The game of Love and Death

Name: The game of Love and Death
Author: Martha Brockenbrough
ISBN: 9780545668347

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Martha Brockenbrough

Reading Level 4-5 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 13+ Balanced Read

The text is written at a 4th 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

Love and Death are playing a game with two teenagers in 1937 Seattle — but this is no ordinary game. Henry and Flora must choose each other or face a deadly fate. What would you risk for love when the stakes are life and death?

Themes

LoveFriendship Historical MulticulturalJuvenile fiction

Quick Assessment

Two seventeen-year-olds in 1937 Seattle fall in love across the color line while Love and Death wager over whether they will choose each other. Parents should know it addresses racial discrimination in a segregation-era setting, the threat of death, and a romance centered on emotional connection. It suits older teen readers who can discuss prejudice and mortality with an adult.

Why we rated The game of Love and Death LE (Mild)

The game of Love and Death is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 329 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 game of Love and Death 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. 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 mild intensity score.

Thematically, The game of Love and Death explores love, friendship, historical, multicultural, and juvenile fiction — 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 love, friendship, historical.

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

Moderate ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Mild

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

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.

Data confidence: high

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