Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

Jarell, the main character, starts out the book completely distracted in class. He says he finds himself almost unavoidably drawn to his drawings. It is presented as if he almost can’t help it. While this helps move the story along it is not a great message for a generation of kids that seem to be losing their ability to focus (seemingly in perfect parallel with the amount of screentime they are taking in). This book does have a sci-fi type aspect to it. This brings in mention of things like a “godess”, a “sorcerer”, a “god” (in the mythology sense). Jarell meets another main character, a girl, and they are not the nicest to each other at first. They take small shots at each other, roll eyes, etc. A few other items: The game “The Sims” is referenced in passing. Someone says, “What the…” (never completed, leaving the reader’s mind to fill in the blank. Another character says, “By the gods”.