November Book Review

I. Summarizing
II. Conflict Resolution
III. Synthesizing
IV. Authors Purpose
V. Theme
VI. Authors Brief
VII. Creative Bookmark
Directions: Please follow the format. If you choose to type, your information must be typed in Times New Roman or
Arial, Font size 12.
Page 1: Name
Date: December 1st 2014
November Book Review
Title
Author
Class Period
Rate your book 1-10 (10 is the highest)
Parent Signature

Page 2: This is where you will start typing the answers to the following questions. The
questions will be about a specific reading strategy. Write the name of the reading strategy as
your heading. Type your answers according to the question asked. Be sure your numbers on
your paper correspond with the numbers to the questions. Note: NO LATE REVIEWS WILL
BE ACCEPTED!! BOOK REVIEW IS DUE December 1st-NO EXCEPTIONS!!

1. Summarizing
Summarizing is when you pick out the most important ideas in the text and keep the
writing to a minimum. You need to write 5-7 complete sentences. Be sure to tell how
your book ends.
2. Conflict Resolution
In this process you will identify a problem that exists in your book. First, write a
paragraph on a problem that happened in your book. Next, write another paragraph on
how that problem was solved. In both paragraphs, (5-10 sentences), you will need to
choose well developed characters and situations to analyze.
Example:
In The Outsiders, one conflict involves Ponyboy and his oldest brother Darry. At the
beginning of the story they cannot get along. Ponyboy feels Darry is very cold and treats him
differently that his other brother Sodapop. Ponyboy believes Darry doesnt love him. This
leads to not only an argument between the boys about being out too late, but it also causes
Ponyboy to run away that same night, with disastrous results. Ponyboy and Johnny end up

getting jumped by the Socs and Johnny, to save Ponyboy, kills the Soc named Bob. Ponyboy and
Johnny have to hide out so they hop a freight train for Windrixville, without word to either of
Ponyboys brothers.
The conflict is resolved a few days later. Ponyboy and Johnny save a group of children
from the burning church, but both sustain injuries and are taken to the hospital. At the
hospital Ponyboy is reunited with Darry and Sodapop and he sees how worried Darry had been.
Over the next few days Ponyboy and Darry have a chance to talk and Ponyboy realizes how much
they both mean to each other. By the end of the story, Ponyboy and Darry have a much better
understanding of and respect and love for each other.
3. Synthesizing
As you read, your brain synthesizes information from the words to comprehend the
sentences. It then synthesizes the information from the sentences to comprehend the
paragraphs, and so on as you move through the text. The text tells you some things, you
draw conclusions from information you read and from your own life experiences. You
summarize, conclude, infer, generalize, and then you read some more, incorporate the new
information, and draw even bigger conclusions.
Your first step in this portion of the book review is to pick 5 of these sentence starters and
complete the sentence with your own thoughts from your novel.
I began to think of
I love the way
I wonder why
I still dont know
I wonder why
I noticed
I think
If I were
I want to learn more about

I know the feeling

I dont really understand
I cant believe
I realized
The confusing thing is
I was surprised
I would recommend this book to
Im not sure

Example:

I began to think of students in my school when I read about the characters in the novel.
I cant believe Dally died such a horrible and shocking death.
I would recommend this book to any students who are struggling to find their identity.
I wonder why Darry was so hard on Ponyboy.
If I were Ponyboy, I would not be handling the deaths of my two best friends as well as he
did.
4.

Authors Purpose
An author writes for many reasons. An author may write to inform, to give you facts or
true information about a subject. An author may also write to entertain, such as in a

fiction (untrue) story. Alternatively, an author may write to persuade or to try to get
you to do something.
Tell what your authors purpose was in writing the book. Support your statement
with 3 examples and explanations from the story.
Example:
S.E. Hintons purpose in The Outsiders is to entertain. She does this by writing the story
about a group of teenagers and the tough times they go through. This story is entertaining
because it focuses on real life teens- they are like kids I might know. For example, many people
have had friends that are worse off than them, like Johnny, or in a different group of people,
like Cherry. They can relate to these characters in the book. This story leaves you wondering
what will happen to Ponyboy and Johnny.

5. Theme
Discuss the main idea or theme of the book. The theme is the basic, universal message
explored in the book. Ideas like believe in yourself, accept others differences, and
dont be afraid to try new things are common themes. In 5-7 sentences, tell what the
main idea or them of the novel is. Use examples from your novel to support your
ideas.
Example: The main theme of The Outsiders is overcoming adversity makes us stronger. Darry,
Ponyboy, and Sodapop lost their parents in an accident and were able to stay together as long as
everyone stayed out of trouble. Ponyboy, however, had a hard time believing that Darry really
loved him because Darry was always on him about something. It took Ponyboy running away,
returning, and facing the consequences to realize that Darry really loved him.
6. Authors Brief
Knowing information about the author of your novel is sometimes just as important as the
novel itself. List five informational facts about your author. These should be beyond the
generic answer of my author is a boy or girl.
Example:
S.E. Hinton was 16 when she wrote Outsiders.
S.E. Hinton was known as The Voice of Youth.
S. E Hintons hobby is horseback riding.
7. Creative Bookmark
It is important not only to read the text, but also to visualize the story in your head.
Your task is to make a creative bookmark for your novel. Your bookmark should include
the title and author of your story, as well as a picture and your name on the back. Your
bookmark should be creative and colorful, and the design done by you, not a computer.
You will be given a piece of card stock for your bookmark and it will be laminated and
returned to you.

7th grade writing rules:

-spell commonly misspelled words correctly
-write in complete sentences
-use apostrophes when writing contractions
-use proper punctuation at the end of sentences
-make sure someone else reads/edits your work before you turn it in
-Indent properly
-no text language like b/c, u, bff, lol, 4