Background and Procedures
Recommendation Scale:
Highly
Recommended -- Recommended -- Average -- Poor -- Not Recommended
When formulating my Down
and Dirty assessment I am looking for subject matter to which an audience
might be more sensitive: violence of any kind (sexual, physical, personal, emotional,
etc.), harsh language, illegal activity (drug use, crime, etc.), and depictions
(implied or explicit) of sexuality.
I have been a librarian in a variety of environments and countries and
know that different cultures have different sensitivities; as always, weigh your values independently before
selecting a book.
When recommending an age
for readership, I take into consideration the subject matter, the target
audience, the ages of characters, the vocabulary, etc. These are a guideline only: my attempt
to offer more information to assist you, the reader or guardians of the
reader. My personal reading habits
are not limited by age recommendations, and I hope you might also sample a
broad range of materials.
No stranger to living in multi-language environments, I
always try to note the English language
reading abilities necessary for a text. When possible I will also include the Lexile Level as well. Lexile levels
are an approximate measure of English reading abilities, on a scale
from 0L or 2000L. Lexile measures do not take into account the maturity
of the subject matter of a book, and only analyze the difficulty of the
vocabulary contained therein.
The 20 is my attempt to
honestly and succinctly summarize the book and my review in 20 words or
less. Under Read-Alikes I also try to include similar materials for your
consideration. I might also choose
to include my favorite quotations
from the book, should a turn of phrase or passage resonate with me.
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