By Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Background: This is a spin-off story of the Peter Pan book, a pre-quel. There are 4 stories to the Peter and the Starcatchers series. The Sword of Mercy is book #4 in the series.
ONE: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.'
The bad guys place so much value on power and material possessions, and will do anything to get what they want. In my opinion this is placing power and worldly possessions above the worship of God. There is no mention of other gods in this story.
TWO: 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.' Please see the First Commandment.
THREE: 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
There is no inappropriate language in this book.
FOUR: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'
There is no mention of the Sabbath day in this book, either keeping or breaking.
FIVE: 'Honor your father and your mother.'
The family relationships were great, trusting and honoring parents and other adult family members, even when there are disagreements.
SIX: 'You shall not murder.'
There is some mention of killing and murder and torture, by the bad guys. While these are portrayed as very bad and are not focused on or described in great detail, you may want to address this with your young reader.
SEVEN: 'You shall not commit adultery.'
There is nothing inappropriate about any of the relationships in this book, with adults or children.
EIGHT: 'You shall not steal.'
Stealing happens once in the story, but the main character expresses regret and goes back to make things right.
NINE: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'
There are one or two instances of not telling the complete truth, however, regret is expressed, and an apology is issued later.
TEN: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'
Only the bad guys are coveting power and they get consequences for their actions so everything is kept in it’s proper perspective.
Rating: In my opinion, the story is appropriate for older children 10 and up. I give it a PG rating since parents will want to discuss aspects like sneaking out, being truthful, and having honest relationships; although the book does a pretty good job at resolving these issues on its own.
This story has a believable, endearing quality about it and I will let my daughter read it when I feel confident she will not be scared by the bad guys. :)
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