Language: 2

Violence: 3

Sexual Content: 1

Adult Themes: 3

Title:  The Phantom of the Opera

Author:  Gaston Leroux

Ratings Explanation:

Language:  A couple of common swear words.

Violence:  Eric has violent tendencies from living a life rejected by human kind.  He feels little compassion for other and does not hesitate to kill them if they stand in his way.  In his past, Eric learned methods of torture and killing which he uses on others in Paris.  He poisons some of the help who have witnessed him.  He constructs a torture chamber which gives the illusion of being trapped in a desert without water.  The only way out is a rope and and iron tree on which to hang oneself.  Guns are also used as protection against the Phantom.

Adult Themes:  Christine’s father dies when she is still young.  She misses him terribly.  The Phantom, Eric, was mistreated even by his own parents.  His mother made a mask for him to wear because she could not stand to look at him.  He spent most of his young life traveling to fairs to be on display.  He was eventually sold to royalty and allowed to fulfill every mad whim for amusement.  He was also used as an assassin.  Because of his incredible talent for building, Eric was also used to  build palaces with secret entrances and passages.  This also put his life in jeopardy because the owner did not want anyone to know of the building’s secrets or of the builders talents.  He was ordered to be killed but saved by a Persian.  In the end he escaped to Paris.  Unfortunately, he had already developed a strong hatred toward the human race for their inhumane treatment of him throughout the years.

Synopsis

The Paris Opera House is rumored to be haunted by a ghostly phantom with the head of a dead man.  The new managers are determined to dispel this rumor and get on with business as usual.  Unfortunately, the Phantom has other plans.  He has fallen in love with the young Christine Daee, the daughter of a great violinist and an up and coming singer in the Opera’s chorus.   Before he died, Christine’s father promised to send her the Angel of Music, who would teach her the great secrets of music.  When she hears the Phantom’s voice in her dressing room one night, Christine believes the Phantom to be the Angel of Music that her father has sent.  The Phantom promises to teach her.  Christine listens to his guidance and greatly improves her voice.  One night the Phantom provides an opportunity for Christine to sing a solo.   She brings the house down with her spectacular performance.  Ironically an old childhood friend, Raoul, is also at that performance.  When he sees Christine, he is charmed by her beauty and flooded with happy images from the past.  Raoul is determined to make her acquaintance again.  The Phantom is very protective of Christine and discourages her from seeing Raoul.  Raoul however is not so easily deterred.  He continues his attempts to be with Christine.  One night he hears a strange voice in her dressing room, after which she quickly leaves and walks past Raoul standing in the doorway.  Raoul enters the dressing room and finds no one.  He is intrigued by this stranger that is turning Christine into only a shell of what she once was.   Raoul finally triumphs.  Christine allows him to see her but,  only at the Opera House.  They run up to the tallest tower and there she tells him of the Phantom named Eric.  Raoul is very concerned for her safety and begs her to escape with him.  Christine tells Raoul she wishes for nothing more but must wait until after one last performance.  She explains that the Phantom has taken her to his lair under the Opera House.  In curiosity she removed his mask.  In anger, the Phantom made Christine promise to marry him.   He has allowed her this one last outing and performance before he takes her underground with him forever.  Raoul is surprised to find some compassion in Christine towards this madman and demands that she leave with him instantly.   Christine refuses saying she must complete this last performance first.  Raoul reluctantly allows her to do so.  During the entire performance, he closely watches his love and waits for their planned escape.  The Phantom has heard of the young lovers plan and takes Christine during the performance.  Mad with worry, Raoul runs to the managers looking for help.  There he finds a Persian who claims he can help him find his lost love.  The Persian knew the Phantom, Eric, before he came to live at the Opera House.  Raoul accepts his offer and follows him through the dangerous depths of the Opera House.    After many encounters with the Phantom’s ingenious traps, the young lovers are  brought together again.  In the end,  the Persian is left to tell the sad ending of the Phantom’s life.  The musical genius, who was despised by all of humanity for his deformed face, was finally shown love and acceptance by a young girl and then allows her to leave.  Eric feels some relief from his life’s curse and dies alone.

I have loved the music and have seen the movie but never read the book.  Although the story line was familiar, I had no idea that the author, well known for his mysteries, wrote this as a real life mystery.  Apparently the falling chandelier really did happen, injuring several spectators and killing one.  This intrigued Leroux who obtained plans for the Opera House which revealed secret chambers and even an underground lake.  The story was not a big hit in Leroux’s day.  Wouldn’t he be surprised to see what has become of his story today!  I really enjoyed his point of view as an inspector looking at the case from the different angles of the characters as he collected interviews and testimony on the Phantom.  A definite classic.

