Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated
After the eclipse
Sarah Perry
After the eclipse
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
A Mother's Murder, a Daughter's Search
by Sarah Perry
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.
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About This Book
What happens when the person you love most is taken away in the darkest way? Imagine growing up surrounded by questions and silence, trying to understand who your mom really was. Can you find hope and courage in the shadows of loss?
Themes
Quick Assessment
This adult-market memoir follows Sarah Perry, whose mother was murdered in their rural Maine home when Sarah was twelve, and her years of waiting for justice and rebuilding her life afterward. It deals directly with a violent killing, police interrogations, abandonment, and grief, so it suits mature teens and adults rather than younger readers. Parents should expect frank, emotionally heavy writing, though the book is ultimately focused on love, memory, and a daughter's effort to know her mother as a whole person.
Why we rated After the eclipse ME (Moderate)
After the eclipse is written at a Level 6-7 reading level across 350 pages. Upper Grades (Ages 13+) is the typical interest range for this book — readers in that age band have the maturity and attention span suited to the story, separate from whether they can decode the words.
We rate After the eclipse as ME (Moderate, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Moderate" range — moderate conflict that may involve loss, scary scenes, or interpersonal stakes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Murder, Loss.
Thematically, After the eclipse explores mothers and daughters, coming of age, grief, family, and biography — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers. Each of these themes is concrete enough to seed a real conversation, not just a moral lesson.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about mothers and daughters, coming of age, grief.
- ✓ Curious kids who prefer real-world topics over made-up stories.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.
For Parents
Content Intensity
ME · Moderate · EmotionalReading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate
Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Discussion Potential
5/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780544302655
- Pages
- 350
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Published
- 2017
- Type
- Nonfiction