Tom Gates
Liz Pichon
Tom Gates
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
What Monster?
by Liz Pichon
The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is gentle with no concerning themes.
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About This Book
What happens when a music festival, mysterious monsters, and missing things all collide? Imagine diving into the wild adventures of me and Marcus, where chaos meets a very strict supply teacher. But what secrets are hiding just around the corner?
Themes
Quick Assessment
Tom Gates is a humorous middle-grade fiction book perfect for readers aged 9 to 12. It features light-hearted adventures involving mystery, friendship, and school life, including encounters with a strict supply teacher. The story is engaging without intense content, making it suitable for its target audience.
Why we rated Tom Gates 11C
Tom Gates is written at a Level 6 reading level across 256 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 7.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Tom Gates works for readers up to grade 8.0.
We rate Tom Gates as 11C ("Clear") because the content sits in the "Gentle" range — no conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly gentle; no single dimension stands out as a concern.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the gentle intensity score.
Thematically, Tom Gates explores friendship, humor, adventure, school life, and mystery — 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 friendship, humor, adventure.
Maybe not for
- ! Readers whose emotional readiness lags behind their decoding skills — this book's intensity outruns its reading level, a classic "gifted kid" mismatch.
For Parents
Content Intensity
11C — ClearNo conflict beyond everyday childhood experiences. Safe for sensitive readers.
Was our "Gentle" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
4/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
1/10A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9789352759873
- Pages
- 256
- Publisher
- Scholastic UK
- Published
- Oct 30, 2019
- Type
- Fiction