Rereading The Silver Crown and finding it quite shocking.

[piprabbit]

I read The Silver Crown by Robert O'Brien when I was young - and it has stuck with me for over 30 years.
However, I borrowed it from the library several times and couldn't recall if I'd ever actually finished the book although some of the images haunted me and kept popping up in my mind over the years.

Anyhow, I thought that if (out of all the books I read as a child) this was one that I kept returning to then maybe I ought to introduce DD to it. So I bought a copy - but have been rereading it myself for old-times sake.

It is much more disturbing than I remember. The house burning down and family dying, the casual shootings in the first chapters etc. The brain control, riots etc. as the story progresses.

I think I may put it away for a year of two.

Anyone else been surprised at the content of a much-loved children's book?

Haven't read this one but you've just sold it to me!

I remember loving Robert Cormier as a teen, so when I became a teacher I thought I'd read a bit of 'The Chocolate War' to my GCSE lot to get them hooked, but soon found myself blushing at all the foul language which I'd completely forgotten about!

I bet that class remember you and your book choice!

Don't know whether they tried the book themselves though!

I loved Mrs Frisby too, and (in the same spirit of wishing to pass good books on to my DD) I recently dug out my old copy from my parent's house.

Now it is sitting on the shelf - and I'm slightly worried about what unremembered horrors it might contain.

the little house on the prairie is amazingly racist and BORING, if that's the kind of thing you are asking about...

I won't hear a word said against LHOTP - but I admit the later books do contain some shockingly casual racisim.

god, no, i never made it that far. the lhotp was shocking enough for me...