Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I am currently halfway through reading The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (which I found in the YA section) - and thoroughly enjoying it. My only reservation with this book is the assumption that it is a YA novel. The narrator is 14, so I am assuming that kids as young as 11 or 12 might read it. The book is delicately and beautifully written, and when it deals with rape and brutal murder those scenes are not explicitly described in every detail (in fact it is a very definite case of 'Less is more'), but still it made me 'squirm'.

I give the book my 5 stars, but I personally would not allow any child of mine under 16 to read it. Am I just an old fashioned prude, or do others share in my view that there are just certain things a child is not ready for (no matter how mature they may seem)?

It's typically shelved in literary or general fiction, depending on the store. Literary in my old store. Can't say I've seen it in YA before. That might be a quirk of that particular store, though it would be interesting if it were more widespread.

Wow, I've never seen that book in the YA section! I've always considered it an adult book.

CV