The cracks in the kingdom

Name: The cracks in the kingdom
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
ISBN: 9780545397384

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Jaclyn Moriarty

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

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

What if colors held the power to save a kingdom? Imagine a princess who teams up with friends who each have magical gifts to find her missing father and other royals. But unlocking the secret to traveling between worlds might be more dangerous than anyone expected.

Themes

MagicFriendship AdventureMissing personsFantasy World-Building

Quick Assessment

Princess Ko recruits a group of teens with special abilities to find her missing father and the other royals of Cello before a looming war breaks out. Expect emotional weight around missing parents, tense stakes, a light romantic thread, and some mild peril, all handled without graphic content. It is a witty, suspenseful fantasy best suited to older teen readers who enjoy complex world-building.

Why we rated The cracks in the kingdom ME (Moderate)

The cracks in the kingdom is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 468 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 The cracks in the kingdom 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 — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the moderate intensity score.

Thematically, The cracks in the kingdom explores magic, friendship, adventure, missing persons, and fantasy world-building — 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 magic, friendship, adventure.

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

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Mild

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.

Data confidence: high

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