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Tunnels: Tunnels Series, Book 1

(2007, Fiction - Fantasy, Written by Roderick Gordon, Brian Williams)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 10, age appropriate for kids over 12; suggested age 12.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Slow-starting, dark, violent, exciting adventure.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 12 and Up

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Not an issue.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    Bloody and at times graphic. A brutal bare-knuckle fistfight in which the fighters are chained together until one is incapacitated and possibly killed; a mention of eyelids being torn off. Birds and frogs are impaled on sticks. A boy hits other boys and a man with a shovel, in both cases causing serious injury. Two boys are tortured by adults with a device that causes pain and sickness. Children are attacked by giant dogs and cats, causing graphically described torn flesh. A fight to the death between men with machetes.

  • Sex:

    Not an issue.

  • Language:

    Not an issue.

  • Consumerism:

    Candy, soda, and cereal brands.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Adults smoke cigarettes and pipes, and drink gin, brandy, and beer. Groups of drunks hang out in housing projects and around bars. Children are given alcohol by adults and get tipsy and later hung over.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About Tunnels: Tunnels Series, Book 1

Parents need to know that there is grim and fairly graphic violence, including serious injuries (stabbings, brutal, bare-knuckle fistfighting, children mauled by animals, a severed windpipe, etc.) and deaths. Two boys are tortured with a fantasy device. There is also some smoking and drinking, including children given alcohol by adults.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the enduring human fascination with hidden worlds under the earth, from the Greek Underworld and Dante's Inferno through Journey to the Centre of the Earth and Symme's Hole, and on to Superman and the Mole People and The City of Ember. What is it about caves and underground civilizations that is so intriguing? Do you think it goes back to our caveman days? Why is the underground so often depicted as evil? Would you like to live underground? What would be the advantages and disadvantages?
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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 13
    gt1024
    Lives in Florida
    I rate this title on for age 11 and give it 5.0
    My concerns are:
    • Excessive violence
    • Negative message

    tunnels is the best

    This book is AWESOME! A little violent, slow, and depressing at times, though. Overall, this is a great book full of adventure, suspense, and mystery. Brian Williams and Roderick Gordon; you are geniuses!

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate
  2. Teen Reviewer Age 14
    Aus-da-boss
    Lives in Georgia
    I rate this title on for age 11 and give it 5.0

    Awesome Book

    In my opinion this is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Yes it ends quite abruptly but all is answered in the next installments Deeper and Freefall. If you are intregued by the life underground the by all means read this book!

    This review...

    Helped me decide (1) | Had useful details (1) | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate
  3. Adult Reviewer
    looooooooolooooo ...
    Lives in New York
    I rate this title on for age 2 and give it 1.0

    This Book

    This book stinks way to much detail and it ends ubruptly.

    This review...

    Helped me decide | Had useful details | Read my mind
    Flag as inappropriate

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