Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: 2 common swear words and one instance of profanity

Violence: A description of the many ways an elephant can kill a human. A rogue elephant knocks Nick down and almost tramples him. A Japanese soldier hits Indaw with a rifle and kicks Mya. There are two dead bodies lying in front of a  home, one has been decapitated and the other, Mya’s father, has been beaten to death. A Japanese soldier is executed (beheaded) for killing Mya’s father. Indaw and other Burmese are taken behind the house and beaten. Bukong uses  his cane to maintain order and control. He hits anyone who opposes him or makes him mad. The Japanese colonel hits Bukong with his own cane. An elephant attacks a man and then other men attack the elephant. Some animal kingdom violence. A Japanese captain orders a Burmese house burned for no reason and he hits an old man with a stick. POWs threatened with execution if they try to escape. Captain Moto hits Nick, Mya and Hilltop with his baton and threatens them with his sword. An elephant flips a jeep over and it kills Captain Moto, then the elephant gores Bukong with his tusk, killing Bukong. The elephant is shot at and two Burmese are shot and killed.

Sexual Content: Bukong, who is at least 40, plans to marry Mya, who is 12. He touches her face and favors her. She is repulsed.

Adult Content: Before WWII breaks out, Burma is governed by the English, but many Burmese resent the English and want to govern themselves. This leads to many of the Burmese welcoming the Japanese invasion. The Japanese are generally portrayed as brutal and violent, with one exception being Captain Sonji. Nick’s father is sent on a long march to a POW camp. The POWs are treated very poorly with barely enough food to keep them alive and basically no medical attention.

Synopsis

When Germany bombs London, Nick Freestone’s mother sends him to Burma to be with his father and ride out the storm of the war in Europe. But almost as soon as Nick arrives in Burma, so do the Japanese. The teak plantation his Father’s family has owned for generations is turned into a base for a Japanese air field, Nick’s father is sent to a POW camp and Nick becomes a prisoner in his father’s house. A daring escape liberates Nick and his friend Mya from their captors, but then they must brave the Burmese jungle on elephant back and dodge Japanese soldiers in order to rescue Nick’s father and Mya’s brother.

We read this book aloud as a family and everyone liked it. My husband and I did find ourselves doing a lot of explaining about the Burmese/Enlgish relations before the war and then the Burmese/Japanese relations after the invasion. There are nuances to that subject that children will not understand because of their limited life experience. We also spent time discussing the current positive relationship the US has with Japan.