Whether you are an author, teacher, student, parent or librarian, your book reviews matter. They matter for both readers and writers. They help readers choose the right book and they provide feedback for all authors, including middle grade authors. So, let’s take a look at the art of writing book reviews.
Why Writing Book Reviews Matters
How do students find appropriate books for their interest, reading level and genre tastes? Of course there are many ways including book covers, book descriptions and book recommendations. We’ll focus on that last one in this article. If students receive one or two book recommendations from a teacher, parent, librarian or fellow student, there’s a good chance that it might not necessarily be taken seriously or provide enough information. But what about hundreds of recommendations from hundreds of readers? That’s basically what book reviews are. And, needless to say, like snowflakes, no two book reviews will be the same. That’s what makes them so valuable. They provide many different viewpoints. These different viewpoints are helpful when trying to decide what to read. So yes… your book review is helpful and valuable.
How to Write Useful Book Reviews for Middle school books
You will find very few nuggets of advice on this topic, because it is assumed that everyone knows how to write helpful book reviews. Of course that is patently false. Most people do not know how to write useful book reviews. They focus too much on their opinion and their star ratings. Don’t get me wrong, your opinion is important and, in most cases, the star rating is mandatory. But book reviews should be so much more than these two factors. For example, your opinion is just that… an opinion. Go ahead and write a couple sentences about your own personal thoughts on the book. But don’t forget to share important information like the readability of the book, the topics covered in the book, its suitability for middle school students (or preteens, or teens or YA or…) Try to think about it from a wide range of viewpoints other than just your own. Is it spooky, scary or horror? Is it funny, humorous or drop-dead-hilarious? If you say it’s confusing, give a brief explanation why. Don’t forget, authors usually read reviews of their books, and your comments may be helpful for the next book they are in the process of writing. A good book review should be helpful, useful, entertaining and informative.
Key Elements of a Helpful Middle Grade Book Review
When composing a book review for middle school students, outline the key components of the book. This will include a brief summary, opinions on character development, pacing, themes, and why the book is (or isn’t) suitable for middle school readers. These elements are the foundation of your review, but feel free to let your personality or playfulness come out in the review. So your opinion is included in the review but does not make up the entire review. Never forget, that your review may help students discover their favorite book of all time. For reluctant readers, your book review may turn them on to the very first book they ever love and spark an interest in lifelong reading.
Examples of Strong and Weak Book Reviews
How about we take a look at some book reviews from Goodreads and Amazon. I won’t tell you which ones are strong and which ones are weak. I’ll let you decide. Are they good or bad, and what would you do to make them better?
Here’s an example of a Goodreads review of the book “Escape from Sleepy Hollow:”
- Now check out this review of a humorous Valentine’s Day Book.
- Compare those reviews to this review of a spooky middle grade book based on a Charles Dickens holiday classic.
Tips for Middle Grade Students: Writing Their Own Book Reviews
Encourage middle school students to write book reviews by sharing simple, engaging book review tips tailored to their age and abilities. Preteens are likely to get excited to see their reviews published online, so help them write reviews and then post them on a book review site for them. As soon as it goes live, show it to them and see their eyes light up. You may want to mention that their review may be seen by peers all over the world. This quick and fun activity encourages both reading and writing. It can be facilitated by middle school parents, teachers or librarians.
Where to Share Your Middle School Book Reviews
Suggest platforms like Goodreads, Amazon, school blogs, and classroom bulletin boards where parents, teachers, and students can share reviews to help others discover great books. Some of these review sites may not be readily available to students, but as detailed in the section above, there are ways to work around that. Don’t forget, with every book review, you are helping readers, writers, students, parents, teachers and librarians. Don’t get hung up on the star rating system. Remember that writing and publishing a book is a lot of work. For that reason, you may want to consider lowering your requirements for doling out four and five-star reviews, but then provide constructive criticism (if warranted) in the body of the review. We’re all in this world of reading and writing together. How about we help each other with the adventure of writing and the joy of reading?
