REVIEWS
BE A BOOK CRITIC
“The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps greater.”
~J.R.R. Tolkien
Reviewing a favorite or not so favorite book will help your reading comprehension or understanding of what you have just read. It also gives you an opportunity to voice your feelings or opinions about the book in question and will help you develop your own unique voice or writing style. There is a formula or recipe that you can follow that will help you formulate ideas and include certain elements or ingredients that will make a stronger critique. By practicing these steps, you are essentially mastering a very complicated yet rewarding skill that will serve you in many remarkable ways including how to appreciate not only books, but movies, plays, and TV shows.
Step 1. Find Examples of Good Book Reviews...
March 23, 2020
Kirkus has been assisting librarians and teachers curate or select books with literary and thematic merit for the past 30 years. It considers titles for all ages and groups them into various collections. Consider the reviews of these popular Middle School titles, choose several and read through the critique of the written work. This will help you discover those important elements that are included in a book review.
Step 2: Learn to Pick Out the Main Elements...
March 23, 2020
As you are reading the Kirkus Reviews by tapping on the book covers that interest you...pay close attention to the details that are included in the professional review...see how good of a spy you are in picking these details out...
~The book's title and author
~A brief summary of the plot that doesn't give away the ending
~Comments on the book's strengths and weaknesses...the good, the bad, and the ugly
~The reviewer's personal response to the book with specific examples or text evidence [quotes] that support their praise or criticisim
Step 3: Take Notes
March 23, 2020
While you are reading the book be sure to jot down ideas and details of specific scenes or quotes you might want to use to support these main elements of a good book critique or review. Questions that may help you in this process would be:
~Does the book fall into a specific genre...mystery, horror, adventure, romance, science fiction, realistic fiction or fantasy?
~What is the setting and the time period of the story?
~Are the main characters believable? Are they adequately described?
~What do you like or dislike about the author's style of writing?
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