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

Violence: Pervis, a city guard, verbally belittles Alexa and destroys some of her personal property.  Two evil cats are killed after being crushed by bookcases.  A group of convicts joins together to take over the city.  Alexa hits a man in the leg with a fire poker.  The impact causes bleeding and a broken bone.  The same man admits killing Warvold, a city leader and friend to Alexa.  Alexa’s wolf friend attacks the man, causing further damage to the injured leg.  Alexa’s friend, Yipes, keeps the attacker at bay with a knife.

Adult Themes:  Alexa is with an important city official and friend when he dies. She describes the feeling of his cold bony wrists and cold clammy skin.  A boy with dwarfism is shunned by society and leaves the city to live on his own.  Prisoners are branded with letters indicating their crimes.    Alexa  spends some time in a prison, with rank smells and sounds, trying to find answers to her questions.

Synopsis

Alexa, a small but clever twelve year old girl, visits the city of Bridewell every summer with her father, a political leader.  Bridewell and three nearby cities are surrounded by a high, stone  wall to protect the citizens from an unseen evil that lives outside of them. These walls have been there for as long as Alexa can remember and she has always wondered what lay beyond them.  One sad night after watching her old friend Warvold die suddenly, she finds a key in his hand.  Alexa takes it without telling anyone in  hopes that the key will help her find the answers that she has been looking for. This key and her curiosity lead Alexa to a map which shows a way out of the city and beyond its walls.  Alexa is determined to follow the map which leads to an enchanted land.  Here she finds a friend and guide in Yipes a dwarf.  Yipes introduces Alexa to the talking animals that inhabit this enchanted land.  These animals help her to find the answers she is seeking.  Alexa also discovers that Bridewell is in danger of being taken over by convicts filled with revenge for past wrongs.  Her courage and wit help to save the city and expose an unknown, powerful enemy.

I enjoyed this story, the first in its series.  Alexa was an engaging character, small for her age but full of curiosity and adventure.  Her friends Yipes the dwarf and Murphy the talking squirrel made unique supporting characters.  There are a few intense moments that are not overly graphic but could be intimidating to some young and sensitive readers.