What reading level is The Knowing?

The Knowing by Sharon Cameron is at a Level 4-5 reading level (Lexile 700L). Recommended for Middle Grades readers (Ages 9-12).

What age is The Knowing appropriate for?

The Knowing is recommended for Ages 9-12. HootRating: 9LE (Light — Emotional).

What genre is The Knowing?

The Knowing is fiction — Young Adult Fiction.

Does The Knowing have any content warnings?

The Knowing has a HootRating of 9LE (Light — Emotional). No specific content flags noted. On HootRated, every book is rated across four dimensions — emotional, physical, social, and thematic — to help parents make informed choices.

How many pages is The Knowing?

The Knowing by Sharon Cameron is 438 pages.

Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated May 18, 2026

The Knowing

Sharon Cameron

The Knowing

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Sharon Cameron

Reading Level 4-5 9LE Ages 9-12 Balanced Read

The text is written at a 4th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material.

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About This Book

What if everyone around you forgot the past, but you couldn't? Deep underground in New Canaan, Samara holds memories everyone else has lost. But those memories might be more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Themes

MemoryConspiracySecrecyFantasy World-Building Adventure

Quick Assessment

The Knowing is a middle-grade fantasy novel about Samara, a girl living in an underground city where others suffer from a mysterious amnesia called the Forgetting. As she struggles with her own memories and the secrets of her world, Samara embarks on a journey that explores themes of memory, identity, and conspiracy. Suitable for ages 9-12, the story contains mild suspense and fantasy elements but no graphic content.

Why we rated The Knowing 9LE

The Knowing is written at a Level 4-5 reading level with a Lexile measure of 700L across 438 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 5.5 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, The Knowing works for readers up to grade 6.5.

We rate The Knowing as 9LE ("Light — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

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

Thematically, The Knowing explores memory, conspiracy, secrecy, fantasy world-building, and adventure — 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.
✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about memory, conspiracy, secrecy.