Saving the Team
Alex Morgan
Saving the Team
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Alex Morgan
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 gentle with no concerning themes.
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About This Book
Devin is a soccer star who just moved across the country, but her new team is a total disaster. The coach doesn’t care, and the players can barely work together. Can Devin and her friends turn chaos into victory and show what true teamwork really means?
Themes
Quick Assessment
Written by Olympic gold medalist Alex Morgan, this middle-grade novel follows twelve-year-old Devin as she navigates moving to a new town and joining a struggling soccer team. The story highlights themes of friendship, teamwork, and resilience, making it appropriate for readers aged 9-12. It offers positive messages about self-confidence and cooperation without any intense content.
Why we rated Saving the Team 9LE
Saving the Team is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 176 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 5.5 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Saving the Team works for readers up to grade 6.5.
We rate Saving the Team as 9LE ("Light — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Gentle" range — no conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly gentle; no single dimension stands out as a concern.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the gentle intensity score.
Thematically, Saving the Team explores friendship, sports, family, coming of age, and teamwork — 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 friendship, sports, family.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers whose emotional readiness lags behind their decoding skills — this book's intensity outruns its reading level, a classic "gifted kid" mismatch.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
9LE — Light — EmotionalNo conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Safe for sensitive readers.
Was our "Gentle" 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
- 9781442485723
- Pages
- 176
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Published
- 2013
- Type
- Fiction