Book Reviews

Want to write reviews for BAYA’s website? Please check out the review guidelines, then email your submission to bayalibrarian @ gmail . com. The Director of Correspondence will respond to your email.

A majority of our book reviews are those intended for the teen audience, but reviews of professional development publications for librarians serving teens are also accepted. 

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

Quality Ratings (in stars):

5: Hard to imagine a better book

4: Better than most

3: Liked it

2: Readable

1: How did it get published?

Age/Audience Ratings (May assign more than one):

MS: Middle School (Grades 6 and 8)

HS: High School (Grades 9 and 10)

OT: Older Teen (Grades 11 and 12)

AT: All teens

H/L: High interest/Low reading level 

Procedures:

Please follow this format when submitting reviews:

  • Author last name, first name. Title. Publisher, Year. Pages (xx p.). ISBN-13. Price. Age Ratings and Quality.
  • Review of min of 150 words max 500.
  • Reviewer’s first name and last name, organization’s full name or school name if student or recent grad.

Take the information from the title page, not from the cover. There is no need to include information on other editions.

Example: Westerfeld, Scott. Behemoth. Simon Pulse, 2010. 300p. ISBN: 9781416971757. $8.99. MS HS ****

Followed by Review 150 – 500 words long

-John Doe, Best Library

Reviews submitted without all of the above information will not be published.

Book Review Newsletter Archive

Find BAYA Book Reviews on GoodReads as well! Username: BAYA Librarian