Writing can be about anything – including someone else’s writing! This post by Adora Svitak focuses on how to write a book review – including how it differs from a book report.

Adora Svitak is an American child prodigy and internationally published author, known for her essays, stories, poems, blogs, and full-length books. Her book, Flying Fingers describes Adora’s abiding love of language and writing and contains tips and hints for other aspiring writers. In 2005, at the age of 7, Adora began writing blogs and keeping an online journal, where she comments on matters of both international significance and subjects of personal interest. Since Nov, 2005 Adora has been leveraging her talent and fame to promote literacy and interest in reading and writing. She has lectured before large audiences of both students and adults around the world.

Adora is also a user of MY Access!® Home Edition. You can see her talk about using My Access! here.

Learn more about Adora and her work on her website at http://www.adorasvitak.com/

Here are some tips on how to write a book review:

1.) Be sure to include essential information. Essential information includes things like author’s name, title of the book, etc. Give your reader essential information before launching right into your in-depth views on the book. It’s confusing to read a book review when you don’t know the book being reviewed. However, you probably don’t just want to say, “The title of the book is _____ and the author is ______ .”

Instead, weave the essential information into the first few lines of your book review. An example would be: “Have you ever wished that you could live underwater? Children’s fiction author Ickelrickelmickel LeThiampackitur brings readers inside the world of a mermaid colony in the Chesapeake Bay with his new epic, There’s a Lot of Water, Hmm?” (Obviously, I made this up, but you get the message.)

2.) Be sure to write about:

a.) the book’s setting
b.) what the book is about (duh!)
c.) the book’s genre
d.) what the “voice” of the narrator is like
e.) the characters in the book

You probably already know what a book’s setting is–the setting is the place and time where the story is set. You should write what the book is about without giving away secrets or spoiling surprises in the book. That can definitely be hard…I know from experience! Look at some other book summaries for inspiration. A book’s genre is a very important part of the book. The genre is basically the type of book. Is the book mystery? fantasy? contemporary? anthromorphic? Knowing a book’s genre, along with other things, can help readers decide whether they want to read the book or not. Remember, readers–don’t be afraid of exploring new genres. You might discover a new favorite book! Talk about the voice of the narrator as well. Who is the narrator? Is the narration first-person, second-person, or third-person? And last but certainly not least, be sure to write about the characters in the book, their personalities, and maybe some of your favorites.

3.) Remember, you’re writing a book review, not a book report. You want your review to hold your opinions on the book. Anyone can read an objective summary about a book. Your book review is special because it holds your views on the book. Include your likes and dislikes, and write about the book from all aspects and not just one. Maybe you like the villains in a certain fantasy story but you thought that the tale was too long and convoluted. Or you read a contemporary story that was exciting at first but grew worse as it went on. Also think about the type of people who would enjoy the book. Your great granny might not be so thrilled about reading that thrilling, gory, and murder-filled mystery, for instance. If you loved a book, but you think that it might be inappropriate for little kids, write that. Your readers will thank you for thinking of them.

4.) You might want to include some interesting tidbits of information about the book and/or author into your review. For example, “Did you know that Adora Svitak loosely based the Diary of a Pre-Teen character Joan on her older sister Adrianna?” This is not an absolute must, however.

5.) Writing a book review is not, contrary to myth, drudgery and hard work. In fact, writing a book review can be just the opposite! Whatever you do, there is one thing that you cannot miss. Be sure to HAVE FUN!!!

This post originally appeared on Adora’s Book Club site.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 9:29 am and is filed under Because Writing Matters... At Home, Author Series: Tips for Young Writers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.