A mum called Karen wrote to me a while back, to say:

"My 10 year old son has absolutely devoured your books. He wasn’t particularly interested in reading before but has now read all 4 of The saga of Larten Crepsley and all the Cirque Du Freak books. I do cringe at some of it as to whether it’s appropriate at 10, but he is so passionate about reading I don’t want to discourage him."

The old "Is it age appropriate?" question! I always find this a really hard one to answer. I know a lot of children's books get slapped with a Recommended Age label, especially those aimed at pre-teens, and I can certainly see the reasoning behind it, not least from the point of view of parents or grandparents who want to buy a book for a child but don't much about the current market. With a 5 year old son, it's something I do myself sometimes when scanning books in a shop -- take a quick glance for an age appropriate sticker if a book that I'm unfamiliar with looks like it might be of interest to him.

But as kids get older, I think those age recommendations break down. Every reader is different, and children (and teenagers) of a similar age can be reading at VERY different levels. For instance, when I was 10 or 11 years old, I read my first Stephen King book, Salem's Lot. Now, I'd never recommend that for any other child of that age, and I doubt I'd be too happy if I spotted Dante reading it when he's 10, but at the same time I'd have to be a big old hypocrite if I got too huffy about it, because, y'know, *I* read it at that age! Some kids ARE ready for King at 10 or 11... or 12 or 13... or 14 or 15... or...

As a basic rule of thumb, whenever I ask, I tend to state the following ages for my books -- although please don't take this as gospel, and please always use your own judgement when it comes to any individual child in question:

Koyasan or Hagurosan -- 9 or 10.

Cirque Du Freak -- 10 or 11.

The Demonata or The Thin Executioner or The Saga Of Larten Crepsley -- 12 or 13.

Zom-B -- 13 upwards.

My Darren Dash books -- no. Just no. Not for kids. Unless... y'know... they're twisted kids like *I* was... :-)

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January. Shanville Monthly. 20 year Cirque Du Freak competiion. Click here: https://www.darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly