Love & Lies
Ellen Wittlinger
Love & Lies
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
Marisol's Story
by Ellen Wittlinger
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Marisol claims she’ll do two things this year: write a novel and fall in love. But falling for her beautiful writing instructor might not be the story she expected. What happens when love gets tangled with secrets and friendship feels like a mystery?
Quick Assessment
This young adult novel explores complex themes of identity, love, and friendship through the experiences of Marisol, a teenage girl navigating her first serious relationship with another woman. The story addresses LGBTQ+ topics with emotional honesty, suitable for teens aged 13 and up. Parents should note the book includes discussions of dating, sexual orientation, and social challenges typical of adolescent life.
Why we rated Love & Lies 11IE
Love & Lies is written at a Level 6 reading level across 256 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 7.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Love & Lies works for readers up to grade 8.0.
We rate Love & Lies as 11IE ("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, Love & Lies explores lgbtq+ representation, friendship, coming of age, romance, and social justice — 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.
- ✓ 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 lgbtq+ representation, friendship, coming of age.
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
11IE — 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
4/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781416916239
- Pages
- 256
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Published
- July 8, 2008
- Type
- Fiction