How to write a book review

How to write a book review- from Scholastic

Book review helper

Year 7 – Book Review Scaffold

{This is a good way to introduce year 7s to the structure of a book review and highlights the difference between a book report and a book review. It also gets them into the habit of justifying why they have certain opinions of books. Under the ‘Why’ heading, don’t accept kids throwing words like ‘interesting’ or ‘funny’ at you. They also have to explain why it was interesting or why it was funny}.

Title – ___________________________________________________________

Author – _________________________________________________________

The Novel Itself

Lead Character – __________________________________________

Storyline/Plot – _______________________________________________________
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Did You like this book – YES / NO

Why? –

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List three words you would use to describe this book – ________________________________________________________________

Signed – ________________________________________________________________

After having them write their reviews in this scaffold, it would then be beneficial to intruduce them to the proper paragraph format of book reviews;

How To Write a Book Review

What is a book review?

• · A book review is a description and an evaluation of a book that you have read.
  · Book reviews are so helpful because they inform future readers about books they may be interested in reading. Often, a book review will influence other readers by telling them a little bit about what the story is about, as well as if is worth reading or not!
  · The most important thing to remember is that book reviews DO NOT give away the ending! If it is a good book, the reader will not want to spend time reading it if he/she already knows the ending.

Writing a review is much more than simply retelling the story in the novel. The focus of a REVIEW is the analysis of the novel, the way in which it was written and ways to describe the novel.

1. While it is important to discuss the storyline, do so briefly! Choose the main events that take place – not every little detail!! A review is 90% analysis and the space that is left should contain this summary!
· What was the story about?
· Who were the main characters?
· What did the main characters do in the story?
· Did the main characters run into any problems?
· Did the main characters have any adventures?
· Who was your favorite character? Why?

2. When we analyse, what do we talk about?

– we use words to describe the book (i.e. interesting, boring, exciting, adventurous, complex, confusing, unrealistic/realistic, thrilling, scary, predictable/unpredictable….). These words must be DESCRIPTIVE. Never use the terms good or bad!!
– We explain what is was about the novel that made us describe it in this way
(Was it things that a character said? an event(s) that took place? Were you able to relate to the characters for particular reasons {similar experiences you have had, situations they faced, how they were treated, ideas about things/what they believed in…)

3. Your Opinion

Different books appeal to different people. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about different books. In this section you discuss your own opinion of the novel.

– Did you like the book?
– What was your favorite part of the book?
– Do you have a least favorite part of the book?
– If you could change something in the book, what would it be?
(If you wish you could change the ending, remember not to tell the ending to the story you read!) – Did you like the characters? Why?

4. Recommendation

– You may wish to recommend the novel to a particular age group, gender or people with a particular interest. You must explain why. (e.g. 1. I would recommend this novel to people who enjoy reading thrilling and intriguing stories because of the events which take place involving the main characters on their journey to the moon.)

(e.g.2. I would recommend this novel to boys between the ages of 12 and 20 because the main character is an adolescent male who they could relate to.)

– Mentioning the ‘level of language’ used is also relevant because this can determine who the novel would appeal to and who would have access to it (who would be able to read and understand it). I.e. Does it use complex language or terms that not many people would understand? Does it contain technical language that only people with specific knowledge would recognise (e.g. medical terminology, legal terms…). We refer to this highly professional language as being FORMAL.

– Does it use everyday language that most people would understand and recognise?
We refer to this as COLLOQUIAL language (the language of everyday use)
– Does it contain terms that only members of certain ‘cultural’ groups would recognise and understand? (e.g. surfies, hippies, skateboarders, bike riders – all create their ‘own’ language). We refer to these terms as SLANG.

Sample Review

Return to Del – by Emily Rodda

Return to Del is the eighth and final book in the Deltora quest series by Emily Rodda. The series tells the story of a young boy named Leif and his quest to locate the seven lost gems of the belt of Deltora. He is assisted on his quest by a former palace guard named Barda and Jasmine, a wild girl who Leif and Barda met on their first adventure to the Forests of Silence. At this point in the series the threesome have found all seven gems needed to reconstruct the Belt of Deltora and go in search of the heir to the throne of Deltora. The novel has many twists and turns that prevents the reader from discovering the truth about the identity of the heir and other characters until the final pages in the novel.

This is an exciting novel because of the many unusual adventures and interesting characters we meet along the way. The characters have many different personalities and quirky habits that amuse the audience. For example, one character named Doom is a very dark and mysterious character who is always suspicious of those around him. We also learn that he is not who he appears to be and is keeping many secrets from those around him.

The reader experiences many different emotions when reading the novel. We are excited by the possibility that the heir to the throne is found but then are disappointed and frustrated when it seems he has been kidnapped by the forces of evil. We also experience sadness when it appears one of the main characters may die because of his injuries but are then relieved when he miraculously becomes well again. Throughout the novel we are also able to feel the emotions that other characters experience because of the way we are able to relate to them and understand them.

My favourite character was Jasmine because she was an independent young girl who made her own decisions and was very resourceful. She kept her mind focused on the task and was able to take care of herself whenever trouble arose. She is an excellent role model for other young women because of her strength and courage and I admired those qualities in her.

I did enjoy reading Return to Del. My favourite part of the book was the ending because all of the pieces of the puzzle we had been given from the start of the series fell into place and everything made sense. I did not have a least favourite part of the novel because exciting things were happening all the time and each chapter left you dying to find out what would happen in the next one by creating suspenseful situations. The characters in the novel were a significant reason why I enjoyed the book. They all had important roles to play in the way the story unfolded and their observations of what was happening in the book were very detailed and helped to paint the picture for me to see things from many perspectives.

I would recommend this novel to boys and girls aged 9-15. The language in the novel is colloquial and very easy to understand. The adventures that the main characters have would also appeal to a teenage audience because they are exciting. The main characters in the novel are also teenagers so this would allow a teenage audience to relate to them. I would rate this novel 9/10.