How I live now

Name: How I live now
Author: Meg Rosoff
ISBN: 9780141035000

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Meg Rosoff

Reading Level 6 IE · Intense · Emotional Ages 13+ Heads Up

The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is intense and may include graphic or distressing scenes. Its HootRating code, IE, means intense content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

Love and war clash in a summer that was supposed to be perfect. Daisy thought it would be a simple story of cousins and fun, but everything changes when a real war comes to their doorstep. What happens when the world you know shatters?

Themes

War & ConflictFamily Coming of Age Survival

Quick Assessment

Daisy is sent from New York to spend a summer with cousins in England, where a first romance blooms just as a war arrives and separates the family. The story includes wartime violence, loss, and separation, and it addresses an eating disorder, which may be worth discussing alongside the book. It suits older teen readers ready for an unflinching look at how war upends ordinary lives.

Why we rated How I live now IE (Intense)

How I live now is written at a Level 6 reading level across 210 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 How I live now as IE (Intense, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Intense" range — intense conflict including peril, frightening scenes, or emotionally heavy themes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, physical peril, social complexity, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: War, Family Separation, Eating Disorders.

Thematically, How I live now explores war & conflict, family, coming of age, and survival — 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 war & conflict, family, coming of age.

Maybe not for

! Sensitive readers who get overwhelmed by intense conflict or scary scenes.
! Children younger than 13 — the content intensity is above what most younger kids can process comfortably.

For Parents

Content Intensity

IE · Intense · Emotional

Emotional

Intense ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Moderate

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

Heavy themes explored in depth. War, death, abuse addressed directly.