Book
Review Instructions for 8B and 7C
A book review is a discussion
and evaluation of ideas in a book. You
will be responsible for writing a book review of every book you read for
Reader’s Workshop. Every book that you read must be approved by your
teacher before you begin
reading. You will be responsible for
recording each new book on the
Reader’s Workshop Log in the green binder on my filing cabinet. A book review will not be accepted unless
the book has been approved and is recorded on this log. A quarter of your reading grade will
depend on the quality of each book review that you write, so please put a
lot of effort into each book review.
(The minimum requirement for books is one book per marking
period. But, the more books that you
read and reviews you do, the better chance you have of bringing up your
grade. I.E. - If your first book
report was done poorly, you can bring up your grade by doing a fabulous one
for your next book.)
Begin your book review with an
introduction that identifies the author and the title of the book. Hook your reader in, and give the reader
some background on the author.
The body of the review will
consist of several paragraphs. Each body paragraph must be at least five to
seven sentences. Be sure to include specific examples from the novel to
support your comments. In other
words, you must have at least one direct quote in your review which is
worth five points.
The first body paragraph should
be a short summary of the novel.
Give a six to ten sentence overview of the book. Make sure you include how the story
starts, the events that lead up to the climax, the climax or turning point,
and how the story is resolved.
The next paragraph will be an
overview of the characters and setting in the story. Who are the characters
in the novel? Make inferences about
the characters using dialogue, actions, and other characters. What is the
setting of the story? How does it
influence the characters and events in the story?
The last body paragraph should
discuss the theme of the novel. What
is the message or the moral of the story?
Why do you believe that?
Finally, your conclusion will
provide your judgment of the book.
Did you like the book or not?
Why? Would you recommend this
book to a fellow classmate, and if so, whom? What type of person would enjoy this
book?
Each paragraph is worth ten
points. Always proofread your work before you hand it in; you don’t
want to loose points for simple mistakes.
Also remember to have your book approved
by the teacher and written down
in the reader’s log before you hand in your review.
