Neighborhood girls
Jessie Ann Foley
Neighborhood girls
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Jessie Ann Foley
The text is written at a 7th 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
Wendy’s world flips upside down when her dad, a Chicago cop, is arrested and sent to jail. Suddenly, she’s caught in a storm of whispers, fights, and tough choices. But when she meets Kenzie, a fierce and fearless girl, Wendy discovers that surviving her father’s shadow means creating her own story—and that story is just beginning.
Themes
Quick Assessment
Neighborhood Girls is a compelling young adult novel centered on Wendy, a teenage girl grappling with her father’s incarceration and its impact on her family and social life. The story explores themes of loss, toxic friendships, and identity, with mature content including physical assault and complex family dynamics. Suitable for teens 13 and up, it offers a realistic portrayal of resilience and self-discovery amid challenging circumstances.
Why we rated Neighborhood girls 12IE
Neighborhood girls is written at a Level 7 reading level across 363 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 8.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Neighborhood girls works for readers up to grade 9.0.
We rate Neighborhood girls 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, physical peril, social complexity, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Physical Assault, Family Hardship.
Thematically, Neighborhood girls explores coming of age, friendship, family, social justice, and high school — 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.
- ✓ 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 coming of age, friendship, 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.
Content Flags
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
- 9780062571854
- Pages
- 363
- Publisher
- HarperTeen
- Published
- 2017
- Type
- Fiction