Book reviews and Unshelved...

I subscribe to Unshelved - a daily librarian comic strip which is sent to me electronically as a weekly digest - good for a smile and for the books they promote as part of their advertising...
http://www.unshelved.com/2010-3-29?utm_source=Overdue+Media&utm_campaign=b08363b827-UA-127250-5&utm_medium=email

Subscribe here :
http://notinventedhe.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ca45a0eb0fec571caf7a1cd7a&id=f17681c1b8

Their format for book reviews is :

• the book's details and a very short plot summary
• why I picked it up
• why I finished it
• I'd give it to...

which I think is quite a good structure - maybe students could do reviews along these lines ?
Here is an example :

If I Stay by Gayle Forman. Dutton Juvenile, 2009. 9780525421030. Reviewed by Flemtastic

Mia has a great family, a burgeoning music career and a sensitive boyfriend. Then her family dies in a car accident that leaves her severely injured. In the ICU, she has an extended out-of-body experience. Mia must decide whether to stay on earth, in pain and uncertainty, or to follow her family into the unknown of death.

Why I picked it up: It was nominated for the 2010 Best Books for Young Adults and I serve on the committee.

Why I finished it: This is a memoir told through flashbacks. It is told so gracefully that its genuine sweetness really stands out. It is not a morbid, torture-porn book. Mia's ability to observe her community's response to her accident is never explained, but it doesn't matter, because we are so involved with the characters. The reader is left to wonder right up until the end what decision Mia will make. Tissue Alert - this one is a tearjerker!

I'd give it to: Girls who are in band/orchestra will love the musical angle--Mia is a cellist and her boyfriend, Adam, is in a punk band. Kim, who is rebounding from a bad relationship and needs to know that good guys exist.