SuitabookLast of the Spirits
Chris Priestley
- Reading
- Read alongside the child if frightening scenes or killing threats may trouble them. Pause after the spirit’s warning to discuss possible choices without assuming the ending or Sam’s final judgement.
- Themes
- Hardship and bitterness: Sam and Lizzie struggle on the streets while freezing and hungry; Sam’s rejection by a wealthy man focuses his frustration. The book?s stance on this remains unclear.
- Moral choice and change: After a spirit warns Sam about the future of a bitter heart, Sam is led through the past, present and future and must decide whether to take Scrooge’s life. The plot is organised around a moral decision, but it is not clear whether the book offers a simple lesson or a more complicated view of responsibility and change.
- Supernatural guidance: A wraithlike figure rises near a tomb and leads Sam through the past, present and future. The supernatural journey is presented as frightening and central to the plot, but its deeper meaning and reliability are not established.
- Worth knowing
- Expect sustained tension, supernatural imagery and a threat of killing.