Analysing the books in the series, we estimate that the reading level of Hidden Valley Road is 8th and 9th grade.
Readability Test | Reading Level |
---|---|
Flesch Kincaid Scale | Grade 8 |
SMOG Index | Grade 10 |
Coleman Liau Index | Grade 10 |
Dale Chall Readability Score | Grade 6 |
The estimated word count of Hidden Valley Road is 122,140 words.
A person reading at the average speed of 250 words/min, will finish the book in 8 hrs 9 mins. At a slower speed of 150 words/min, they will finish it in 13 hrs 35 mins. At a faster speed of 450 words/min, they will finish it in 4 hrs 32 mins.
Hidden Valley Road - 122,140 words | ||
---|---|---|
Reading Speed | Time to Read | |
Slow | 150 words/min | 13 hrs 35 mins |
Average | 250 words/min | 8 hrs 9 mins |
Fast | 450 words/min | 4 hrs 32 mins |
for Hidden Valley Road
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES TOP TEN BOOKS OF THE YEARNamed a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME, and Amazon The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science's great hope in the quest to understand the disease.Don and Mimi Galvin seemed to be living the American dream. After World War II, Don's work with the Air Force brought them to Colorado, where their twelve children perfectly spanned the baby boom: the oldest born in 1945, the youngest in 1965. In those years, there was an established script for a family like the Galvins--aspiration, hard work, upward mobility, domestic harmony--and they worked hard to play their parts. But behind the scenes was a different story: psychological breakdown, sudden shocking violence, hidden abuse. By the mid-1970s, six of the ten Galvin boys, one after another, were diagnosed as schizophrenic. How could all this happen to one family? What took place inside the house on Hidden Valley Road was so extraordinary that the Galvins became one of the first families to be studied by the National Institute of Mental Health. Their story offers a shadow history of the science of schizophrenia, from the era of institutionalization, lobotomy, and the schizophrenogenic mother to the search for genetic markers for the disease, always amid profound disagreements about the nature of the illness itself. And unbeknownst to the Galvins, samples of their DNA informed decades of genetic research that continues today, offering paths to treatment, prediction, and even eradication of the disease for future generations. With clarity and compassion, bestselling and award-winning author Robert Kolker uncovers one family's unforgettable legacy of suffering, love, and hope.