Language: 0

Violence: 1

Sexual Content: 0

Adult Themes: 1

Title: A Single Shard

Author: Linda Sue Park

2002 Newbery Medal Winner

Ratings Explanation

Violence: Min beats Tree-ear with a cane for spying on him.

Adult Themes: Tree-ear is an orphan and homeless. He survives with Crane-man by rummaging through garbage for food.

Synopsis

10-year-old Tree-ear, an orphan since the age of two, and Crane-Man, an older man with a shriveled leg, are unlikely friends who live under a bridge and survive on whatever food they can find. Although the pair has reason to be unhappy, they are not, and although they are poor, they live with self-respect. Crane-man teaches Tree-ear that work gives a man dignity, and stealing takes that dignity away.

12th Century Ch’ulp’o is a pottery making village in Korea. Tree-ear watches the potters on his rounds searching for food and is especially taken with potter Min’s work. After breaking a piece of Min’s pottery, Tree-ear must work off the cost of the piece by serving Min for 9 days. Anxious to learn the art of pottery making, Tree-ear is disappointed when Min sends him to chop wood and cut clay. After his sentence is fulfilled, Tree-ear stays on to help the aging potter in the hope that one day he will teach him to make his own pots.

Tree-ear’s loyalty and dedication are tested to their very limits when he volunteers to make a long and arduous journey to the country’s capital on Min’s behalf. Tree-ear is to show Min’s work to a government official, who, if the pottery pleases him, can secure a royal commission for Min. Beset by robbers, Tree-ear is unable to protect the precious vases and they are shattered by the robbers. Left with only a single shard of the beautiful creations, he contemplates returning home having failed, but that is simply not in Tree-ear’s nature.

We listened to this book on CD on a recent family road trip and we absolutely loved it. After having read several fairly forgettable books recently, I was thrilled to find this gem. Park’s descriptions of the country and the complicated process of creating a work of art were interesting and well written, but the distinct and engaging characters are the heart of this story. The reader will enjoy watching Tree-ear work patiently toward his goal of becoming a potter, but perhaps more importantly, will see him learn the importance of sacrifice. The wise and fatherly Crane-man helps him learn how to become a respectable man and teaches  him to be kind and charitable. Potter Min is crusty and curt, but his gentle wife is the epitome of soft kindness. In the end, even curmudgeonly Min is won over by the brave and loyal Tree-ear. Although the book is set in 12th century Korea, it does not feel like an ancient story. This book will be enjoyed by all.

]]> http://www.theliteratemother.org/a-single-shard/feed 1 http://www.theliteratemother.org/the-lacemaker-and-the-princess http://www.theliteratemother.org/the-lacemaker-and-the-princess#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:47:23 +0000 Karen http://www.theliteratemother.org/?p=1252

Language: 0

Violence: 1

Sexual Content: 0

Adult Themes: 1

Title: The Lacemaker and the Princess

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ratings Explanation

Violence: Brief description of mobs marching on Versaille.  George, Isabelle’s brother, is killed in the ensuing chaos while trying to protect the Marquis de LaFayette.  In the Author’s Note at the end of the book, the execution of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette is mentioned.

Adult Themes: There is the underlying theme of the coming French Revolution.

Synopsis

In the year 1788, eleven-year-old Isabelle Bonnard is a lacemaker in the town of Versaille, France.  That is her social class—a tradesman—she was born into that station and there she will stay.  “What God has ordained, men cannot change.”  But while delivering lace to the palace one day, Isabelle has a chance rescue from the Queen herself, Marie Antoinette.  By day, Isabelle becomes a member of the court and playmate to the King and Queen’s nine-year-old daughter, Therese. She learns the ins and outs of French court life–manners, food, social mores, etc.  But soon, Isabelle begins to ponder the blurred line of her double life.  When she’s at the palace, she is a person of rank, and yet at home, her tradesmen status is scorned.

Meanwhile, the country of France is in turmoil.   The common people are over-taxed and underfed.  They see the gross misuse of the money by an extravagant court.  King Louis XVI’s weak and indecisive behavior infuriates the peasants into revolt.  As the French Revolution begins to unfold, Isabelle must decide between friendship with Princess Therese and her own survival.

This is a great book for kids who like historical fiction.  Life in Versaille leading up to the French Revolution is told through the eyes of a child.  As Isabelle contemplates the inequities of the social classes in France, I hope young readers can do the same in the world around us.