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We've taken a couple books out of the library recently that included topics we'd really not have our DD6 exposed to just yet. I'd like this thread to be for books that might include themes that could be inappropriate or too scary for some younger readers. The first books I'll nominate are the

Asterix

books by Goscinny. These are comic books that teach history of the Roman empire. Some are really funny. But, you might want to pre-read them because we found ourselves one day having to come up with definitions of "orgy" and "pillage" for our six year old. (Sorry, can't tell you which book! We got rid of them quickly!)

Any one else come upon books with possible issues?

oh great topic!
My son's full time GT 3rd grade classroom is reading Jacob I have Loved right now. I just happened to read some of his assigned pages to him late last night since it was well past bedtime and he was so tired. As I was reading, I saw a page full of detail coming up about the main character having gotten her period and her body changing that summer. How she got her period, embarrasment, ruinin her dress, etc. I promptly skipped over that section but was really annoyed that the teacher would choose that book. I'm not prepared to have that conversation yet with my 8 1/2 year old son. I'm not sure if it will come up in class or not. I know it's tough to find appropriate books for advanced readers but this was surprising to me.

Additional book for the list:
Penn Dragon - started to read the first book and it was way to "teen." Talked in great detail about the boy making out with a girl and some other stuff that I didn't care for.

Gregor the Overlander books (which I LOVE)explore some disturbing themes that parallel the Holocaust. The characters impacted are primarily animals and--at least for my kids--when horrors are visited upon animals the impact is increased significantly. The first couple of books are much less "heavy" and could lead you unwittingly into the series before your child is ready for it.

Eon:DragonEye Reborn by Allison Goodman - Great dragon adventure story but also contains material related to girls getting their periods etc. Not ready for that discussion with DS (then 8) right then.

I am so with you all on this topic! I have resorted to going to amazon and reading through the 200 some reviews of books to see if there is anything not quite appropriate because I couldn't keep up with the pace of flying through the books that my child was reading them. I don't have time to sit down and read EVERY book so I got some good bets by the reviews when I couldn't be the one to do it.