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Black Rabbit Summer

(2008, Fiction - Mystery, Written by Kevin Brooks)
  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 99; suggested age 16.
  • Is it any good?

    2.0
  • Common Sense says

    British murder mystery is full of adult content.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 16–18

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    Pete lies to the police and his parents (but he mostly has a positive relationship with them otherwise). Raymond is bullied and teased. Raymond believes his rabbit speaks to him. Pete's father, a police officer, tells him what is going on with the investigation even though it's described as "totally inappropriate." Pete sneaks into his friends' house and steals one of their cell phones. A celebrity tries to fake her kidnapping so she can make her parents pay a ransom. Two homosexual teens want to hide their relationship.
  • Violence:

    Raymond's rabbit is decapitated and its head impaled on a rusty nail on a gate. A group of teens steal and smash Pete's bike, then chase him. An older boy threatens him by squeezing his neck until he almost passes out, and by holding a box cutter against his face and telling him "I'll cut your f--king tongue out." He hits Pete twice in the face and pushes his head into the dirt. The same boy cuts his boyfriend's leg with the knife during an argument. Police find bloodied clothes, a burned-out car, and later a girl's naked dead body in the river. A drugged-out teen attacks a girl and ends up killing her. He later hangs himself, the result of which is graphically described.
  • Sex:

    A girl takes off her clothes and straddles a boy's lap, but he realizes she is drunk. She gets upset when he tells her he doesn't think they should have sex; she says he's "making her feel like a whore." Two teen boys have sex in a storage room; a girl takes a picture and blackmails them. A girl sleeps with a carnival worker she just met. A boy tacks up naked pictures from the Internet of a celebrity all over his bedroom wall.
  • Language:

    Lots of British curse words: "f--k," "f--ker," "piss off," "twat," "wanker," "s--t," "arse," "hell," "bastard," "Christ," "t-ts," "bitch."
  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Pete steals a bottle of wine from his dad to bring to a "den party" in a makeshift shack; other 18-year-old teens also bring hard alcohol, pot, and vodka spiked with "juice" (a synthetic hallucinogen called TCI). The group also partied with "stolen cigarettes and bottles of booze" when they were younger (13-14), "getting drunk, getting sick, getting overexcited. . ." Pete insists he has no control over drinking. Nicole gets so drunk she can't remember if she slept with two guys the previous night. A carnival worker is rumored to drug girls and have sex with them. Pauly offers "Vodka Kick" and "blow."
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Black Rabbit Summer

Parents need to know that this book involves a murder of a teen by a teen, suicide, hallucinogenic drug use, and drunken teen sex. After all that, other iffy behavior seems rather tame: teens lie to their parents and police, smoke cigarettes and pot, and drink hard alcohol recreationally. Another disturbing element is the main character's apathy toward his own life and others'. When Pete learns his friend killed a girl, he notes, "I just didn't care. I know that probably sounds pretty callous, but the simple truth is -- I didn't like [her]."

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the dangers of psychedelic drugs and how they can make people paranoid and violent. At one point, Pete turns down sex with a girl because she is too drunk. Pete later wonders if he's "an idiot" -- what do teens think? Does this book feel edgy and interesting with all the sex and drug content, or does it take away from the mystery? What mysteries have you read that give you the chills without laying on the adult content?

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    I rate this title on for age 15 and give it 5.0

    this book is amazing ! a fantastic read and entisingly gripping. you really cannot put it down for a second. some parts are a little too graphic for younger readers and this may upset them. overall a fantastic read.

  2. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Lives in California
    I rate this title on for age 14 and give it 5.0

    Lover this book!

    I'm 14 and I loved this book. Although it has a lot of drug use, vilonce and sexual nature, it was still a really good book and was really realistic!

  3. Teen Reviewer Age 15
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title on for age 15 and give it 3.0

    not a kid reviewer!

    still rading it really interesting

  4. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    I rate this title iffy for age 15 and give it 4.0

    I liked this book

    I'm 15 years old, and I really liked this book. I mean, it has some swear words ( well a lot ) , and drugs and things like that ... But that's what made it seem like it was real. It was a good story and it made me want to keep continue reading .

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