Safe at home

Name: Safe at home
Author: Glenda Brost
ISBN: 1556739893

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Glenda Brost

Reading Level 4-5 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched Rich Discussion

The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

The faint scent of hospital flowers drifts through the quiet room, where Andrew clutches a worn teddy bear close. Every day brings new challenges as he fights a tough illness that feels as heavy as the cold, sterile walls around him. Through hope, love, and courage, his story shines with a light that never fades.

Themes

FamilyIllness & HealthFaith & SpiritualityBiographyEmotional Resilience

Quick Assessment

A mother recounts her son Andrew Neil Brost's three-year battle with Ewing's sarcoma, a bone cancer that ended his life at 13. The memoir centers on hospital treatment, family grief, and Christian faith, so parents should expect sustained illness and the death of a child. It is written for an adult market and is best suited to mature teen readers.

Why we rated Safe at home ME (Moderate)

Safe at home is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 174 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 Safe at home as ME (Moderate, mostly 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 — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Illness & Injury, Loss & Grief, Religious Themes.

Thematically, Safe at home explores family, illness & health, faith & spirituality, biography, and emotional resilience — 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.
✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about family, illness & health, faith & spirituality.
✓ Curious kids who prefer real-world topics over made-up stories.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Moderate

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

Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.