The Library’s Club 1117 Review Crew offers members, ages 11-17, the opportunity to earn community service hours by reviewing teen books! To join the Crew, submit reviews that follow these guidelines using our online form. If your review is accepted, you will be able to earn one community service hour for every review submitted.
Review Guidelines:
- Your review should be about a young adult or juvenile book (middle grade) in the Anne Arundel County Public Library collection. Books should be no more than five years old. Reviews should be around 200-250 words long. You can choose a novel, novella, manga, or graphic novel.
- Start with a couple of sentences describing what the book is about
Briefly summarize the book without giving a blow by blow retelling of the entire story. Give enough details to intrigue the reader without giving any spoilers or revealing any plot twists. As a general rule, try to avoid writing in detail about anything that happens from about the middle of the book onwards. If the book is part of a series, it can be useful to mention this, and whether you think you'd need to have read other books in the series to enjoy this one.
- Discuss what you particularly liked about the book
You could try answering a couple of the following questions:
- Did the characters feel real to you?
- Did the story keep you guessing?
- What was your favorite aspect of the book, and why?
- Were certain aspects of the writing particularly well done? (For example, the dialogue or imagery)
- Did the book make you laugh or cry?
- Did the story engage you and keep you turning the pages?
- Did the book do a good job of exploring certain themes?
- Mention anything you disliked about the book
Was there something that bugged you or that you felt just didn’t work? For example:
- Did you find the ending too tidy, or were you frustrated that it was a cliffhanger?
- Did you find it difficult to care about a main character, and could you work out why?
- Were there a lot of clichés or stereotypes? Was the plot predictable?
- Did the dialogue sound unrealistic?
- Who do you think would like this book?
Summarize some of your thoughts on the book by suggesting the type of reader you'd recommend the book to. For example: younger readers, older readers, fans of relationship drama/mystery stories/comedy. Are there any books or series you would compare it to?
Bonus Hour! Take a creative photo of your reviewed book or make a 30 second review video to share on our Instagram. Photos must be 1080 px by 1080 px in either a .jpg or .png format. Videos must be in .mp4 format.
Submit them to club1117@aacpl.net.