A Moment Comes ~ Read-Aloud for BookShark / Sonlight. Thoughts on this book??

[BatmansWife]

We just started A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury.  I only read aloud two chapters so far.  I've read some reviews online, but I am still uncertain what this book will bring.  I would like to think that if it's a read-aloud for BookShark and Sonlight that it's "appropriate" for this age group.  We have already read about cyanide (a father giving his daughter a wooden box with a little white pill inside and she's told she "should take it if her virtue was threatened"), and violence.  I've read in reviews about flirting / teen romance, cigarettes, etc.  I understand that there's going to be the violence with the fighting going on...but I'm really not interested in reading aloud (or, for that matter, having her read) stories with flirting and romance between people not a whole lot older than my daughter.  How much does this book focus on such things?  I'm just trying to decide if I should skip this one, or if it's worth reading.  Thanks for any help.  

Edited May 24, 2016 by BatmansWife

[BatmansWife]

Nobody had an opinion on this book??

 

Well, I'm just going to skip it for now...maybe I'll try to read it myself first sometime.  

[mc26]

We skipped that one (Bookshark 5).  

[Lori D.]

I liked what I saw from the sample pages I could read at Amazon. It seemed appropriate for grades 7/8 and up to me, as by late middle school/early high school, we were discussing a wide variety of topics. Just from the limited amount I was able to read, the way the cyanide was written about seemed discreet and tactful (non-graphic), which seems like it would be fairly easy to go into as little or as much depth of discussion as you would want...

 

Just now noticing a previous poster mentioned it's in Bookshark 5… Tough call. I probably wouldn't want to discuss on those topics in a LOT of depth at that age -- if you do the book as a read-aloud, you can skip in the moment if you're super uncomfortable about appropriateness for a young student. Or, if done as a reader, then you could just "answer the question that is asked" -- there's a very good chance the way it was written that it would go right over a younger student's head and be a non-issue...

 

But, always best to preview and decide for yourself! :) Gee, that was completely unhelpful, but just felt bad you weren't getting much response. ;) BEST of luck, whatever you decide! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Sahamamama]

If I were in your shoes, and undecided about the book, I would just move on to the next book in the line-up (for our read aloud), and then read the book in question on my own (to myself). That way, you will know what comes up, how comfortable you are with it, and if you think this is the best time for your child(ren) to encounter those concepts. At the same time, you will not really be getting "behind" in your reading, if you just move on to the next book. HTH.

[TKDmom]

I read it myself, and decided not to read it aloud. I'd be comfortable with my 14yo reading it. And probably my DS12. It was a good story. But I'm not reading it aloud to my 10 yo, or anyone for that matter. I have an intense dislike for reading aloud romance. It has an ongoing love triangle with the British girl trying to get the Muslim boy to flirt with her (just because she's bored with life in India) and he goes along, because he wants to go to Britain, but the whole time he's lusting over the Hindi girl, who's terrified of Muslim men, because she was nearly gang raped...

Anyway, too heavy for elementary school, which is the case with a lot of BookSharks/SL read-aloud a in upper elementary.

[Lori D.]

… romance. It has an ongoing love triangle with the British girl trying to get the Muslim boy to flirt with her (just because she's bored with life in India) and he goes along, because he wants to go to Britain, but the whole time he's lusting over the Hindi girl, who's terrified of Muslim men, because she was nearly gang raped...

 

Wow, NONE of that was even hinted at in the preview pages at Amazon. I would have been very disappointed to have bought the book and then discovered that it was an unrealistic teen romance rather than a true attempt at showing the various viewpoints of a complicated social/political situation at a pivotal point in history. :(

 

Thanks for the review TKDmom! :) And, I totally agree about the age-inappropriateness of many of the read-alouds with Book Shark/Sonlight.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Lori D.

[Guest]

I have to check common sense media for almost everything now.

