How to Write a Killer Book Report

Reading is important to any education program, and book reports, when handled correctly, show educators that students are reading books and, more importantly, the students are comprehending what they're reading. Of course, this teaching technique doesn't always work flawlessly; every teacher can tell you that he or she has read more than one book report which was obviously written from the book jacket of the assigned book. If you are having trouble completing, or even starting your book report, I have included some guidelines below that may help.

1. Choose the book for you- If you like fantasy, choose a fantasy novel. If you like reading about true life stories, pick a biography. If you are given freedom to choose any book or are given a book list, you could ask your librarians what categories to search (based on what you tell them you like to read).
   
2. Take notes as you read the book. The trick here is to be able to watch for and catch key parts of the book and remember them later when you are telling your own readers about the work. Just write down a few things as they strike you: if something is funny, frightening, complicated, confusing, important to the story's plot, etc., write down a word or two. I promise it will save time and will make your drafting easier!
   
3. Make an outline. The reader of your report will need those things put in a logical order, so he or she can appreciate the book as you do. Using your notes, put the material together either following the order your teacher has recommended, or try one of these orders:
   
• Order of time - Maybe you are writing a report on a true story, a history book, a memoir/biography, or even a fiction novel. You might want to use chronological order in your summary: first this happened, next this happened and so on and so forth.
  
• Order of importance - Or maybe you read a book that had a philosophy or a lesson of sorts. You could start with a small idea from the book, and write about more important ideas and theories, continuing until the most important item is the last thing you write about. The grand finale!
  
4. Now you have the notes, the outline, and an idea of what to talk about and what to leave out. All you have to do now is put it into complete sentences and paragraphs. For any report, be sure to have an introduction, a main point (thesis), a few paragraphs of details/discussion, and a good way of signing off or concluding.

There are a couple other rules that are also good to follow. Be specific. Use character names and demonstrate that you know the relationships between them. Refer to specific parts of the book instead of the work as a whole. Also, talk about either how the book made you feel or what it made you think about. Perhaps offer up a similar situation that happened in your own life that parallels a situation in the book. Show that you understand the characters in the book and what they're going through.

The above were just a few tips for doing a book report. For more, be sure to ask your teacher for clarification and support or your librarian for help or suggestions. And the most important thing to remember, if you have a choice - pick a book you like!