Respect your ghosts
John Bemelmans Marciano
Respect your ghosts
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
a Sergio story
by John Bemelmans Marciano
Illustrated by Blackall, Sophie, illustrator
The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material.
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About This Book
The creak of old floorboards whispers through the chilly air, and a faint, sweet scent of candle wax flickers around the room. In Benevento, a town filled with secret witches and ancient magic, five cousins must stay sharp to outsmart tricky spirits and mischievous shadows. Sergio’s challenge grows even bigger when he tries to keep both a demanding ghost and his worried mother happy—can he do it without losing his own courage?
Quick Assessment
Set in a magical Italian town known for its witches, this chapter book follows five cousins as they navigate adventures filled with folklore and ghostly encounters. This fourth book focuses on Sergio’s efforts to care for an ancestor spirit while balancing family life, offering middle-grade readers an engaging blend of fantasy and family dynamics appropriate for ages 9-12. The story contains mild supernatural themes and light suspense but remains suitable for its target audience.
Why we rated Respect your ghosts 9LE
Respect your ghosts is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 133 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 5.5 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Respect your ghosts works for readers up to grade 6.5.
We rate Respect your ghosts as 9LE ("Light — 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, Respect your ghosts explores ghost stories, magic, witches, family, and adventure — 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.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about ghost stories, magic, witches.
Maybe not for
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
9LE — Light — EmotionalLight conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.
Was our "Mild" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
2/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
2/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780451471833
- Pages
- 133
- Publisher
- Penguin
- Published
- 2017
- Type
- Fiction