Faking Faith
Josie Bloss
Faking Faith
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Josie Bloss
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material.
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About This Book
Dylan isn’t who she says she is—she’s pretending to be a fundamentalist Christian girl on her blog. But when her secret online life starts to reshape how she thinks about herself and the world, everything gets way more complicated. What happens when a lie leads to real discoveries?
Themes
Quick Assessment
Faking Faith follows a seventeen-year-old girl, Dylan, who adopts a false online identity as a fundamentalist Christian to navigate her feelings after a tough personal mistake. This middle-grade novel explores themes of identity, belief, and self-discovery in a thoughtful way suitable for ages 9-12. Parents should note the story deals with religious themes and the challenges of adolescence but contains no explicit content.
Why we rated Faking Faith 11LE
Faking Faith is written at a Level 6 reading level across 231 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 7.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Faking Faith works for readers up to grade 8.0.
We rate Faking Faith as 11LE ("Light — 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.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the mild intensity score.
Thematically, Faking Faith explores coming of age, identity & self-discovery, family, religious themes, and friendship — 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.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about coming of age, identity & self-discovery, family.
Maybe not for
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
11LE — Light — EmotionalLight conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.
Was our "Mild" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780738727578
- Pages
- 231
- Publisher
- Llewellyn Worldwide
- Published
- 2011
- Type
- Fiction