my son was 11 when he read this and i have read it too . mostly its about a life lesson on trust and resposibilty about learning not to take things that u have in life for granted. its about a boy who wa smade fun of at school and became and orphan when his parents died and learned that he could be who he wanted in a good way no matter what life threw at him,. it won the john-newberry medal for the most distinguished contribution to american literature for children. copyrighted 1990.. i say its for all ages that are able to read above 5