When our son took the school's reading placement test the summer just before 2nd grade, he scored right around the middle of 8th grade.
Upon seeing the score I called to speak with his teacher. She confirmed it (he tested twice) but said that with scores that far beyond age/grade, it's rarely, if ever, used to start the kids out. (I was able to walk-thru the test with her and it is pretty much a vocabulary test, which makes a little more sense to me.)
While my son could undoubtedly read & understand all the words in an "8th grade" book, he's not likely to comprehend all the subject matter. And I'm certain that there's more than a few topics that I'm not in a hurry for him to tackle.
I personally like having the grade levels so that we can keep track of his progress, primarily for the sake of expanding his vocabulary and stretching his mind. But I don't like discussing these levels with other parents.
When parents at school have asked me what his reading level is, I usually say that the teacher lets him read any book he can wrap his mind around, and that there is no set level. I try to leave numbers out because the truth would just sound like bragging.
With your particular example, I'd say that Julie's true *reading* level is unknown, or at least somewhere between Junie B. and Harry P.
