Great Expectations
Recommended. Age: 14+. A Catholic review of this book for parents.
Our review
Pip is a poor orphan boy who helps a hungry escaped prisoner. Later a secret friend gives Pip money to become a gentleman. Pip grows proud and is ashamed of the kind people who raised him. He learns that being good matters more than being rich. This is a story about ingratitude and how a young man repents of it. Pip is ashamed of honest Joe, then learns who truly loved him. Money and rank turn out to be worth far less than faithfulness. Catholic educators place it in the high school years. It is long and has some dark scenes, so it suits older readers.
For parents
Read aloud from about eleven or twelve. Independent reading from fourteen. Common Sense Media says 12+, and the Catholic list places Dickens across the high school years, so Lumen follows the Catholic placement. Common Sense Media says no violence is shown directly, but Wikipedia lists a brutal attack that leaves Pip's sister disabled, a woman who dies after her dress catches fire, and a drowning. Adults smoke and drink. Ask: when does Pip start to be ashamed of Joe, and why? Who is the real gentleman in this book? Why does Miss Havisham stop all the clocks, and what does refusing to forgive do to her? How does Pip treat Magwitch at the end, and what has changed in him? Talk about gratitude to parents and about honoring those who raised us. Magwitch is a criminal who does real good, so talk about how God's mercy reaches sinners without calling crime good.