The long-lost home
Maryrose Wood
The long-lost home
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
The Long-Lost Home
by Maryrose Wood
The text is written at a 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Penelope Lumley might be the bravest girl in the world—trapped in a gloomy Russian village with no beets growing and a mysterious family curse hanging over her head! Her daring escape plan could be the only hope to save her strange but lovable family, the Incorrigible Children, from a terrible fate. But with a mad villain on the loose and secrets unraveling fast, can she beat the clock before the full moon changes everything?
Quick Assessment
This final installment in Maryrose Wood's Victorian mystery series follows Penelope Lumley's struggle to break a family curse while protecting her unusual pupils, the Incorrigible Children. Suitable for ages 9-12, the story blends humor, mystery, and suspense with themes of family secrets and bravery. Parents should note the presence of mild peril and suspenseful moments typical for middle-grade fiction.
Why we rated The long-lost home 12ME
The long-lost home is written at a Level 8 reading level across 600 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 9.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, The long-lost home works for readers up to grade 10.0.
We rate The long-lost home as 12ME ("Moderate — 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, thematic difficulty — 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 long-lost home explores family, mystery, adventure, friendship, 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.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about family, mystery, 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
12ME — Moderate — EmotionalReal stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
3/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
4/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9780062683533
- Pages
- 600
- Publisher
- Balzer + Bray
- Published
- 2018
- Type
- Fiction