Concerning & Potentially Concerning Content

There are no major concerning items to worry about with this one, but a handful of items to be aware of: Early in the book one character is thinking through examples of ways things can fall apart swiftly and they list a cable snapping in an elevator and a shark attack (scary concepts for younger/more sensitive children). A fight scene has a lighter feel, but does mention “slaughtering” and plunging a dagger into a creature. Upon meeting their grandfather for the first time and going out to his remote home one of the boys jokes, “If Ace decided to murder us, they’d never find the bodies”. A character worries, “He was going to split me open from top to bottom”. We also hear the following unfortunate comment: “Ye be bigger fools than the mothers that didn’t drown ye at birth”. The main characters are brothers and they do grow a lot, but there is some content to be aware of around their behavior. Rhett (one of the brothers, along with Nash) references mom interrogating them “for one dumb thing or another”. He also refers to himself as “one of those annoyingly perspective kids who liked to eavesdrop on their grown-ups” saying “You can learn a lot of stuff that way”. We are told about a couple times where these brothers tried to sneak and do something their mother had forbidden. Nash remembers something he was grounded for, calling it “worth it” because of the notoriety he gained. In the early/middle portion of the book the boys make a handful of comments to their grandfather that are not very respectful. Rhett considers punching his brother when frustrated (doesn’t do it) and there is a bit of squabbling. He also encourages his brother to lie if Rhett was to die in an embarrassing way (one of a couple examples of dishonestly). Rhett looks back on how they had been notorious for moaning, groaning and complaining about any sort of chore. Ace says that ‘fair’ is a word “only the young and naive think matters”. The following words are used: jerk, dummy, duh, idiot. The grandfather Ace mutters “something I am pretty sure you weren’t supposed to say in front of a lady” (not shown). One character says, “Oh, for Merlin’s sake” and later we hear, “Holy shirts and pants”. A joke calls something, “nuttier than a port-a-potty at a peanut festival” and something is called “slicker than snot”. There is a reference to the music artist Keney Chesney and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Scary movies are mentioned and one game has ghosts as characters (never spooky or dark). Someone asks if a pale girl is a vampire.