What's the matter, girl?

Name: What's the matter, girl?
Author: Elizabeth Brochmann
ISBN: 0060206772

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

by Elizabeth Brochmann

Reading Level 4-5 ME · Moderate · Emotional Ages 9-12 Matched Rich Discussion

The text is written at a 4th 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

Thirteen-year-old Anna lives with a house full of unusual relatives, and each one has a quirk she is somehow expected to put up with. Then the day her uncle returns from years away at war draws close enough to touch, and Anna's nerves are stretched tighter than ever. Will she be ready when the door finally opens, or will the waiting prove harder than anything she has faced yet?

Themes

Family Coming of Age Historical

Quick Assessment

Anna, thirteen, navigates tense moments with her unusual family while anxiously awaiting her uncle's homecoming after years away at war during World War II. Parents should expect emotional weight around worry, loneliness, and separation, with the war felt mostly in the background rather than through graphic detail. It suits readers who can handle heartfelt family drama and a gentle, reflective look at waiting for someone to come home.

Why we rated What's the matter, girl? ME (Moderate)

What's the matter, girl? is written at a Level 4-5 reading level across 121 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 6 and up can manage What's the matter, girl? on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate What's the matter, girl? 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, social complexity — these are the dimensions parents should evaluate against their reader's tolerance.

Specific content flags noted by reviewers: Fear & Anxiety, Loneliness, War & Conflict, Divorce & Family Change.

Thematically, What's the matter, girl? explores family, coming of age, and historical — 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.
✓ Family book clubs, classroom read-alouds, and parents who want a strong conversation hook.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about family, coming of age, historical.

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

Gentle

Social

Moderate

Thematic

Mild

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.