What Is the Civil Rights Movement?

Name: What Is the Civil Rights Movement?
Author: Sherri L. Smith
ISBN: 9781524792305

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Sherri L. Smith

What Was.../What Is...?

Reading Level 5-6 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 9-12 Matched Page-Turner

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. Its HootRating code, ME, means moderate content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

Explore the courageous fight of African Americans as they challenged segregation and demanded equality during the civil rights movement. Through vivid stories and powerful firsthand accounts, discover how ordinary people stood up against injustice and changed history. Filled with captivating illustrations and photographs, this book brings a pivotal era to life for young readers.

Themes

Historical Social Justice Multicultural Coming of Age Family

Quick Assessment

This is a Level 5-6 book with moderate content intensity. Content themes include racial discrimination, fear & anxiety, physical danger. Written for readers ages 9-12.

Why we rated What Is the Civil Rights Movement? ME (Moderate)

What Is the Civil Rights Movement? is written at a Level 5-6 reading level across 112 pages (approximately 7,832 words). Reading-wise, most kids in grade 7 and up can manage What Is the Civil Rights Movement? on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

Read aloud, What Is the Civil Rights Movement? takes about 52 minutes, which fits within a single read-aloud session.

We rate What Is the Civil Rights Movement? as ME (Moderate, mostly 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, social complexity — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Racial Discrimination, Fear & Anxiety, Physical Danger.

Thematically, What Is the Civil Rights Movement? explores historical, social justice, multicultural, 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.
✓ Reluctant readers who need fast-paced, hook-heavy stories to stay engaged.
✓ Readers ready to talk through themes after they finish — there's enough substance for a meaningful conversation.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about historical, social justice, multicultural.
✓ Readers who fall hard for one book and want a long series to live in — there are 5 more books in the What Was.../What Is...? series.
✓ 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.

For Parents

Content Intensity

ME · Moderate · Emotional

Emotional

Moderate ←

Physical

Moderate

Social

Moderate

Thematic

Gentle

Reading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate

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