Full ride

Name: Full ride
Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix
ISBN: 9781442442788

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Reading Level 5-6 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched

The text is written at a 5th 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 sharp scent of pine fills the air as Becca races down the quiet streets of her new town in Ohio. Life feels different here, but shadows from her past cling tightly, whispering secrets she can't ignore. What if the mistakes of her father reach farther than she ever imagined?

Themes

FamilySecretsJuvenile FictionHigh SchoolResilience

Quick Assessment

Becca, a teen whose father was jailed for embezzlement, moves with her mother to a new town where nobody knows their story, but college costs and a scholarship application force her to confront what her family has concealed. The book explores lying, guilt, fear of exposure, and money stress, with moderate emotional weight and no graphic content. Parents may want to talk with teens about the moral questions raised when secrets protect people and also hurt them.

Why we rated Full ride ME (Moderate)

Full ride is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 343 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 Full ride 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, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

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

Thematically, Full ride explores family, secrets, juvenile fiction, high school, and resilience — 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 family, secrets, juvenile fiction.

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

Moderate ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Mild

Thematic

Moderate

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.

Data confidence: high

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