Smoke

Name: Smoke
Author: Ellen Hopkins
ISBN: 9781416983286

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Ellen Hopkins

Reading Level 4-5 IE · Intense · Emotional Ages 13+ Heads Up

The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is intense and may include graphic or distressing scenes. Its HootRating code, IE, means intense content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

What would you do if everything you loved suddenly disappeared? Pattyn is running away from a world filled with pain and loss, searching for a place to heal. But can she find peace before her past catches up with her?

Themes

FamilyGriefRunawaysSistersEmotional problems

Quick Assessment

Smoke follows Pattyn, a teen who runs away after her abusive father dies and her life falls apart, and her younger sister Jackie, who is left behind in a community that covers up what happened. The story deals with grief, abuse, a pregnancy loss, and family secrecy, and it is told in verse. Parents should know it portrays serious emotional and physical harm in direct but non-graphic terms, and it is best suited to older teens ready for heavy emotional material.

Why we rated Smoke IE (Intense)

Smoke is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 543 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 Smoke as IE (Intense, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Intense" range — intense conflict including peril, frightening scenes, or emotionally heavy themes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Loss & Grief, Emotional problems, Runaways.

Thematically, Smoke explores family, grief, runaways, sisters, and emotional problems — 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 family, grief, runaways.

Maybe not for

! Sensitive readers who get overwhelmed by intense conflict or scary scenes.
! Children younger than 13 — the content intensity is above what most younger kids can process comfortably.
! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.

For Parents

Content Intensity

IE · Intense · Emotional

Emotional

Intense ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Mild

Thematic

Moderate

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

Heavy themes explored in depth. War, death, abuse addressed directly.