Choosing a “good” book
Whoever heard of anyone asking for a recommendation for a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad” book? (Thanks to Judith Viorst for her superb picture book with this title.) Students and teachers always ask me for the name of a “good” book. I wish it were that easy.
“Easy” is the individual who is a confident enough reader that s/he will try almost anything even if the book is not a preferred author or genre. For most folks recommendations are offered only after a dialogue narrows the considerations by topic, length, difficulty, etc. I find these opportunities always challenging, sometimes frustrating, and downright uplifting when, on rare occasions, students return to let me know that a book was a perfect fit.
To this end, I read as many books as I can fit into my on-going commitments. Sometimes they get all jumbled up and my lasting impressions don’t do justice to what the author deserves.
Over the holiday I read Revolution is not a Dinner Party Ying Chang Compestine, an eye-opener if you are not familiar with the Peoples’ Revolution in China. This is a fictionalized account based on the author’s experience of the devastating effect of the Communist ideology on Chinese culture.
I also read Toby Wheeler, Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer by Thatcher Heldring. I’m not much of an athlete and I don’t “speak” fluent basketball but this was still a great story about a kid who plays a lot of ball at the rec and decides to take up the challenge to be part of the school team even if it means he is the “twelfth man,” the benchwarmer.
Don’t Call me Ishmael by Michael Gerard Bauer is for every kid whose name has made them the focus of unwanted, unkind, and down-right bullying attention. how exactly do you ignore, turn-the-other-cheek, get even with the clowns who make your life miserable? You hope you find the perfect friend, the one who is not afraid of anything. Be sure that you know at least a little bit about Herman Melville’s book Moby Dick so that the references don’t leave you wondering.
Last, I want to mention The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by the late Lloyd Alexander. This book was published in August of 2007 and the author died the same year. I wish the book cover were more inspiring because the story is a wonderful blend of Arabian Nights glamour, mystique, and blood-shed with a fabulous array of characters. There is the hero Carlo Chuchio whose name means donkey and who in his search for treasure, does have the knack for making unfortunate decisions. There is the rib-tickling side-kick Baksheesh whose smooth-talking gets his master out of trouble and himself out of work. There is the beautiful and capable damsel Shira who joins Carlo in his adventure in order to to complete her own quest. And, of course, there are the villains who do unspeakable things and add just the right amount of heart-stopping moments.
My hope has always been that students will share their favorite titles and thoughts on what they have read on this blog. Until I come up with another format I’ll keep extending the invitation. Please share…how do you choose a good book or help others to choose? What “good books” have you read lately?
I choose book based on what I see first. I know imp not suppose to judge a book by its cover but i’m not going pick up a book that’s completely white. I have to see something on the cover that catches my eye then I will read the summary and exc. exc. most all the books I have read I loved so much I wonted a series of them to appear so I could keep reading and reading until finally the author just stops. I love reading and that’s my way of choosing a good book
When I try to find a good book I do several things. I first ask my friends if they have read any good books lately. If so I would try reading those because me and my friends have similar interest. Otherwise I try finding books by an author that I like. If they have no new books out I try searching keywords of books that would be good, or keywords that appeal to me. If I am trying to help someone else choose a book I would first ask them what they like to read or what some of their interest are. If they have similar interest I would direct them to books that I liked. If they have other interest I would search a key word that protains to them and find a book that way. I just read a pretty good book lately called “TTYL”. It was about three friends who talked over instant messaging. They are in tenth grade and are overcoming many issues.
The easiest way to find a book is to log on the computer and go to destiny and type the key word of the book that you want and it should be up on the list that pops up. Another way to find a book is by the library aids or Mrs. Huba for the book that you want. Some books that I like are all the western books but that’s just me. A really good author that writes good western books is Gary Paulsen. He tells his stories with so much power in his writing and makes you keep wondering he is awesome!!!
The first way i go to choose a good book is to ask my friends if they reccomend any. if that dosent work out for me i would ask mrs. huba ,she is very good with helping find a book that would be just right for you. if i cant do anything else i sometimes go to a website and try to find popular books . i like a book that captures my intrest the whole time. my favorite books to read are funny ones.
A good way to choose a book is to first find a catergory (or genre) that seems interesting to you. Then you go look for that kind of book. Now I know that everybody knows the old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” But come on! Nobodys going to choose a book that has magical pixie horses on the cover except for mabye a two year old. So find a book that has an interesting cover. Also another way to make sure you get a good book is read either the inside flap of the book or the back of it (depending on the book). You could also check out the first chapter and see if you like that. The only problem with the chapter method is that sometimes the first chapter is the slowest. So if you ask me the best method to chose a book is the flap and back method. And those are a few ways to choose a good book. A good book that I read lately is a book by Jordan Sonneblick called Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie. And if you you liked that book you should read Jordan Sonnenblick’s other book Notes From the Midnight Driver which features some of the same characters. So I highly recomend those two books and I hope you enjoy them too. And thats all I have to say.
I know i am not supposed to judge a book by its cover but i will usually look and see if the cover of a book looks good. After i look at the cover i will read the part of the book that gives the summary. I also look for books that i have heard my friends say good things about if they sound like they will interest me.