Rating: Not for me
Reading level: Early Elementary
Possible concerns:
- Negative self-talk. Benny and his grandfather call themselves “stupid” and “dumb” when they don’t put together clues in the mystery that later become obvious to them.
- Parent/kid disagreement. The story centers around a boy and a father who disagree about whether the boy should go to college. The boy loves to study marine science but the father doesn’t think college is for his family.
- Stealing. With his mother’s knowledge, the boy steals the family boat and does the marine science anyway–eventually to be caught in a storm. After nearly losing the boy, the father changes his mind about college.
Obviously this family disfunction is not an ideal model, particularly with the idea that if you go almost get yourself killed, then maybe your parents will change their minds and give you what you want!
I do like that the boy was interested in using science to help people; he wants to make food out of material from the sea to help combat world hunger.
The good news is that if you do decide to skip this one, it won’t hinder your experience in the next book, Mountain Top Mystery.
Here are links to my reviews of other Boxcar Children books:
Jesus loves bookworms 