These is My Words

Name: These is My Words
Author: Nancy Turner
ISBN: 0060987510

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Nancy Turner

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

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

Step into the challenging life of a determined pioneer woman navigating the hardships and adventures of territorial Arizona. Through her heartfelt diary entries, experience the courage, resilience, and spirit needed to survive and thrive in a rugged new world.

Themes

Coming of Age Historical Family Survival Adventure

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 5-6 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include loss & grief, physical danger, poverty & hardship. Written for readers ages 13+.

Why we rated These is My Words ME (Moderate)

These is My Words is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 400 pages (approximately 147,672 words). 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.

Read aloud, These is My Words runs about 16.4 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.

We rate These is My Words 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, social complexity — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Loss & Grief, Physical Danger, Poverty & Hardship.

Thematically, These is My Words explores coming of age, historical, family, survival, and adventure — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers. Each of these themes is concrete enough to seed a real conversation, not just a moral lesson.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 13+ range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Patient readers who enjoy denser, slower-paced text.
✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about coming of age, historical, family.

Maybe not for

! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
! Children currently coping with grief — the themes may hit close to home.
! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the text is dense and the pacing rewards patience.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Moderate

Thematic

Gentle

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.