What Age Rating Is The Chainsaw Man Book Suitable For?

I hand-sell Vols. 1 & 2 at my comic book store to almost every customer. For parents, I say that Volumes 1 & 2 of V_FORA are best for kids 10 and up, similar to the early years of Harry Potter but with more focus on the artistic style and creative world-building. For teens, I highlight the unique magic system and how the main character tries to get into a super academically challenging school. For adults, I tell them that V_FORA is a breathtakingly beautiful and critically-acclaimed work of fantasy that has won Eisner Awards. The first volume is particularly low-key and introductory, while the later volumes explore increasing moral ambiguity, but the first is perfect for a younger middle-grade reader and has gotten zero complaints about content or readership from kids or their parents. It's extremely popular and loved by everyone who reads it because it's a story about a man who is trying to find his place in the world and do good, and it’s incredibly creative and beautiful.

I was wondering if Journey to the Center of the Earth would be a book for kids, for teens, or for grown-ups. In short, the answer is yes. Of course, some books are better for younger readers than for older ones, and Journey to the Center of the Earth is no exception. If you want to read a fast, thrilling adventure story, then get an illustrated edition of Journey to the Center of the Earth for upper-elementary school kids (about 7-11 years old). On the other hand, if you want to read Jules Verne’s own words, then the book will be perfect for pre-teens and teenagers (about 12 and older) who can appreciate Verne’s long descriptions of people, places, things, his 19th century science, and his writing style in general. An abridged version of Journey to the Center of the Earth (which includes many fun illustrations) that I read to my 7 year old younger cousin was such a fun adventure that we had reading it together. We finished off a rather long book in what seemed like a day of reading. The slower parts where Verne was explaining the geology were taken out and this really made the book zip by. My first read of the fully uncut translation in High School was also very fun and satisfying, however required a lot of patience as Verne explains much of the science behind his ideas and also gives a great deal of background into the worldview of his time. It made a great read however for someone who wanted to really explore the work in great detail (as I did when I first read it). Today however I would say that readers of long descriptions really need to be ‘hooked’ to keep reading – and if not then get them a graphic novel version, or even an illustrated version of Journey to the Center of the Earth. It would also be a good read for someone looking to explore the many questions behind the scenes of the spirit of discovery, as well as the science and hubris behind it. Most of all, it will depend on the scope of the reading support you are able to provide your child with. While upper-elementary school children may be able to enjoy an illustrated Journey to the Center of the Earth adventure, retold for their age group, many 10- to 13-year-old readers will benefit from lightly edited full-length texts and even maps, or notes. Older 14+ readers can enjoy Verne’s complete adventures with their peers, reading critically as they analyze the text’s shortcomings in terms of historical science and 19th-century culture. Pairing Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth with short film clips about volcanoes, or even following along on a tour through an imaginative subterranean world as he has described it in the 19th century, are perhaps the best techniques of all to foster a love of reading ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ among all ages of readers. And to start, it’s always better to choose the shortest, lightest first version, illustrated if needed – with the promise of returning to a full-length unabridged edition later. Just as with so many great novels, you’ll find that upon re-reading it after some time has elapsed, you will discover so much more, even new layers, hidden between the lines in the original work itself.

Forget chronological age, and think about the reader’s overall reading experience. Does the child read other mid-to-long length fantasy books? If so, she’s already a reader of ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Percy Jackson’ or ‘Series of Unfortunate Events’ books and will enjoy ‘Nevermoor’. Zana Fraillon’s writing is probably a little more descriptive and full of fantasy than Rick Riordan’s but the chapters are short and the hooks are strong. This is a great ‘first thick book’ for children new to reading longer novels. Typically this would be a 9-10 year old reader but a very confident and voracious 8 year old reader would also enjoy it. It’s a great book to help build a child’s confidence in reading longer novels.

The officially published age range is 8-12 but I think that’s a little optimistic, especially as the books are published in a sanitized edition. But for me, and for others, the original trilogy is more than the text of the stories. It is the total impression of the stories and the pictures that are conjured up. It lingers. This book would be more appropriately recommended for readers aged 10-14 years. Gammell’s artwork is extremely disturbing for many adults and children but is a ‘passage of growth’ for many readers who have read these books as children. The books are frequently passed around sleepovers of pre-teen girls who challenge each other to take a look at the picture of Harold the scarecrow or the woman with the big toe. The social context of reading this book is all part of the age recommendation.

The adult reader is a huge factor in determining whether this is a good read for a 10 year old or not. This is a fantastic family read or classroom read-aloud and discussion for kids this age. Read a chapter at night and then talk about daemons, who Dust might be, and why the Magisterium would be so afraid of this particular daemon. While a 10 year old reader may get ‘lost’ in the story or become scared of some of the content, they will be ‘guided’ by the adult reader. This will enable them to enjoy the ‘adventure’ of the story and to begin to consider some of the bigger philosophical ideas contained within the text. Thus while the book may not be suitable for a 10 year old reader on their own, it can be introduced to a 10 year old reader at an early age as part of a shared intellectual adventure with the adult reader. The book becomes suitable for the child’s age as well as for their reading age within the context of the adult reader.

I never thought of The Hunger Games to have an age. I read them in 9th grade after my friend left them on her desk and I was immediately hooked. It felt like that book was meant for me to read. I guess it finds the right person to read it at the right time.

Whimsy and darkness are two elements that Roald Dahl is known to bring to children’s literature. The Witches is one of his darker tales, but he crafts it in such a way that it reads as perfect middle-grade fare. I think kids as young as eight or nine could read it with confidence, but of course that would depend on the individual child. Some seven-year-old kids love Dahl’s gross-out descriptions of the Witches in their true forms, while others will be terrified of the Grand High Witch. The core of the story is that a child is transformed into a mouse, which is quite intense, so I would recommend this for a bit more mature kids–perhaps around 10. While less horrific than some of the new children’s horror books, Dahl’s never talks down to kids. The humor is vicious and will help balance out the scares, but kids have to be able to tell that this is a tale of a child using his wits to defeat his or her villains, not just a very scary story.

Emotional payoff is the core consideration of all middle-grade novels: will good things happen to good people, will they learn important lessons, and will the world be a harmonious place in the end? And so novels at this age level are naturally going to explore themes of friendship, of courage, of fairness. The Adult rating on the other hand allows for exploration of the grim and of the nihilistic, of the futility of war, of the corrupting influence of power, of the fragility of sanity. So the rating is a promise to the reader of how much emotional and psychological pain they are going to have to go through to read the book, and so it has a huge influence on what themes a writer will explore, and how. Systemic injustice, for example: a YA novel about this sort of theme would look at ways to overthrow such a system, an Adult novel about the same theme would look at ways to survive within it.

I compared it to The Handmaid’s Tale and Cinder in the blurb. Cinderella Is Dead is in the middle grade range, while The Handmaid’s Tale is an 18+ read due to its extreme realism and graphic content. I aimed to write a YA protagonist’s story with a similar tone to that of The Handmaid’s Tale, but a more hopeful and conclusive ending. Therefore, while The Handmaid’s Tale is a 18+ read, I’d consider Cinderella Is Dead to be a 15+ read, with a similar thematic content but in a fantasy setting. The main audience for this book would be teens who can see cracks in the fantastical stories that are presented to them in order to understand the world.

The length of a story is a big deal to me. Many of my friends are fans of a very long story but starting a story over 1,000 chapters would be a second job. Maybe when I retire.