Since You've Been Gone

Name: Since You've Been Gone
Author: Morgan Matson
ISBN: 9781442435001

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Morgan Matson

Reading Level 6-7 LE · Mild · Emotional 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 is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LE, means mild content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

The salty breeze mixes with the sound of crashing waves as Emily holds a crumpled list of strange challenges left behind by her missing best friend, Sloane. Each task feels like a secret doorway to a world Emily never dared to enter before. With every step, her summer unfolds into a surprising adventure of friendship and courage.

Themes

Friendship Coming of Age Family RomanceSocial Issues

Quick Assessment

After her outgoing best friend Sloane disappears without a word, shy Emily finds a list of thirteen unusual tasks and sets out to complete them with help from a classmate named Frank Porter. The story follows her growing confidence and a summer of firsts, including some light romance and a kiss. Parents should know that a character cheats in a relationship, and that the book touches on friendship loss and family tension, but the content stays fairly gentle overall and suits older teen readers.

Why we rated Since You've Been Gone LE (Mild)

Since You've Been Gone is written at a Level 6-7 reading level across 449 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 Since You've Been Gone 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, Since You've Been Gone explores friendship, coming of age, family, romance, and social issues — 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 friendship, coming of age, family.

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?