Book Reviews

So this tool that I found for use in a school library is a fantastic website!  Common Sense media is a website where parents write reviews for popular teen novels.  I had the opportunity to interview a middle school librarian recently and she mentioned that she doesn't buy books without consulting here first.

Common Sense Media book reviews.

I love the concept of this website because it moves from the back cover description into what the content is.  I have learned that it is very important to judge the culture of the community for which your students live in because it will show signs of what the reaction might be to more controversial young adult titles.  The parent reviews cover appropriate age as well as different content topics.

I love this idea just to be able to judge what is coming into the library before it is on the shelf or before a parent raises concerns.  While it might not cover all the material, it could be a great starting place for new books for the library collection.

I explored all different areas of this website and I love what it has to offer.  Not only does it offer fairly comprehensive reviews of current teen books, it explores older novels, children's books, as well as apps, movies, TV shows and more.  I can see using this to add different items to the library such as good movies that could be used in class or if the school where I work has them, apps for the ipad or other tablet device.

The middle school librarian that uses this site talks about how she has been able to limit books that invite parental concern by reviewing content through here first.  Of course, there is no replacement from reading the book and I don't know how every parent will react to each book but what a great way to have forewarning of language or violence, etc.

Now to just find that library.... :)