Nation by Terry Pratchett is a wonderful book. A slightly slow start that potentially might be a bit confusing for those without a knowledge of English constitutional history. The beginning would be better summarised for readers at the top end of primary school, before they start. Once it gets going it is a dramatic and funny book dealing with some of life's big issues.
Mau is a boy on the edge of manhood. He leaves his island in the Pacific Ocean to complete the rituals to become a man in his community's tradition. Ermintrude aka Daphne is a bored young lady in London in an alternative verison of the mid-nineteenth century. She wants to become a scientist but her grandmother just likes her to embroider, in case 138 people die and Ermintrude becomes queen. Two things then happen: whilst Ermintrude is on her way to meet her father, a governor in some far-flung Pacific outpost of Empire, and Mau is paddling his canoe back to his island, a tsunami smashes ship and canoe alike. The little canoe survives, but the ship is smashed into the island. There are now only three survivors from these vessels on the island: Mau, Ermintrude and a parrot with an extensive and colouful vocabulary. Meanwhile, 137 people have died of the plague back in London and Ermintrude's father is now king. The race is on to find the king and his daughter, whilst Mao and Ermintrude have to learn to comunicate and to survive. Ermintrude is now Daphne.
Watch points:
Bad Language: mainly from the parrot, and generally appropriate for even the youngest in our age group.
Relationships: Assumes some simple knowledge of the facts of life.
Shows developing feelings of Mao and Daphne, but not in great detail. Mentions Daphne wondering how babies are born and she has to help a mother in labour. The most graphic moment is when Daphne looks up the mother-to-be's skirt and says, "So that's how babies are born!"
Violence: includes some moderate violence for the age group, both natural and human. Mao's entire village is wiped out and he has to deal with the bodies. The characters also go into the caves of the ancestors where there are detailed descriptions of dead bodies in various states of decay. Both main characters have to kill someone. Pirates arrive and there is a fight. An ear is blown off by a gun. Cannibals are often referred to but mainly humorously. Slavery amongst the pirates is briefly referred to. A mutiny is described but the details are mainly, though not entirely, comic.
Religion: The Christian God and the native Gods are discussed throughout.
Both main characters question the tradional religious beliefs of their own cultures heavily throughout the book. Mao rails against his Gods repeatedly and has an ongoing intellectual war with a priest who arrives. Charles Darwin and Richard Dawkins are both mentioned with a strong humanist slant, though by the end the philsophical tone on the existence of God, and the origins of the universe, is more equivocal. There is a strong sense of wonderment, rather than conventional religious belief.
Peril: Occasional. Moderate, for the older end of the age group.
Anything else?: there's a some eugh moments, such as Mao needing to milk a pig for a new born baby with no mother.
Summary: an entertaining book with some strong intellectual challenges on the subjects of death, God, science, gender roles, empire, identity, duty and justice. In my opinion most suitable for the 11-14 end of our age group, but may be okay with 9-11 year olds who know there are some facts of life and have strong stomachs.
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