How To Get Involved in Our 'Review Books' Program

Post by Josh Whiting, Granite District Media Specialist

Granite Media Review Books Program – The Details

What Are ‘Review Books’?

Publishers and authors sometimes send complimentary copies of new release books to our school district, hopeful that we will review them and share them with fellow librarians and teachers in our district and on this website and social media channels. We refer to these books as ‘Review Books.’

If you are a publisher or author interested in sending us review copies, you can find more info and our shipping address on the About Our Book Reviews page.

If you are a member of the Granite School District community (staff, student, family) interested in reviewing books, you’re in the right place; read on!

Step 1: Browse Available Books

Snapshot of some of the available ‘Review Books’ on display on bookshelves in the Granite School District Educational Technology Department office. July 10, 2024.

Librarians, teachers, and students can browse the ‘Review Books’ currently available for review at reviews.granitemedia.org. You can also visit the Granite Educational Technology Department Office to browse and select books in person.

Available books are gathered into collections by format and grade level, but as the books have not yet been reviewed these are best guesses based on publishers’ descriptions. (Reviewers will help us determine the right grade range and section for the book.)

If you are browsing online, contact Joshua Whiting with a list of the titles you would like to review, and they will be sent to you at your school through district mail. We suggest that you limit yourself to 6-8 books per request or visit, and that you read and submit the reviews within about 30 days of receiving the books.

Step 2 – Read the Books and Share Your Reviews

Librarians, teachers/faculty, and students are all welcome to read the review books and share reviews. Use the Share a Book Review form on this site to submit your reviews.

Display from the Bacchus Elementary Book Review Party, featuring the books reviewed by students. On screen is one of their reviews published on this site, Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy. Credit: Lori Lape, Melodie Newman.

Reviews ideally should share information and opinions about the book to help fellow librarians determine whether to add that book to a school collection, which students (by ages and interests) might find the book appealing or beneficial, ways the book could be used or shared in the library or classroom, etc. Librarians might find it helpful to reference the district’s Library Book Selection Criteria as they review books.

Most reviews we receive are written, but we gladly accept and publish reviews in other formats (video, audio, image, presentation, web link, Minecraft world, &c.) Our form accepts web links and most file formats.

Bonus: We also love to receive reviews and recommendations of other recent release children’s and young adult books that have not yet been reviewed on our website. When you share “bonus” reviews with us, we often send out prizes (usually additional free books for the library collection or classroom, or personal giveaways for students.)

Step 3 – Add the Books to Your Library or Give Away to Students

Once you have submitted a review for the book, you can, if you choose to, add the book to the school library collection or give it away as a prize to a student.

In cases where you determine the book is not a good fit for your school’s collection or for your students, you can return the book to Joshua Whiting in Educational Technology. If you still write and submit a review for a returned book you may receive a “bonus” prize book (as mentioned above) instead for your efforts.

Step 4 – Explore and Follow Our Community Reviews

Follow the reviews posted on Granitemedia.org to hear from your colleagues and students on the latest children’s and young adult books.

Browse the Best New Books categories linked in the ‘Book Reviews’ menu above or in the sidebar at right, use the search bar at the top of the sidebar to see if we’ve reviewed a specific title, author, or topic, and click on genre and subject tags in individual review posts to further explore our archive of thousands of published reviews.

We’ve taken a short break from posting reviews this summer, but on July 25, 2024 we will recommence publishing new reviews at a cadence of at least two reviews each school day. We will also recommence sharing reviews through our social media channels and via emails to school library staff.

Again, if you have more books to recommend, please share your reviews! We’d love to hear from you and add your voice to our site.

Please contact Joshua Whiting in the Granite Educational Technology Department with any questions about the review books program or the granitemedia.org website.