Cold as ice

Name: Cold as ice
Author: L. Divine
ISBN: 9780758231130

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by L. Divine

Drama High

Reading Level 5-6 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 13+ Balanced Read

The text is written at a 5th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LE, means mild content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

When Jayd Jackson struggles with her AP pre-test, she decides to buckle down and join a new study group. As she grows closer to new classmates, her shifting friendships stir up unexpected tensions with her longtime friends. Navigating school pressures and loyalty, Jayd learns what it really means to grow and change.

Themes

Coming of Age Friendship Family Multicultural

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 5-6 book with mild content intensity. Content themes include bullying, friendship. Written for readers ages 13+.

Why we rated Cold as ice LE (Mild)

Cold as ice is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 208 pages (approximately 61,114 words). 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.

Read aloud, Cold as ice runs about 6.8 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.

We rate Cold as ice as LE (Mild, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Bullying, Friendship.

Thematically, Cold as ice explores coming of age, friendship, family, and multicultural — 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 coming of age, friendship, family.
✓ Readers who fall hard for one book and want a long series to live in — there are 13 more books in the Drama High series.

Maybe not for

! Readers looking for something heavier — this is a gentle, low-stakes story by design.

For Parents

Content Intensity

LE · Mild · Emotional

Emotional

Mild ←

Physical

Gentle

Social

Gentle

Thematic

Gentle

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

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.