NCYA Book Review

Any book selected for this assignment either 1) be on the NCYA current list or 2) be a title available to be nominated for the 2015 award. Copyright date can be earlier than 2012. If the book is on the list, you may vote for the book if you desire for the 2014 award year. If you would like to nominate the book you read, you may do so as well.

Format: Assignment Guidelines

For additional format specifics, please see example below for a fiction title:

Sorceress

by Celia Rees

Call Number: F REE Genre: Historical Fantasy

Double space in between the title and the text of the review.

Part One: This first paragraph (at least 5 sentences long) should be a brief and engaging plot

summary. This part is designed to convince your fellow classmates to read the book, so it

must be engaging but without giving away too much of the story. DO NOT USE “YOU” IN YOUR

REVIEW. Always refer to the reader or the audience.

WARNING Plagiarism (copying any part of the material from another source) will result in any automatic zero.

Part Two: The second paragraph should consist of comments on the book and the elements

of the story, the good, the bad, and the ugly with examples from the story to support your

comments. HOWEVER, the commentary must be written in the 3rd person; in other words, DO

NOT begin your comments with the word “I.” Instead, begin your comment with whatever you

are commenting on. For example, if you thought one of the characters was particularly funny

you could say, “Roger, the older brother, was very funny and kept the story going with his antics

like getting stuck in the toilet.” Note that the comment does not begin with “I” and that an

example or reason for the comment/opinion is provided. You would NOT say, “I really liked

Roger because he was so funny”--- one because the comment starts with “I” and two because no

reason or example from the story is given to support the comment. You may also speak about

other elements of the story, such as certain scenes or events, or a technique the author used like

flashbacks or flash-forwards. Your review does not have to be all positive, you may write about

those elements which you did not like as well----just be careful NOT to say, “I think” or “I liked”

or “I didn’t like” etc. The review should end with a recommendation for or against the book

and the reason why. “This book is not/recommended for/because….

Book review may be turned in early for critique and resubmitted for a grade.

Rees, Celia. Sorceress. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print.

(THE BOOK MUST BE NO OLDER THAN 3 YEARS FROM THE CURRENT YEAR)

(Don't forget that in a citation, if there is more than one line, the second line should have a hanging

indent - like this line)

Robin Jordan

Page footer:

Rev. 8/2013 R. Jordan

Educational Media I, Page 10 of 16

Rubric for grading the Fiction Book Review

Fiction Book Review

Name ______________________

Grade _____

For a Non-fiction title:

NCYA Non-Fiction Book Review Guidelines

Format: see specifications in Assignment Guidelines

For additional format specifics, please see example below:

Forever Outsiders

by Linda Jacobs Altman

Call Number: 940.53 ALT

Content:

The purpose of the non-fiction review is to let other students know whether or not

this particular book would be helpful for doing research on the subject it’s about. For

example, if you were to review a non-fiction book on teen suicide, your review would

focus on how useful the book is for research on teen suicide. Do not use “I” or “YOU”

in the review.

Part One: This is a brief summary of what the book covers or the content of the book.

Explain WHAT the main topic is, HOW the author covers the topic (in what main

sections), and indicate any special FEATURES that book includes like a list of helpful

organizations or websites, etc.

WARNING Plagiarism (copying any part of the material from another source) will result in any automatic zero.

Part Two: Use the specific terms on the Information Problem Solving: Evaluation of

Sources handout to evaluate how useful this book is for research. You do not have

to discuss Availability since you will only be able to review books that are available

in our Media Center. You may choose to discuss either Appropriateness or Relevance

since they mean essentially the same thing. If there are illustrations, comment on

whether or not they are helpful and why/not. Think about what you would want to

know if you were doing a research paper on the topic. For example, if the book is

about a disease, you will definitely want to know about the causes, symptoms, and

treatments. If any of these topics are not addressed or can’t be easily found, you

should comment on that. If you cannot find all of the information you would expect

or need, state what type of information you would add. At the end of the section,

indicate whether or not the book is recommended and why.

Altman, Linda Jacobs. Forever Outsiders. Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1998

Bobby Jameson

(THE BOOK MUST BE NO OLDER THAN 3 YEARS FROM THE CURRENT YEAR)

Non-Fiction Book Review Rubric