Project (un)popular

Name: Project (un)popular
Author: Kristen Tracy
ISBN: 9780553510485

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Kristen Tracy

Reading Level 3-4 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 9-12 Matched

The text is written at a 3rd grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LE, means mild content, mostly emotional.

Find on Amazon Listen on Audible

We may earn a commission from these links.

About This Book

The click of the camera shutter echoes through the bustling school hallway, capturing moments that everyone wants to remember. But what happens when only the popular kids get their pictures taken? Perry feels her friendship with Venice slipping away as secrets and choices pull them apart.

Themes

FriendshipSchoolPopularityPhotographyMiddle School

Quick Assessment

Perry and Venice, sixth-grade yearbook photographers, discover that only pictures of popular students are welcome, and their friendship is tested when Perry sides with the editor-in-chief over Venice's interest in a boy Perry dislikes. Parents should expect light friendship conflict, cliques, sister drama, and mild crush-level romance, with no graphic or intense content. The story gently explores loyalty, fairness, and the pressure to fit in.

Why we rated Project (un)popular LE (Mild)

Project (un)popular is written at a Level 3-4 reading level across 317 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 5 and up can manage Project (un)popular on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate Project (un)popular as LE (Mild, mostly emotional) 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, Project (un)popular explores friendship, school, popularity, photography, and middle school — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, school, popularity.

Maybe not for

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

For Parents

Content Intensity

LE · Mild · Emotional

Emotional

Mild ←

Physical

Gentle

Social

Mild

Thematic

Gentle

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?