Sports great Greg Maddux

Name: Sports great Greg Maddux
Author: Stew Thornley
ISBN: 0894908731

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Stew Thornley

Sports Great

Reading Level 6-7 C · Gentle Ages 9-12 Sweet Spot Page-Turner

The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is gentle with no concerning themes. Its HootRating code, C, means gentle content.

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About This Book

Discover the incredible journey of Greg Maddux, one of baseball's greatest pitchers, known for his skill and precision on the mound. Follow his rise to fame and his record-breaking achievement of winning the Cy Young Award four years in a row. A thrilling tribute to dedication and talent in America's favorite pastime.

Themes

SportsBiographyComing of Age

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 6-7 book with gentle content intensity. It's a Sweet Spot read — challenging text with gentle themes, ideal for advanced or 2e readers. No notable content concerns flagged. Written for readers ages 9-12.

Why we rated Sports great Greg Maddux C (Gentle)

Sports great Greg Maddux is written at a Level 6-7 reading level across 64 pages (approximately 10,791 words). Reading-wise, most kids in grade 7 and up can manage Sports great Greg Maddux on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

Read aloud, Sports great Greg Maddux runs about 1.2 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.

We rate Sports great Greg Maddux as C (Gentle) 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, Sports great Greg Maddux explores sports, biography, and coming of age — 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.
✓ Reluctant readers who need fast-paced, hook-heavy stories to stay engaged.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about sports, biography, coming of age.
✓ Readers who fall hard for one book and want a long series to live in — there are 63 more books in the Sports Great series.
✓ Curious kids who prefer real-world topics over made-up stories.

Maybe not for

! Readers looking for something heavier — this is a gentle, low-stakes story by design.

For Parents

Content Intensity

C · Gentle

Emotional

Gentle

Physical

Gentle

Social

Gentle

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

No conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Safe for sensitive readers.

Data confidence: standard

Was our "Gentle" content intensity rating accurate for this book?