After the famine

Name: After the famine
Author: Colette McCormack
ISBN: 1855941422

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Colette McCormack

Reading Level 4-5 MS · Moderate · Social Ages 9-12 Matched Rich Discussion

The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, MS, means moderate content, mostly social.

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About This Book

After the famine, the hardest part of the journey is not the ocean crossing, it is the new life waiting on the other side. A young Irish girl leaves behind failed potato fields for the United States, and she discovers that hopes and hardships can arrive on the same ship. Her struggle to build a future from nothing shows exactly what it took to start over in a strange new country.

Themes

Historical Multicultural Family

Quick Assessment

Follows a young Irish girl who emigrates to the United States after the 1840s potato famine, facing both the hope of a fresh start and the poverty and hardship that come with it. Parents should know it portrays hunger, struggle, and displacement with historical grounding rather than graphic detail, making it a useful companion for conversations about immigration and family survival.

Why we rated After the famine MS (Moderate)

After the famine is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 126 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 6 and up can manage After the famine on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate After the famine as MS (Moderate, mostly social) 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, social complexity — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Poverty & Hardship, Loss & Grief.

Thematically, After the famine explores historical, multicultural, and family — 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 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about historical, multicultural, family.

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

MS · Moderate · Social

Emotional

Moderate

Physical

Mild

Social

Moderate ←

Thematic

Mild

Reading 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.