Theme on Shatterproof!

Shatterproof by Ronald Smith is the 4^th book in the Cahills vs Vespers series.  One theme that runs through the entire series is the loss of innocence.  The young Cahills in this series faces so many challenges and witnesses so many unthinkable events that they begin to see the world in a whole different way.  They realize there are many evil people and situations in this world, which leads to distrust everyone and even break laws to complete the task on hand.

            After seven members of the Cahill family were kidnapped in Book 1 of Cahills vs Vespers, Dan became completely disillusioned.  Vesper 1 kept sending Dan and Amy impossible tasks to complete in exchange for keeping the Cahills alive.  Dan realized they could never outsmart Vesper 1 and decides to gather all the ingredients to create the master serum.  It is well known that even though the master serum gives immense power, it is also very dangerous.  Dan however doesn’t care anymore and thinks that’s his only option.  Dan is a complete different person from the boy he was in the first series of books.  He was a carefree boy who enjoyed life and liked have a good laugh.  However after going through all the terrible experiences he has become serious and lost his innocence.  His older sister Amy even starts worrying about Dan not having a proper childhood, and growing up too fast by experiencing such horrible events.

            In this novel, another Cahill family member who completely loses his innocence is Dan and Amy’s cousin Jonah Wizard.  In the heat of a confrontation he shoots Luna Amato, a vesper agent.  Immediately he realized that for the first time in his life he has murdered someone, and that leaves him in complete shock.  He becomes unable to talk or communicate further.  Being born in the Cahill family means you’re part of something great, but taking a life made him realize there are also evils involved.  Additionally, to accomplish something for the greater good, a person needs to take sometimes terrible actions, whether theft, or in this case murder.

            After the first series in the 39 clues, the five branches of the Cahill family stop their feud and come together.  However their troubles only get worse as they a more terrible enemy.  The young Cahills learn they have to lie, steal, and even murder to stay ahead of the Vespers and save their own family.  They end up losing their innocence too early which makes them look as the world from a completely different perspective.