How to Write a Book Review

Before the How, Let’s Talk Why Book reviews to the rescue! Help peers to make informed choices about books they can read Help you to share about a book that you really enjoyed And also warn people about terrible books (because they exist)

Basic Guidelines Paragraph 1: Provide a summary Paragraph 2: Describe strengths and weaknesses Paragraph 3: Express your personal opinion Paragraph 4: Conclude with recommendation Be between ½ to a full page, typed

Paragraph 1 Summary – Introduce the Book State the title and author of the book “I have spent these last few weeks reading, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton.” Explain any historical or contextual knowledge needed to understand the summary “The Outsiders is set in Oklahoma during the late 1950s.” Summarize the Exposition and Inciting Incident of the novel DO NOT INCLUDE PLOT TWISTS OR OTHER SPOILERS

Paragraph 2 Strengths and Weaknesses Consider the following aspects of a novel to comment on: Vocabulary Sentence Structure Are the sentences easy to understand or are they more complex? Is it traditional, stream of consciousness, or verse? Characters Believable or Realistic? Can you connect? Do you care? Setting/World Building Can you picture it? Maturity of Content Relationships, Sex, Drug Use, Violence Maturity of Language Profanity, Slang Quality of Conflict Does the problem intrigue you and keep your attention Pace of Rising Action Does it move too quickly? Does it drag out and get boring in chapters? Believability of Resolution (but NO SPOILERS) Length of text How appropriate is the number of pages? *Remember these are your opinions, but should not be influenced by how much you liked (or hated) the book

Paragraph 3 Express Your Opinion So far, you’ve been very objective in your analysis Now just explain whether you loved, liked, or disliked the novel Explain why You can refer back to those strengths and weaknesses to help make your point But don’t just copy and paste the strengths and weaknesses Be brief Rephrase things you’ve already mentioned Maybe include your favorite quote from the novel

Paragraph 4 Recommendation This is the conclusion of your review It doesn’t matter if you loved, liked, or hated the novel. It’s probably right for someone. Based on the characteristics of the novel (paragraph 2), who do you think would enjoy this story? Explain why.

Recommendation Examples Loved it “This is my new favorite book! I was so engrossed by the story of Beth and Josh. I just couldn’t wait to see who would show up to the Winter Formal. This novel would be a winner for anyone who gets caught up in relationship drama and is comfortable reading about high school dating relationships. I know I will be heading back to the library to find out what will happen next semester in the next installment of this series! Didn’t Like It “Even though this was a fascinating read, this novel was just too violent for my taste. This historical novel would be a great pick for someone who enjoys non-fiction war stories. They need a strong stomach to get through the graphic descriptions of close combat in the tunnels of Vietnam. The provided maps and photographs will ensure that they will learn a wealth of information about this time in our nation’s military history.

Length You will always type your final draft You must follow MLA formatting, unless otherwise specified Your review should be between ½ to a full page You will be submitting your review to Mrs. Cancino, our librarian, through Destiny, our library catalog system, to be published This means once she publishes it in Destiny, anyone looking at that book will be able to read your review We may end up also including a more condensed version of your review for publication in Destiny – we’ll see