Book Reviews

Having finished reading their first novel of the semester for this course, it is now time for the students to write their first book review. The students will review Robin Sloan's Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Each book review will start with a summary, include two parts of the novel to evaluate (not just analyze - evaluate), and finally give their overall recommendation. The evaluation part seems to be the hardest for my students because they are not used to using stuff like theme and characterization to express their opinion, only literary analysis. To help, I created one body paragraph that might serve as an example for my students. (FYI: I do not agree with this evaluation, but I thought it would be fun to branch outside of my comfort zone.)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone suffers because of its negative theme for children. When tracking down a rogue professor who means to steal a magical item that promises eternal life, the main characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger follow him down a trapdoor. This path leads them to a series of challenges that guard the stone. The first task is a strangling plant known as the Devil’s Snare. Harry and Ron are trapped, but Hermione is free to help. She remembers that this plant hates light, but she does not have the resources to start a fire. Ron shouts, “ARE YOU MAD? ... ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?”(278). Hermione remembers she has a magic wand, makes some fire and saves the day. The lesson here, obviously, is that no one needs hard work because magic will always be there to save the day. This is a horrible lesson to teach the youth of America because it will only create a generation of lazy individuals who wait around for a Hogwarts letter instead of actually trying in school and getting into a good college. Humans need to face their problems head on in this life, and thinking that there is a magical resource to come and save you is dangerous. Humans need to be in control of their own life and do what it takes to achieve goals in the real world. The unrealistic message of this book to its readers makes it a poor choice.

I used theme as one of my main topics to evaluate this novel. Yes, I had to analyze the theme and say what the author's main message was, but I continued to use that as an evaluation tool for whether the book is good or bad. This extra step is crucial in writing a book review. For more information, please check out the directions on Moodle and the grading rubric included in the directions.