 

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/a-moment-comes

[TKDmom]

Wow, NONE of that was even hinted at in the preview pages at Amazon. I would have been very disappointed to have bought the book and then discovered that it was an unrealistic teen romance rather than a true attempt at showing the various viewpoints of a complicated social/political situation at a pivotal point in history. :(

 

Thanks for the review TKDmom! :) And, I totally agree about the age-inappropriateness of many of the read-alouds with Book Shark/Sonlight.

 

I liked the book, and it did portray some of the complexity of Partition in India, but it is told from the viewpoint of teens and their romantic notions. It's definitely more of a young adult historical novel.

[BatmansWife]

Thank you to everyone for your comments...very helpful to me!

 

I read it myself, and decided not to read it aloud. I'd be comfortable with my 14yo reading it. And probably my DS12. It was a good story. But I'm not reading it aloud to my 10 yo, or anyone for that matter. I have an intense dislike for reading aloud romance. It has an ongoing love triangle with the British girl trying to get the Muslim boy to flirt with her (just because she's bored with life in India) and he goes along, because he wants to go to Britain, but the whole time he's lusting over the Hindi girl, who's terrified of Muslim men, because she was nearly gang raped...
Anyway, too heavy for elementary school, which is the case with a lot of BookSharks/SL read-aloud a in upper elementary.

 

This is exactly what I needed to know Bonnie.  Thank you!  This is what I kind of got the feeling the book would be about by reading some of the Amazon reviews.  I was just baffled that this was a book included in BkSk 5.  

 

I'm definitely skipping it.  And, I have no desire to even read it for myself.

 

Thanks again!!

Edited May 26, 2016 by BatmansWife

[TKDmom]

I have to check common sense media for almost everything now.

 

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/a-moment-comes

 

I never thought of using it for books! I will have to look up books more often on common sense media. It's nearly impossible to tell what kind of content is in books from Amazon reviews. More than once, my dd14 has come to me distraught over scenes she would rather not have read.

[Jane Elliot]

I'm really not interested in reading aloud (or, for that matter, having her read) stories with flirting and romance between people not a whole lot older than my daughter.  How much does this book focus on such things?  I'm just trying to decide if I should skip this one, or if it's worth reading.  Thanks for any help.  

 

Then you will want to skip Habibi too. I couldn't even get through a pre-read. Besides being full of adolescent romance, it was just plain bad writing. I've been disappointed in many of SL/BS's more recent book selections.

[Guest]

I never thought of using it for books! I will have to look up books more often on common sense media. It's nearly impossible to tell what kind of content is in books from Amazon reviews. More than once, my dd14 has come to me distraught over scenes she would rather not have read.

 

I know. Even books for me...if there's some kind of 'mature' content I want to avoid for the time-being. I used to be able to usually sniff it out on amazon reviews. Not any more.

 

I wonder if there is an all adult csm equivalent?

[BatmansWife]

Then you will want to skip Habibi too. I couldn't even get through a pre-read. Besides being full of adolescent romance, it was just plain bad writing. I've been disappointed in many of SL/BS's more recent book selections.

 

Thank you for telling me!!  My daughter just started that one as her next reader.  She read the first chapter or so when I noticed the back cover: "The day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever.  Not because of the kiss....."  I mean, what on earth is going on here lately??  I don't have time to pre-read everything.  But now I feel I'm either going to have to...or search for reviews...or ask here.  Now I'm beginning to question these book choices.  Up until this point there's never been this issue.  I realize because we are advancing through a program...she's getting older....but goodness...she's still not at the age where I want these topics to be reading material...in a homeschool program no less!  It's feeling like the days are gone when you can just hand your child the next school book to read and not have to think twice that it might be inappropriate.    :sad:

Edited May 28, 2016 by BatmansWife

[boscopup]

Sonlight is known for pushing the envelope on appropriateness. That's why many people used their cores on the upper end of the age range rather than the grade level that marks the younger end. When I used Core D with my 8 year old, I saw a lot of people saying they wait until 10 to use it. He was fine at 8, but I could definitely see where it would be more appropriate for age 10 for most kids. And that's why some Sonlight users got annoyed when they went to doing grade level packages with the level being based on the lower end of the range.

 

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