Reading Level: Early Elementary

Rating: Not for Me

Reasons I don’t like it:

  • Unlike on the cover, where the hero appears to be a person of color, in the book he doesn’t appear so and moreover, the initially villain-type figure is a person of color. Although they end up friends in the end, it still is a poor representation.
  • The kid has terrible attitudes about his parents initially, and disobeys his sweet mom’s living instructions. I know all you librarian types like to ask, “but is there character growth?”–to which the answer is admittedly: yes, after the earthquake rocks his world, the kid has less of a horrible attitude. However I think you librarian types need to ask a different question: “What are the strongest behaviors portrayed, and what is going to influence the readers?”–to which the answer is: grouchy, disobedient attitudes are going to be modeled and I influencing readers’ minds.
  • Unwise decisions. Admittedly many are to be a hero, but there were creative alternatives such as setting up rubble to stabilize an iffy structure before going in head first into danger.
  • The claim that you can only count on yourself (see image). The book even models friendship, a touch of faith, and some community, so I don’t know why the cover says this.
I totally disagree with this statement.