Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated
In his father's footsteps
Danielle Steel
In his father's footsteps
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
a novel
by Danielle Steel
The text is written at an 8th 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
There’s a secret hidden in family stories—one that travels across oceans and through the toughest times. A young boy follows the path his father once took, stepping into a world of challenges and unexpected friendships, but that’s only the beginning.
Themes
Quick Assessment
Follows two Holocaust survivors who rebuild their lives on New York's Lower East Side, then their son Max, a Harvard-educated striver whose luxury lifestyle unravels when his marriage begins to fail. Expect references to concentration camp history and postwar trauma, adult relationship conflict and marital betrayal, and the pressures of wealth and ambition. Best suited to mature teens and adults who can handle historical trauma and grown-up relationship drama.
Why we rated In his father's footsteps ME (Moderate)
In his father's footsteps is written at a Level 8 reading level across 416 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 In his father's footsteps 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 — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Loss & Grief, Fear & Anxiety, Identity & Self-Discovery, Historical.
Thematically, In his father's footsteps explores coming of age, family, immigrants, social mobility, and historical — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers. Each of these themes is concrete enough to seed a real conversation, not just a moral lesson.
Good fit for
- ✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about coming of age, family, immigrants.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.
For Parents
Content Intensity
ME · Moderate · EmotionalReading 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.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Discussion Potential
7/10Rich themes that spark meaningful family conversation. Great for book clubs and read-alouds.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781984827647
- Pages
- 416
- Publisher
- Random House Large Print
- Published
- 2018
- Type
- Fiction