Casino Scene in Middle Grade

[Emissarius]

Hello,

The earlier chapters of my novel feature my 12 yo MC hitting a casino a couple of times to talk to his brother who owns the place. The MC himself doesn't play poker or engage in any of the activities, but there's a fight that he and his brother get tangled up in and there's another part where a 13 yo girl disguises herself as a grown woman and uses a fake ID. She never gets a chance to gamble cause she's busted almost immediately. Would parents frown at this? Should I perhaps change the casino to an arcade or something else?

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I'm a parent, and I wouldn't frown at reading this (I'd probably feel judgy about the kid's parents, though!).

If it was my own child who did that, there would be words*, but in a novel? No problem.

*Possibly words with multiple syllables

 

[Don]

It's OK, but only because it's his brother who owns the place. Such a predicament is ripe to generate requisite story tension, because parents generally don't want their kids to frequent adult playgrounds.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The question is, will a middle-grade recognize what a casino actually is?

 

[.matthew.]

The question is, will a middle-grade recognize what a casino actually is?

Depends if they've played Fortnite or any other game with loot boxes...

 

[Phyrebrat]

It’s fine depending on how geo-political you want to get. For example the kids I teach know far more about life at 12/3 than I did as a 16 year old.

Also as mentioned above, video games educate a child a lot earlier these days. Even some of the 7-11 year olds I teach play GTA or similar.
pH