Reviewed by HootRated editorial · Last updated
The vanishing season
Jodi Lynn Anderson
The text is written at a 5th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.
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About This Book
I’m about to tell you a secret: Maggie thought moving to a quiet town meant a quiet year. But then she met Pauline and Liam, and everything changed. When mysterious disappearances start happening, their friendship is caught in a storm—but that’s only the beginning.
Quick Assessment
Maggie moves with her family from Chicago to a small Wisconsin town, where a romance-driven friendship with Pauline and Liam turns dark when a killer starts targeting teenage girls. The story includes homicide, the deaths of a child and a parent, child abuse, domestic violence, gaslighting, stalking, a claustrophobic scene, shower scenes, needles and syringes, and a police portrayal that some readers may view as copaganda. Parents may want to discuss the grief, violence, and manipulation in the story with older teens.
Why we rated The vanishing season ME (Moderate)
The vanishing season is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 247 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 vanishing season as ME (Moderate, mostly 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, social complexity, thematic difficulty — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Homicide, Crime.
Thematically, The vanishing season explores friendship, coming of age, romance, mystery, and family — 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.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, coming of age, romance.
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
ME · Moderate · EmotionalReading 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
Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.
Content Flags
Was our "Moderate" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
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
- 9780062003270
- Pages
- 247
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- 2014
- Type
- Fiction