Thrown Away Child
Louise Allen
Thrown Away Child
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Louise Allen
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.
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About This Book
Louise Allen’s childhood wasn’t like most kids’—she faced tough times in a foster home where she felt thrown away. But through her love of art, she found a secret place to heal and dream. Now, she’s on a mission to change foster care for the better, proving one person’s bravery can make a big difference.
Themes
Quick Assessment
This memoir recounts Louise Allen’s challenging experiences in foster care, highlighting both the emotional hardships she endured and her journey toward healing through art. Suitable for ages 9-12, it sensitively addresses themes of abuse and resilience without graphic detail. Parents should note its focus on foster care realities and the hopeful message about advocacy and change.
Why we rated Thrown Away Child 11IE
Thrown Away Child is written at a Level 6 reading level across 290 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 7.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Thrown Away Child works for readers up to grade 8.0.
We rate Thrown Away Child as 11IE ("Intense — 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: Abuse.
Thematically, Thrown Away Child explores foster care, resilience, art as healing, advocacy, and biography — 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.
- ✓ Patient readers who enjoy slower, character-driven stories.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about foster care, resilience, art as healing.
- ✓ Curious kids who prefer real-world topics over made-up stories.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers who get easily upset by emotional or moderately dark scenes — the conflict here is real, not just background flavor.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
11IE — Intense — EmotionalReal 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
Hook Factor
1/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
3/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781471166754
- Pages
- 290
- Publisher
- Simon and Schuster
- Published
- 2017
- Type
- Nonfiction