Perhaps not thrown out the information in such a blatant description. Also, the sexual life/mistresses of Raphael could have been handled differently for younger readers. She really should have given some better background about the Holocaust and World War 2, as most elementary schools haven't by 5th grade and it is necessary to the story as it unfolds. I haven't sheltered my kids by any means from life experiences, but we have handled them in age appropriate ways at the time. However she touches on many older themes like mistresses, the Holocaust, war, mental illness, death, etc. The writer did a good job of writing and engaging mystery.

It's also completely unnecessary to the story. This is not age appropriate for elementary school (ages 8-12).

This is from the other review, and it's spot on on page 95 - 'Raphael was a very amorous person, delighting much in women.' He strung along an engagement to the niece of a powerful cardinal for seven years while he fooled around with his mistress, even refusing to finish the pope's frescoes unless she was brought to his villa for 'inspiration.' Vasari records his early death at thirty seven as due to 'sexual excess'.' She and I read the book together, because I knew there was sensitive content thanks to another review, and I needed to censor that area of the book. This was purchased for a 5th grade Book Club for my daughter. Debuts this good are meant to be discovered.” - SLJ Fuse 8 Blog “Riveting from start to finish.” - BookPage “Uniquely readable, entirely charming, and a pleasure from start to finish. To solve the mystery, she'll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time. With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city-and her grandfather-that she never knew.

There’s just one problem: Theo’s grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen. That’s great news for Theo, who’s struggling to hang onto her family’s two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather’s legacy of $463. Frankweiler meets Chasing Vermeer in this clever middle grade debut When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather’s painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath.

Laura marx fitzgerald books