I would not recommend giving this book to a child. The message it sends is one of hopelessness. Its plot centers around the abuse and blackmail of newly-orphaned children, and it smacks of pedophilia. (The villian blackmails a fourteen year-old girl into marrying him by dangling her baby sister from a tower, then speaks of his bride going home with him for their "wedding night".)Don't waste your money. There are many wonderfully written children's books out there that are in much better taste.