Like a Love Story
Abdi Nazemian
Like a Love Story
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Abdi Nazemian
The text is written at a 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
What if the world around you was changing fast, but your biggest secret felt like it could break everything? In 1989 New York City, three teens—Reza, Judy, and Art—are navigating friendship, love, and courage amid fear and hope. Will Reza find the strength to be true to himself before everything falls apart?
Quick Assessment
Set in 1989 New York City, this middle-grade novel explores themes of friendship, identity, and activism through the lives of three young teens facing the AIDS crisis and their personal struggles. It sensitively portrays LGBTQ+ issues, family dynamics, and the courage it takes to be authentic, making it appropriate for ages 9-12 with thoughtful discussions about historical and social contexts.
Why we rated Like a Love Story 12IE
Like a Love Story is written at a Level 8 reading level across 432 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 9.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Like a Love Story works for readers up to grade 10.0.
We rate Like a Love Story as 12IE ("Intense — 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, social complexity, 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, Like a Love Story explores friendship, coming of age, family, lgbtq+ representation, 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 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, coming of age, family.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
12IE — Intense — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
5/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780062839374
- Pages
- 432
- Publisher
- Balzer & Bray
- Published
- 2020
- Type
- Fiction