How I lost you

Name: How I lost you
Author: Janet Gurtler
ISBN: 9781402277948

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Janet Gurtler

Reading Level 3 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched

The text is written at a 3rd 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

The air buzzes with the sharp crack of paintballs zipping past, and the smell of fresh-cut grass fills your nose. Grace and Kya are inseparable, sharing secrets and daring each other to try new things, but sometimes the fun feels a little too risky. What happens when friendship faces its toughest test yet?

Themes

FriendshipEmotional problemsPaintball (Game)Coming of AgeSocial Customs

Quick Assessment

Grace and her best friend Kya have promised to stick together no matter what, but Kya's daring escapades, including paintball games, start pulling Grace into risky situations that test their bond. The story also explores dating, emotional strain, and Kya's painful past, so parents may want to talk about peer pressure and what healthy friendship looks like.

Why we rated How I lost you LE (Mild)

How I lost you is written at a Level 3 reading level across 309 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 lost you 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. The strongest signals come from emotional weight — 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 mild intensity score.

Thematically, How I lost you explores friendship, emotional problems, paintball (game), coming of age, and social customs — 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 friendship, emotional problems, paintball (game).

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

Moderate ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Mild

Thematic

Mild

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.

Data confidence: high

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