The wicked will rise

Name: The wicked will rise
Author: D. M. Paige
ISBN: 9780062280701

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by D. M. Paige

Reading Level 5-6 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 13+ Matched

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

What if the magical land of Oz wasn’t as wonderful as you thought? Imagine Dorothy isn’t the hero but a powerful ruler who’s taken control, and the witches you feared have teamed up to stop her. Now, it’s up to Amy, the girl from Kansas, to find the truth and decide who is really good or wicked—and everything is at stake.

Themes

Fantasy World-Building AdventureGood and EvilFriendship Coming of Age

Quick Assessment

Amy Gumm, a teen from a Kansas trailer park, is swept into a divided Oz, where she is recruited by a rebel order of witches to assassinate Dorothy. The story is a fantasy adventure full of fighting, political conflict, and blurred lines between good and evil, so it suits older teens who can handle violence and moral complexity. Expect scenes of peril and plotting against a tyrant rather than graphic gore.

Why we rated The wicked will rise ME (Moderate)

The wicked will rise is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 293 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 wicked will rise 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, 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 wicked will rise explores fantasy world-building, adventure, good and evil, 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 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about fantasy world-building, adventure, good and evil.

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 · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Gentle

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

Real stakes and emotional weight. May include sustained danger, loss, or bullying.

Data confidence: high

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