Waking in Time
Angie Stanton
Waking in Time
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
by Angie Stanton
The text is written at a 7th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material.
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About This Book
Abbi wakes up—and suddenly, she's in 1983! But that’s just the start of her unbelievable time-travel adventure where she meets Will, a charming student from 1927. Love, mysteries, and a magical physics professor make this journey through time impossible to forget.
Themes
Quick Assessment
This middle-grade novel follows Abbi, a young woman who mysteriously travels back in time, navigating different eras to uncover family secrets and a lost baby. The story blends historical details with romance and suspense, appropriate for ages 9-12, and contains mild themes of loss and time-travel fantasy without intense content.
Why we rated Waking in Time 12LE
Waking in Time is written at a Level 7 reading level across 370 pages. Strong independent readers around grade 8.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Waking in Time works for readers up to grade 9.0.
We rate Waking in Time as 12LE ("Light — Emotional") because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.
No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the mild intensity score.
Thematically, Waking in Time explores time travel, romance, family, coming of age, and historical — 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.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about time travel, romance, family.
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.
- ! Reluctant readers who need a fast hook — the pacing here rewards patience.
For Parents
Content Intensity
12LE — Light — EmotionalLight conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.
Was our "Mild" content intensity rating accurate for this book?
Reading Insights
Hook Factor
2/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
4/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 9781782025931
- Pages
- 370
- Publisher
- Raintree Publishers
- Published
- 2017
- Type
- Fiction