Bay Area Young Adult Librarians

BAYA Book Review Guidelines

Members review current or recently published books that appeal to young adults between the ages 13 to 18 years. The reviews are written for a specific audience: public or school librarians, publishers, educators and people who are interested in young adult literature. Besides giving a brief outline of the book's content, reviewers attempt to convey the flavor of the book, its interest or appeal to young adults, its use with young adults, its place in relation to other books in a particular field and its quality or lack thereof. Since many librarians depend on reviews to purchase materials, BAYA reviews must advise the reader of language, ideas or sexual content that may bring up censorship issues. Please remain as objective as possible while rendering an opinion valuable to the group and audience.

One third of your review should cover the plot or content; two thirds should be a critical evaluation of the book.

Ratings

Procedures
Pick up review books at BAYA meetings and review the following meeting.

•Sign out book on card or list and give to Book Review Chair.
•Take review book with you.
•Read and review book considering the selection criteria.
•Present review or email to Book Review Editor by next meeting.

Review forms
Please follow this format when submitting reviews (Thank you!):
Author Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Year. Pages (xxp.). ISBN. Price.
Rating. Review of 75 to 100 words.
Reviewer First Name and Last Name, Organization's Full Name.

Take the information from the title page, not from the cover. There is no need to include information on other editions. Please limit your review to 75-100 words - enough information for evaluation, but little opportunity for a detailed summary.

Send completed reviews to Debbie Carton via e-mail to [dycarton at yahoo dot com]. Please use this phrase in the subject line: BAYA Review Attachment.