Annie Laurie Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Is this appropriate for a 10 year old and an 8 year old? They both love adventure stories, and survival stories like Robinson Crusoe, so when I came across this I thought it looked like a book they would love. This part of the description has me hesitating though: A teen boy finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash with nothing but a tattered windbreaker and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present -- and the dreadful secret that has been tearing him apart since his parent's divorce. Is there anything I should be aware of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Smith Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Is this appropriate for a 10 year old and an 8 year old? They both love adventure stories, and survival stories like Robinson Crusoe, so when I came across this I thought it looked like a book they would love. This part of the description has me hesitating though: Is there anything I should be aware of? I looked into that book since my boys really liked, "My Side of the Mountain". If I remember correctly the boy knew his Mother was having an affair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie Laurie Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 I looked into that book since my boys really liked, "My Side of the Mountain". If I remember correctly the boy knew his Mother was having an affair. Thank you. My dd and ds really like the Jean Craighead George books too. I'm not sure how I feel about an affair being in this book though, I think we will have to wait to read it. I don't have time to read it myself to see how it's presented, and see no reason for them to read about that right now. Darn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ApronMama Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I pre-read the book this year to see if it was appropriate for ds8. I decided it was not, simply because of the affair issue. It is a great adventure story otherwise suited for the age. If the parents were simply divorced, but no affair i would have had ds read it. I would rather have ds use this time of his life to read more positive stories and retain as much innocence as possible. He will have plenty of time in the future to learn how hard life can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happycc Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I wish I had known about that affair issue with that book. My stepdaughter who is 10yrs old just finished reading the series and I wasn;t able to read it first. But she knows about affairs first hand as her mother had two affairs which broke up the marriage of her father and mother a few years back. THe mother ended up marrying the man she had an affair with and just divorced him after 2 yrs of marriage I think. Anyways, do you think that might affect my daughter reading about that considering it has hit so close to her home for her? We have always been honest with the stepdaughters when they asked why their mom and dad broke up and why their is major tension etc. I have always told them the truth about everything they ask but sometimes I worry about too much truth. I don;t want them to ever think they couldn;t come to us for fear we would lie to them. As they have been lied to a lot by a lot of people around them-cousins, grandparents, mother, half siblings etc . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grover Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 If you really wanted to read it to them it'd be fairly easy to skip the affair parts if you preread / marked them so you could skip those parts. It isn't essential to the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristi26 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I'm glad I checked out this thread! I was considering having my own DS read that and he's 9. I think he'll need to wait until next year or even the following one to read about that. He's my questions kid and will pull that apart like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappypeople Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Thank you. My dd and ds really like the Jean Craighead George books too. I'm not sure how I feel about an affair being in this book though, I think we will have to wait to read it. I don't have time to read it myself to see how it's presented, and see no reason for them to read about that right now. Darn. You could try Brian's Winter, instead. It's by the same author, about the same boy. My DH read it to my girls last year, so they were 6 and 7. DH didn't mention anything "iffy" in it. "In Hatchet, 13-year-old Brian Robeson learned to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness, armed only with his hatchet. He was rescued at the end of the summer. Brian's Winter begins where Hatchet might have ended: Brian is not rescued, but must build on his survival skills to face his deadliest enemy--a northern winter." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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