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HOW TO WRITE A BOOK REPORT
A BOOK REPORT:
by Billie A Williams
Your teacher says she wants you to write a book report.  What is a book report? You look up the word report and then you really get scared.  The dictionary says it means to make or present an often official formal or regular account of something; and a whole host of other definitions equally as scary.  So what do you do? 

You make a sandwich.  Yes that’s right.

Recipe for a Sandwich:
Bread,
Lettuce,
Tomato,
Mayonnaise,
Cheese
Ham

The first slice of bread is: The title and the author of the book
The lettuce is: a short summary of the book
The tomato slice is: the main character
The mayonnaise is the setting (where it happens)
The cheese is: the book’s climax (how it ends)
The ham slice is: a short description of the plot
The bottom slice of bread is your favorite scene from the story
To gather your ingredients here is what you need to do:

First you have to read the book.  You really can’t tell about it if you haven’t read it.  I recommend that you read the inside flaps on the book jacket, then read the back cover and then, if there is an introduction read that. 

The book jacket flaps give you a quick overview of the book (tell you in a nut shell what it’s about) the back cover blurb ( a short paragraph usually on the back of the book) adds to that.  Now if you read the introduction you get what the author thinks the book is about.  Who knows better what he is trying to say than the author.

The same goes for a book’s forward if there is one.  It contains important information about the book. It is a great help in understanding the book. You miss very important information if you skip the front matter in a book because you are in a hurry to get to the meat--the inside—of the book.

Second, look at the table of contents (If your book has one).  Write down the list – as you read you can add in a sentence or two under each heading to help you remember what you read about that particular chapter. (Lettuce)

Third, as you read make a list of the characters you run across, and as the book mentions things that relate to that character like physical attributes (details like hair andeye color, clothes and size,) make a note of that next to the characters name.  Also, if the book tells their favorite color, food, hobby, things to do or their favorite music make a note of that under the person’s name. (Tomato)

Fourth, notice the settings, where the story takes place—is it in a corn field, a museum, a haunted house, a house like yours, a school and to the time of year, (spring, summer, winter, or fall) is it raining, snowing, is it cold or hot.  Anything that will help you make a picture of it for people when you tell them about the story. (Mayonnaise)

When you are all done with that you can ask yourself some questions that will help you write the book report for instance:
1. What was the story about – can you write a sentence that tells me what the story was about? (This is your summary. For instance: The story was about a boy whose family was stranded on a deserted island and they had to learn to live off the land.) (Lettuce)
2. Who were the main characters (who did the book talk about most?)Tomato
3. What did the main characters do in the story?  (Was he the president of his school class or was she the top horse back rider in the country, was he just an ordinary kid trying living day to day?) (Ham)
4. Did the main characters run into any problems? (Ham)
5. Did the main characters have any adventures? (Ham)
6. Who was your favorite character?  Why? (Bread)