Warrior's Heart
Stephen D. Sullivan
Warrior's Heart
Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide
The Goodlund Trilogy, Volume One (Warrior Born)
by Stephen D. Sullivan
Dragonlance: The New Adventures; Goodlund Trilogy
The text is written at a 5th 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
After training for knighthood, Catriona Goolund comes back to find her home in ruins and the precious Heart of Purespring missing. Faced with this devastating loss, she struggles to choose between seeking revenge or finding a path toward forgiveness and healing.
Themes
Quick Assessment
This is a Level 5 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include loss & grief, mild peril. Written for readers ages 9-12.
Why we rated Warrior's Heart 10ME
Warrior's Heart is written at a Level 5 reading level across 256 pages (approximately 67,191 words). Strong independent readers around grade 6.0 can typically handle this book on their own; with parent or teacher support, Warrior's Heart works for readers up to grade 7.0.
Read aloud, Warrior's Heart runs about 7.5 hours — long enough to span several bedtime sessions.
We rate Warrior's Heart as 10ME ("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, physical peril — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.
Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Loss & Grief, Mild Peril.
Thematically, Warrior's Heart explores fantasy, adventure, coming of age, and family — 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 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
- ✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
- ✓ Kids drawn to stories about fantasy, adventure, coming of age.
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.
For Parents
Content Intensity
10ME — Moderate — 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
4/10A steady, thoughtful read that rewards patient readers.
Discussion Potential
5/10Good conversation starter with themes worth exploring together.
Book DNA
Multi-dimensional content fingerprint
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Details
Book Length
- ISBN
- 0786941871
- Pages
- 256
- Publisher
- Mirrorstone
- Published
- November 14, 2006
- Type
- Fiction
- Word Count
- 67,191
- Read-Aloud
- ~7h 28m
- Text Density
- Dense