Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff)

Liz Pichon

Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff)

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Liz Pichon

Reading Level 7 12C Ages 9-12 Sweet Spot

The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is gentle with no concerning themes.

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About This Book

Max has mastered the art of making excuses like a pro — skipping school is just the start of his genius plans! Between jamming with his band DOGZOMBIES and indulging in caramel wafers, life should be perfect. But when the dentist and his quirky sister Delia crash the party, Max’s brilliant ideas face their biggest challenge yet.

Themes

Family Humor Friendship AdventureMusic

Quick Assessment

This middle-grade fiction follows Max, a clever and witty boy who tries to enjoy a school break by focusing on his band and favorite treats. The story humorously explores family dynamics and everyday challenges, suitable for ages 9 to 12. It contains light themes of sibling relationships and minor obstacles like dental visits, all handled with a fun and relatable tone.

Why we rated Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) 12C

Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) is written at a Level 7 reading level across 356 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 8.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) works for readers up to grade 9.0.

We rate Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) as 12C ("Clear") because the content sits in the "Gentle" range — no conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly gentle; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the gentle intensity score.

Thematically, Excellent Excuses (and Other Good Stuff) explores family, humor, friendship, adventure, and music — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about family, humor, friendship.

Maybe not for

! Readers whose emotional readiness lags behind their decoding skills — this book's intensity outruns its reading level, a classic "gifted kid" mismatch.

For Parents

Content Intensity

12C — Clear

Emotional

Clear

Physical

Clear

Social

Clear

Thematic

Clear

No conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Safe for sensitive readers.

Data confidence: standard

Was our "Gentle" content intensity rating accurate for this book?

Reading Insights

Hook Factor

3/10

A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.

Discussion Potential

1/10

A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.

Book DNA

Multi-dimensional content fingerprint

Vocabulary Level

Emotional Weight

Theme Richness

World Scope

Data Confidence

Similar Books

Based on content and theme analysis

Max's Fun Day

Adria F. Klein

Max's Fun Day

Adria F. Klein

Level 1 Gentle

Excellent excuses (and other good stuff)

Liz Pichon