The pools: a love story

Name: The pools: a love story
Author: E. Lockhart
ISBN: 9780593904121

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by E. Lockhart

Reading Level 7 IE · Intense · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched

The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content is intense and may include graphic or distressing scenes. Its HootRating code, IE, means intense content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

Can Lexie hold her family together while her mother is sick, in a small New England town where the hot springs hide more than steam? Chester, the golden boy everyone admires, has secrets of his own, and one afternoon at the pools changes everything for five people in the water. What will happen to them next, and who will be left to tell the story?

Themes

Romance Family Mystery Coming of Age

Quick Assessment

Lexie moves to a small New England town while coping with her mother's serious illness, and she falls into a relationship with Chester, a popular boy who is keeping secrets. When five people go for a swim at the town's famous hot springs, a horrific event upends their lives and pulls Lexie into its aftermath. Parents may want to talk with teens about the emotional weight of illness, family strain, and the frightening event, along with the romance woven through the story.

Why we rated The pools: a love story IE (Intense)

The pools: a love story is written at a Level 7 reading level across 384 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 pools: a love story as IE (Intense, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Intense" range — intense conflict including peril, frightening scenes, or emotionally heavy themes. The strongest signals come from emotional weight, physical peril, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Serious Illness, Family Strain, Frightening Event, Romance.

Thematically, The pools: a love story explores romance, family, mystery, and coming of age — 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 romance, family, mystery.

Maybe not for

! Sensitive readers who get overwhelmed by intense conflict or scary scenes.
! Children younger than 13 — the content intensity is above what most younger kids can process comfortably.

For Parents

Content Intensity

IE · Intense · Emotional

Emotional

Intense ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Mild

Thematic

Moderate

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

Heavy themes explored in depth. War, death, abuse addressed directly.