Belle Prater's Boy Tough-o-Meter

(3) Base Camp

The language in Belle Prater's Boy is refreshingly simple and straightforward, with to-the-point descriptions and lots of realistic dialogue between the characters. Things never get too flowery or confusing on the vocabulary front. However, readers should have a certain level of maturity when it comes to difficult subjects, because the book doesn't hold back on the tragedy. After all, this is a book about a boy's mother disappearing into thin air, and the main character is struggling with her father's suicide. So yeah, not for readers who can't handle difficult topics.