The Sterkarm Handshake

Name: The Sterkarm Handshake
Author: Susan Price
ISBN: 0060289597

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Susan Price

Reading Level 8 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 9-12 Balanced Read

The text is written at an 8th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), 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

The crackle of firewood and the sharp scent of pine fill the cool night air as Andrea steps through a shimmering tunnel. Suddenly, she’s surrounded by the rough voices and rugged faces of a sixteenth-century border clan. Torn between two worlds, her heart races with the weight of a choice that could change her life forever.

Themes

Science & NatureTime TravelAdventure Coming of Age Family

Quick Assessment

This middle-grade science fiction novel follows Andrea, who travels through a time tunnel from the 21st century to a dangerous 16th-century border clan in England. It explores themes of identity and belonging as Andrea faces the challenge of choosing where she truly belongs. Suitable for ages 9-12, the story contains mild peril but is appropriate for middle-grade readers.

Why we rated The Sterkarm Handshake LE (Mild)

The Sterkarm Handshake is written at a Level 8 reading level across 518 pages. Middle Grades (Ages 9-12) 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 Sterkarm Handshake 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. 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 Sterkarm Handshake explores science & nature, time travel, adventure, coming of age, and family — 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.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about science & nature, time travel, adventure.

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

Mild ←

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

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.

Data confidence: standard

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