The Luck Uglies

Parents need to know that The Luck Uglies, the first volume of a planned fantasy adventure series, introduces an intriguing world with appealing characters and a great heroine in young Rye. While in many ways it's a classic good-against-evil tale in a magical world, there's also a strong theme of disobeying authority (whether of parents or oppressive political regimes) when the situation calls for it. Parents may want to take the opportunity for age-appropriate discussion of when such a decision might be called for. Much of the action takes place in a disreputable tavern and other settings of drunken carousing; adult characters drink alcohol and sometimes give the kids a taste. Rye's never known her father and suspects her sister's father is someone else. The kids are often in peril. Swordplay, combat with monsters, and encounters with heavily armed soldiers cause death and dismemberment among human, animal, and monster characters. Some characters are imprisoned in dungeons. The wicked Earl and his henchmen threaten to put hot tar on their prisoners' faces before sending them off to worse fates.