1. How to Write a Book Review

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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