casual fornication vs. kissing by a married couple.
Disturbing or scary elements: These would be occurrences that don’t involve violence, but might still affect the sensibilities, especially of a child.
Morally problematical content: This is where I cover the “fuzzy grey areas.” Some parents might object to magic in a work, while others might object to the fact that the hero is a compulsive liar. I will try to cover anything here that one might find morally objectionable, and let you be the judge.
Artistic Content. This will be a general statement about the literary quality of the book, based on my experience and education.
Overall Message. What does the book say overall? What issues are addressed in it?
Buy it here: I will try to make sure that I have at least one vendor for every book that I recommend. I will say, however, that if I find a book to be without any redeeming value, I will not offer a link for purchase from my review. This method is also how I plan on funding the time it takes for me to post these reviews. Please seriously consider buying through my site to help fund this effort.
That all being said, I will very seldom make a moral judgment on the quality of the work I’m reviewing. I will try to provide you, as a Christian parent, with enough information to make your own call as to whether each book is appropriate for your unique, precious child. Making sure your child reads quality literature during his or her formative years is the moral, ethical responsibility of every Christian parent. My goal is to help you choose wisely. Enjoy!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
What is this?
My name is Kara and I am passionate about literature. I hold a BA in English literature and I'm a writing teacher for homeschoolers. As a mom and writer, I am very interested in literature for children and young adults. I am also passionate about my Catholic Christianity.
I've created this blog to provide parents with a reliable guide for making decisions about books for their children. My goal is to provide a faith-informed review of children's literature currently in circulation. Enjoy!
I've created this blog to provide parents with a reliable guide for making decisions about books for their children. My goal is to provide a faith-informed review of children's literature currently in circulation. Enjoy!
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