Oftentimes, I read books that I think are quite good, but inappropriate for children. Such is the case with Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks. The premise of this novel is that Cadel Piggott, the genius son of evil(but imprisoned) mastermind, Phineas Darkkon, is raised and trained by villains at the Axis Institute of Evil to be the next world leader. The story follows Cadel's development from age 8 through 14. He grows to question the world view he has been given when he makes a friend through the Internet. Eventually, he turns his vast mental power to destroying the criminals that have been using him all along.
What's wrong with the book? When Cadel starts Partner Post, an on-line dating service, with largely fictitious mates that are played by himself, he needs research on various topics to convince his clients. Jinks writes, "And he'd never had sex of course, though he was starting to think about it a good deal, simply because of Partner Post. There was a lot of sex talk on his secure sites--and he was reluctant to ask Thaddeus for help on this subject. Fortunately, the Piggotts kept a large stock of dirty magazines in their dressing room. And a few of the twelfth-grade boys talked about sex endlessly, obsessively." Later in the book, Cadel is disguised as a girl and is attacked in a bathroom by a male teacher, who backs off as soon as he realizes that Cadel is not a girl.
What's right with the book? Jinks' exploration of the rationale behind evil actions and Cadel's journey to morality is expertly done. I'd recommend this book to my friends, but not my kids.
Other books I cannot recommend are Eldest, Birdwing, the Golden Compass series and anything by Meg Cabot. I've written detailed posts about Eldest and Birdwing, check the archives. The Golden Compass series is written by an atheist as his response to the Chronicles of Narnia. Check out http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2007/08/even-mtv-unders.html, the weblog of Ignatius Press authors for more info on this, and the movie due out this fall. With regard to Meg Cabot and the books that spawned the Princess Diaries movies, my daughter checked out the second in the series from our local library, thinking it would be like the movie but better. Well, I had to read it first of course, and in the first chapter, Mia finds out that her mother is pregnant with her algebra teacher's baby, and she wants her mother to have an abortion. Needless to say, our public library has since moved this book to the adult fiction shelves.
I do try to focus on the bright spots of current literature, and will post about more good books soon.
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
What Not to Read
Oftentimes, I read books that I think are quite good, but inappropriate for children. Such is the case with Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks. The premise of this novel is that Cadel Piggott, the genius son of evil(but imprisoned) mastermind, Phineas Darkkon, is raised and trained by villains at the Axis Institute of Evil to be the next world leader. The story follows Cadel's development from age 8 through 14. He grows to question the world view he has been given when he makes a friend through the Internet. Eventually, he turns his vast mental power to destroying the criminals that have been using him all along.
What's wrong with the book? When Cadel starts Partner Post, an on-line dating service, with largely fictitious mates that are played by himself, he needs research on various topics to convince his clients. Jinks writes, "And he'd never had sex of course, though he was starting to think about it a good deal, simply because of Partner Post. There was a lot of sex talk on his secure sites--and he was reluctant to ask Thaddeus for help on this subject. Fortunately, the Piggotts kept a large stock of dirty magazines in their dressing room. And a few of the twelfth-grade boys talked about sex endlessly, obsessively." Later in the book, Cadel is disguised as a girl and is attacked in a bathroom by a male teacher, who backs off as soon as he realizes that Cadel is not a girl.
What's right with the book? Jinks' exploration of the rationale behind evil actions and Cadel's journey to morality is expertly done. I'd recommend this book to my friends, but not my kids.
Other books I cannot recommend are Eldest, Birdwing, the Golden Compass series and anything by Meg Cabot. I've written detailed posts about Eldest and Birdwing, check the archives. The Golden Compass series is written by an atheist as his response to the Chronicles of Narnia. Check out http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2007/08/even-mtv-unders.html, the weblog of Ignatius Press authors for more info on this, and the movie due out this fall. With regard to Meg Cabot and the books that spawned the Princess Diaries movies, my daughter checked out the second in the series from our local library, thinking it would be like the movie but better. Well, I had to read it first of course, and in the first chapter, Mia finds out that her mother is pregnant with her algebra teacher's baby, and she wants her mother to have an abortion. Needless to say, our public library has since moved this book to the adult fiction shelves.
I do try to focus on the bright spots of current literature, and will post about more good books soon.
What's wrong with the book? When Cadel starts Partner Post, an on-line dating service, with largely fictitious mates that are played by himself, he needs research on various topics to convince his clients. Jinks writes, "And he'd never had sex of course, though he was starting to think about it a good deal, simply because of Partner Post. There was a lot of sex talk on his secure sites--and he was reluctant to ask Thaddeus for help on this subject. Fortunately, the Piggotts kept a large stock of dirty magazines in their dressing room. And a few of the twelfth-grade boys talked about sex endlessly, obsessively." Later in the book, Cadel is disguised as a girl and is attacked in a bathroom by a male teacher, who backs off as soon as he realizes that Cadel is not a girl.
What's right with the book? Jinks' exploration of the rationale behind evil actions and Cadel's journey to morality is expertly done. I'd recommend this book to my friends, but not my kids.
Other books I cannot recommend are Eldest, Birdwing, the Golden Compass series and anything by Meg Cabot. I've written detailed posts about Eldest and Birdwing, check the archives. The Golden Compass series is written by an atheist as his response to the Chronicles of Narnia. Check out http://insightscoop.typepad.com/2004/2007/08/even-mtv-unders.html, the weblog of Ignatius Press authors for more info on this, and the movie due out this fall. With regard to Meg Cabot and the books that spawned the Princess Diaries movies, my daughter checked out the second in the series from our local library, thinking it would be like the movie but better. Well, I had to read it first of course, and in the first chapter, Mia finds out that her mother is pregnant with her algebra teacher's baby, and she wants her mother to have an abortion. Needless to say, our public library has since moved this book to the adult fiction shelves.
I do try to focus on the bright spots of current literature, and will post about more good books soon.
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