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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
A murder and its aftermath; some physical violence in the small-town setting
Language
Some
Some strong language appropriate to 1960s Australian vernacular
Sexual Content
Barely any
Age-appropriate teen romantic content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The psychological weight of knowing something terrible and being unable to act on that knowledge — and the racism that explains why — drives the novel's moral intensity
What this book is about
Craig Silvey's Australian coming-of-age novel follows Charlie, a thirteen-year-old bookworm in Corrigan, a small town in the Australian bush, who is awoken by the local outcast Jasper Jones and shown a terrible thing. The novel draws comparisons to To Kill a Mockingbird — it deals with racism, small-town injustice, and the way adults fail children. Silvey writes with tremendous skill. Some violence and adult themes are appropriate for older YA readers.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Racism and injustice as central themes
Murder and its cover-up as the central event
Reader Verification
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