 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Bless the Beasts and Children
- By Glendon Swarthout
- Genre: Friendship
Common Sense Media says
Classic novel of teenage rebellion.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that superb writing about rebellious acts gains favor with many young readers, but others find it too slow-moving and literary for their tastes. The boys, the only characters with real compassion, misbehave so badly they come full circle to do good.
What's the story?
Six misfits in a western summer camp where even the counselors ridicule them witness a bloody slaughter of buffalo. They escape, steal a car, and return to the buffalo reserve during the night to free the remaining beasts. In doing so they free themselves.
John Cotton finds himself the leader of a group of six boys who can't fit into their western summer camp. He awakens from a terrible dream to find that the youngest boy has left the cabin. The boys know where he has gone. It's clear that all have witnessed a terrible event that day. They decide to break out of camp to accomplish some goal. They steal horses, ride to town, then steal a car. They make their way 100 miles to a buffalo reserve. Readers then learn that they were forced to watch a slaughter of buffalo.
The boys have decided to free remainder of the herd, but they can't do it without getting caught. The decision they make changes their lives. The book alternates between scenes from the boys' adventure and from their difficult home lives.
Is it any good?
This much-loved novel of teenage rebellion has become one of the classics of young-adult literature. Written as a rebuttal to William Golding's Lord of the Flies, according to the author's son in his introduction, this is a disturbing but ultimately uplifting book. The boys in this book don't degenerate into beasts, as in Lord of the Flies. Instead, they liberate the beasts and themselves, though their leader sacrifices himself to accomplish that goal.
Glendon Swarthout's often-poetic prose elevates the kids' quest into an epic, and his descriptions of the boys and their trials become almost hypnotic. Some see it as a Christian allegory. However, most teens reading for enjoyment will want to skip the lengthy reader's supplement in the back of the book, which provides school-like discussion questions. Readers interested primarily in literary quality may find the supplement useful.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about misfits. How are misfits treated in the camp? Are they treated similarly in the outside world? Have you ever felt like a misfit? Why? What did you do in that situation?
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AGE
Excellent for young teens
A great read for teenagers. Important morals are learned throughout the book such as parental neglect, friendship, responsibility, fitting in, masculinity and helplessness.
However, the book may be difficult for children under 13 to understand. The setting is in 1960s and language can be confusing to you readers.
Some concerns were violence (the book starts with an intense bloody dream scene, the boys use a gun, the boys are tied to a tree) sexual references (the counselor has a sex magazine collection) bad role models (under-age drinking/smoking, the councelor treats the boys badly, boys are teased, one boy steals and hot-wires a car) and language (frequent use of "d*mn, h*ll. One use of "b*tch" and several other derogatory terms.
I had to read this book for school, 8th grade language arts, I found it interesting and started a lot of discussions. It teaches a good lesson and is helpful to young teenagers to understand why people do what they do.
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| Author: | Glendon Swarthout |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Friendship |
| Publisher: | Pocket Books |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1970 |
| Number of pages: | 189 |
| Paperback price: | $6.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 12 - 17 |
| Read aloud: | 12 |
| Read alone: | 12 |
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