This book is relatively light on concerning content. Most of what we do see revolves around the particular personalities of the main characters. We will share that first:
- Mom is a super tough lawyer. In a line that may need some explaining to kids, after a crazy event the mother of the two main characters, acting as their lawyer, tells them “Don’t say a word to the police until I get there”.
- The girl main character Zoe (also very tough) acts like a lawyer and negotiates full immunity from trouble if she tells her mom what happened. Shockingly, mom agrees. A side part of the plot revolves around the parents not allowing Zoe to go to camp for the summer. This resolves well, but at first we are told it “led to weeks of arguments and countless slamming of doors”
- Dad is described as having a “no shirt, no shoes, no problems” kind of vibe which we are told makes him “a pushover when it comes to discipline”. Later he delivers the most disappointing line in the book when he tells Zoe, “You’re going to pout for however long you’re going to pout. You’re going to… find any chance to pick a fight with your mother. But you’re 13 and we’re your parents, so that’s to be expected”.
- The beloved grandfather early in the book shares a stereotype as a fact to the kids, “Miami is a sunny place filled with shady people” (one of the kids remarks this is a good thing for the detective agency they are starting). Later he completely lies to distract a security guard to allow kids to sneak in somewhere and sadly refers to it as teaching them journalism. In a similar comment, later the kids ask “Is this a chase?” to which he replies, “No, and if you tell your parents that it was, I’m going to get in a lot of trouble”.
- Lina, one of the friends, lies bold face to Alex and Zoe’s mom, saying the detective agency was her idea, trying to keep Zoe out of trouble. Zoe thanks her for this lie, to which Lina replies, “what are friends for?”.
Here are a few other things you should be aware of:
- When talking about jobs, a character calls babysitting boring (also mentioning “bratty kids”), lawn mowing sweaty and cleaning out the attic boring and sweaty. The author uses this to set up the kids forming a detective agency.
- A character says her father’s love of plants “was almost like a religion to him”
- There is a reference to climate change. There is a bit here around companies mistreating the earth, but it never goes beyond reasonable bounds.
- Referring to something that didn’t go well, Zoe’s mom says, “It was a horror show”
- Near the happy ending, the kids and grandpa decide to omit a part of the overall story mom won’t like
- The following are referenced in passing: Captain Underpants, Jurassic Park