The club

Name: The club
Author: Stephanie Watson
ISBN: 9780761361473

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Stephanie Watson

Night Fall

Reading Level 4-5 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched Page-Turner

The text is written at a 4th 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, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

When Josh and his friends discover a mysterious game called "Black Magic," their lives take a spooky turn as their fortunes soar and misfortune strikes those who have crossed them. What begins as harmless fun soon spirals into a chilling mystery that tests their courage and friendship. To break the eerie spell, they must uncover secrets hidden in an ancient diary—if they can survive the dark forces they've awakened.

Themes

Friendship MysteryHorror storiesAdventure

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 4-5 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include fantasy violence, fear & anxiety. Written for readers ages 13+.

Why we rated The club ME (Moderate)

The club is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 116 pages (approximately 14,370 words). 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.

Read aloud, The club runs about 1.6 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.

We rate The club as ME (Moderate, mostly emotional) 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: Fantasy Violence, Fear & Anxiety.

Thematically, The club explores friendship, mystery, horror stories, and adventure — 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.
✓ Reluctant readers who need fast-paced, hook-heavy stories to stay engaged.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, mystery, horror stories.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
! Children who are sensitive to violence, even when handled at age-appropriate levels.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Moderate

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

Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.