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Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Stephanie Tromly

Cover of Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Stephanie Tromly

Reading Level 7 12ME Ages 13+ Balanced Read

The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for teens (ages 13+), and the content has moderate intensity with some emotionally heavy themes.

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About This Book

Here’s a secret: Zoe’s new friend Philip isn’t just any kid—he’s chasing down a mystery that’s been haunting his family for years. When a local girl goes missing, Zoe gets tangled up in a wild adventure full of humor and danger, but that’s only the beginning.

Themes

Quick Assessment

This young adult novel follows Zoe Webster as she adjusts to life after her parents' divorce and moves to a new town, where she befriends an intriguing misfit named Philip. Together, they become involved in investigating a local kidnapping, blending humor with suspense in a story suitable for teens aged 13 and up. The book touches on themes of family change, friendship, and mystery without intense or graphic content.

Why we rated Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) 12ME

Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) is written at a Level 7 reading level across 352 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 8.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) works for readers up to grade 9.0.

We rate Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) as 12ME ("Moderate — 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, 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, Trouble Is A Friend Of Mine (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) explores friendship, mystery, family, humor, and social themes — 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 friendship, mystery, family.

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

12ME — Moderate — Emotional
Emotional
Moderate
Physical
Light
Social
Light
Thematic
Moderate

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

Data confidence: standard

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

Reading Insights

Hook Factor

3/10

A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.

Discussion Potential

3/10

A lighter read — great for independent enjoyment.

Book DNA

Multi-dimensional content fingerprint

Vocabulary Level
6
Emotional Weight
6
Theme Richness
5
World Scope
1
Data Confidence
7

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Details

Book Length

352 pages
ISBN
9780606388320
Pages
352
Publisher
Turtleback Books
Published
Jun 07, 2016
Type
Fiction

Genres

Subjects

Humorous StoriesMysteries & Detective StoriesSocial ThemesFriendshipYoung Adult FictionHumorousMissing ChildrenHousehold MovingDivorceHigh Schools