Before we go extinct

Name: Before we go extinct
Author: Karen Rivers
ISBN: 9780374302405

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

A Novel

by Karen Rivers

Reading Level 4-5 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched

The text is written at a 4th 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

The salty breeze carries whispers of memories from an empty beach resort, where waves crash against forgotten shores. Sharkey feels the weight of silence after losing his best friend in a sudden, mysterious moment. As the summer stretches on, he searches for answers and healing beneath the sun and sky.

Themes

Friendship FamilyGriefSocial Issues

Quick Assessment

After his best friend dies in a death that may have been suicide, a teen named Sharky is sent to spend the summer with his dad on a remote island, where he works through his grief and guilt. The story handles suicide, mental health struggles, and loss directly, and it explores whether the death was an accident, so it suits older teens who can discuss these topics with a trusted adult. Expect a slow, reflective tone, a light romantic thread, and a hopeful but open-ended emotional journey.

Why we rated Before we go extinct ME (Moderate)

Before we go extinct is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 252 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 Before we go extinct 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 — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Suicide.

Thematically, Before we go extinct explores friendship, family, grief, and social issues — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, family, grief.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Intense ←

Physical

Gentle

Social

Mild

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.