Shadowcry

Name: Shadowcry
Author: Jenna Burtenshaw
ISBN: 9780062026422

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Jenna Burtenshaw

Reading Level 6-7 MP · Moderate · Physical Ages 13+ Balanced Read

The text is written at a 6th 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, MP, means moderate content, mostly physical.

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About This Book

Kate Winters is being hunted by two ruthless men of the High Council of Albiom, and she has just learned she can see the dead. Her ability to peer through the veil between the living and the dead makes her one of the Skilled, a rare gift that the Council wants badly enough to chase her down. Every time she sees a ghost, the danger gets closer, and she has to figure out what the Council will do to her before they find her.

Themes

Fantasy World-Building Adventure Mystery

Quick Assessment

Fifteen-year-old Kate Winters learns she is one of the Skilled, people who can see across the boundary between the living and the dead, just as two ruthless men from the High Council of Albiom start pursuing her. The story is a fantasy with a chase-driven plot, supernatural elements, and tense confrontations with pursuers, and it deals with fear and the weight of being hunted. Parents should know it involves ongoing peril and frightening moments, but it is written in a straightforward way and is generally suited to older teen readers.

Why we rated Shadowcry MP (Moderate)

Shadowcry is written at a Level 6-7 reading level across 311 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 Shadowcry as MP (Moderate, mostly physical) 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 — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Mild Peril, Fear & Anxiety, Physical Danger.

Thematically, Shadowcry explores fantasy world-building, adventure, and mystery — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about fantasy world-building, adventure, mystery.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.

For Parents

Content Intensity

MP · Moderate · Physical

Emotional

Moderate

Physical

Moderate ←

Social

Gentle

Thematic

Mild

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.