Note: We don’t normally warn about “spoilers” since our mission is equipping Christian parents to make decisions to protect the hearts and minds of their children. We are making an exception here because the first of the major spoilers in the main concerns section is a pretty major one.
Two larger concerns highlight a somewhat lengthy section on potentially concerning content you should know about for this book.
The first revolves around the biggest surprise/wow moment of the book. One of the two main characters, Meddy turns out to be a ghost. This is an interesting example to prayerfully consider, because it has a bit of the feel of something like the Christmas ‘spirits’ or ‘ghosts’ from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. She is a ‘good’ character. There is one point where, after the reveal, she levitates and gets angry when confronting the villain of the story, but outside of that it is not intended to be dark or scary… but it is still someone who has died and is now back. There is a second story of a man and his son as ghosts waving to each other. Something for each Christian parent to weigh for their child.
The second main potential concern comes from one of the main aspects of the overall book setting that comes up over and over throughout the book. This town is said to be a place of ‘smugglers’. What makes it concerning is that the books weaves in over time that the ‘smugglers’, who are clearly performing an illegal activity, are somehow the good guys. We hear comments like where smuggling is referred to as “strictly speaking, illegal” and that “most folks” in the town were on the side of the smugglers. Eventually the author attempts to have the reader feel better about this by making the customs agents, the legal authorities that combat smuggling, to be in league with a business empire that is using shady practices for their own monetary benefit. One of the other ‘good’ and likable characters turns out to be something of a cat burglar. When this is revealed, the response comes back, “So?”. The problem is that it falls into this category that the world is always trying to sell us of moral greyness, where right and wrong are blurred and unclear. It is at least something you will want to discuss with your child if you let them read this one.
We should also point out that the plot also highlights a “role playing game” that for those familiar will remind readers of Dungeons and Dragons, where people sit around in a room and imagine characters going on an adventure, being led by a game master. This is another place where the lines or right and wrong are blurred, as the seemingly good quest has characters like thieves and warlords.
There are many times when the book leads to the young reader hearing a ‘side story’, either told aloud in a group or read out of a book. These are typically odd, but some are worse than that. One of the stories told during the book has to do with someone outsmarting the devil. The story claims that “if you beat the devil… you can win your heart’s desire”. This is referenced a few times. It certainly underplays the danger of the enemy of our souls, which is a big deal. Another very strange story Milo reads says that a cat must die to avert a disaster. The cat is killed and all of a sudden a strange man is summoned, giving a weird explanation of this about the cat’s bones causing it. It references some magic. Then the story just stops. Super strange.
Other items to be aware of:
Early in the book Milo, the main character, comments about someone, “up close the stranger looked even more boring”. There is a stretch of the book where early in the book Milo acts very selfish about not wanting people to interrupt his vacation (e.g., “My problem is you’re right, I don’t want to spend my vacation this way, and that includes with you!”. Milo crosses his fingers when telling a lie.
A man smokes a pipe several times during the story. Whiskey is referenced and one character pours a “generous amount” in her coffee. The inn has a liquor cabinet. When stories are told the travelers share a bottle of wine. There is a reference to a tavern and a saloon.
At one point, someone breaks into Milo’s room, which is potentially frightening to a child.
Wishing on a star is referenced in a story. Other references to ‘wishing’ and luck. Someone is told to “cross your fingers, maybe we’ll get lucky”.
One reference to santa as if he was real.
Someone is called a “bad liar”. We hear of “swearing” (not shown).
Dad (one of the really ‘good’ characters) help two people involved in smuggling hide their identity.
The following terms are used: idiot, hell or high water, all hell breaking loose, holy cow, good God (flippant).