Losers take all

Name: Losers take all
Author: David Klass
ISBN: 9780374301361

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

A Novel

by David Klass

Reading Level 5-6 LS · Mild · Social Ages 13+ Balanced Read

The text is written at a 5th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LS, means mild content, mostly social.

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About This Book

The sharp whistle slices through the chilly morning air, echoing across the soccer field. Grass crunches under determined feet as a group of rebels band together, their hearts pounding with a plan to shake up the school's jock-craze. But can their new team change the game — and the whole school — before it's too late?

Themes

IndividualityHigh schoolsSchoolsSports Friendship Coming of Age

Quick Assessment

Jack Logan and his friends turn a school rule requiring every student to play on a team into a mission to undermine the jock culture around them by losing on purpose. The story is lighthearted and funny, with teen peer dynamics, school social pressures, and some sports rivalry at its center. Parents should know there is little intense content, and the book mainly explores fitting in, individuality, and what success really means.

Why we rated Losers take all LS (Mild)

Losers take all is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 305 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 Losers take all as LS (Mild, mostly social) because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

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

Thematically, Losers take all explores individuality, high schools, schools, sports, and friendship — 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 individuality, high schools, schools.

Maybe not for

! Readers looking for something heavier — this is a gentle, low-stakes story by design.

For Parents

Content Intensity

LS · Mild · Social

Emotional

Mild

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?