Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

As far as concerning content, this one has a decent list of things to be aware of, but none rise above the line of being highly concerning. The main character Yash certainly isn’t perfect. Early in the book he asks the principal, “But couldn’t you – like – lie?”. When put in a bad situation he considered trying to get a favor from the mayor or someone else influential. Early in the book he and the super popular friends play football in the mall at complete disregard to everyone else. Even worse, when the angry security guard realizes who he is, he completely changes his attitude. One character is known for pranks and some of his pranks are referenced. In the past he used a cherry-bomb and destroyed a boy's bathroom, mentions it caused massive destruction. He puts firecrackers into a homemade pizza, which explodes in the oven. He superglues lockers shut, puts gum in chairs, freezes Mentos into ice cubes and BBQ sauce into locker slits. These ideas should obviously not be put in front of some kids whose maturity is not yet where it should be. Another character who is always complaining rails against rising sea levels, “It’s all because of climate change… because of the big countries that treat the environment like a garbage dump”. Global Warming is also referenced once. There are two sibling characters that have a really bad relationship and are always fighting. The terms “slug” is a derogatory term for someone who is very unathletic. The following terms are made: jerked around, nerd, freak show, cave people, rejects, New Dork City, and jerk. One character references “an elf, or a dwarf or goblin or some other kind of weirdo”. At one point a kid tunes out a story from an adult because it is “so boring”. The Beach Boys are referenced multiple times as well as Genesis (old rock band). At various points “The Walking Dead”, Halo, Fortnight, King Kong, The Mighty Ducks, Godzilla, Bad News Bears, The Illuminati, Predator and zombies are referenced. Someone compares an event to “a scene from The Purge” (a horror movie). Someone threatens to “take that arm and wrap it around his throat boa-constrictor style. Worldly wisdom is shared, “fairness is more important than anything”. Someone is said to be addicted to romance novels, “each more passionate than the next”. We also hear of a “cheesy romance movie”.