Joeboo835

Does anyone know of a site that rates books based on age appropriateness?

My son, 12, is looking at a few books and I have no idea if they're age appropriate.

Anyone read Wolf of the North? Is it ok for a 12 year old?

Thanks,

Joe

Nick Danger

I don't know of such a site.

Every once in a while, Amazon emails me a customer's question about something I've purchased. Maybe there's an Ask A Question button on the Amazon page for the book. Maybe you can look over the reviews at Goodreads and the bookstores like Amazon and Barnes and Nobel and make a decision from them.

I have an opinion. I was reading books from the New York Times bestseller list when I was twelve. I think reading is so important that if a child wants to read above his age group, I'd encourage him read almost whatever he wanted.

Joeboo835

I'm thinking more on content (i.e. sex scenes) not how hard it is to read. I read as many reviews as I can but can't seem to find anything on the content. Like IMDB has the "Parental Guide". I've also looked for a "Ask a question" button or area, but can't find anything (unless i'm completely blind).

Nick Danger

I understood what you meant. I was reading books that included sex scenes at that age. There are people on the forum who were watching and appreciating Scorsese movies at much younger ages.

I looked at the Amazon and Goodreads reviews of Wolf of the North. Nobody said that it was loaded with pornographic detail.

If you do find a review site, be aware of its bias. Some of them are like this:
http://www.capalert.com/capreports/xmen.htm

iggystar

It's perfectly fine to want to have an idea what content is included in the books your kid reads. You're the parent, you know what your child is ready for. Heck, sometimes I'd like to get an idea myself. There are many reviewers I follow on YouTube who will tell you if there is disturbing content that might be triggers (rape, abuse, drug use, etc.), so it's not unheard of.

As mentioned, I'd just check Goodreads and Amazon reviews. Or you could read the book yourself. I did as much for The Hunger Games trilogy. When I read the first book, my daughter was a bit too young for some of the themes because she was kind of a scary kid. I waited until the following year and gave her the trilogy when I knew she could handle it.

Um, personally I stay away from the religious review sites. Common Sense Media is a bit more realistic, just giving ideas of content without being biased. I'm not sure how often they update though.

Kurt D

Common Sense Media has reviews for just 4400 books, I didn't see Wolf Of The North on there. I do like the site though. As Iggystar says, it takes a fairly rational approach. The site gives an age appropriateness rating, and then often aggregates similar ratings based on what parents say, and what kids say.

I love the fact that the kids ratings always skew towards a younger age recommendation than the parents.

Joeboo835

I went ahead and ordered it for him.

Thanks guys.

Nick Danger

I suppose the best thing would be to follow Iggystar's advice and skim through it before you gave it to him. You know his level maturity a lot better than anyone else does.