The World's Best Thin Books, Revised: What to Read When Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow [Paperback]

Joni Richards Bodart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 9, 2000

The book report is due and panic sets in. A THIN book is the ticket. But perhaps a THINNER book? Or the THINNEST book of all? And how to pick one (quickly) that will be interesting?

Students, teachers, and librarians will love this handy little volume that describes 100 titles recommended for middle and high school students. Readable, attention-grabbing--all are less than 200 pages. Each entry lists title and author, provides information on characters, plot, and action, and even suggests topics to cover in a book report. Librarians and teachers will appreciate the inclusion of curricular areas and readability indexes, and students will find the appendix on approaches to writing a book report or booktalk a real gold mine.

Five indexes make locating the perfect title a breeze.The genre index guides you to the kind of book you want to read. The subject index lists dozens of subjects, from adoption to writing, divorce to time travel. The readability index guides you to the "quick reads" or "thoughtful novels." If you have a favorite author or already know of a novel you want to read, there is the author or title index. Finally, the curriculum index allows you to look for a book for a particular class.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Clearly aware of the many reluctant readers and procrastinators among teens, Bodart has compiled a list of high-quality, quick-to-read books (all still in print) that is sure to satisfy. Each entry provides just enough description to pique reader interest and includes bibliographic notation, information on readability and subjects covered, an annotated list of characters, and a cursory booktalk that emulates the author's tone and point of view. She concludes each entry with a list of major themes addressed in the book and possible book report or booktalk ideas. The six-part appendix enhances the book's usefulness with indexes of authors, titles, genre, subjects, readability, and curriculum areas. Teachers compiling new book lists and librarians seeking high-quality shorter novels will like this, but it will be especially helpful to students who need to discover that brevity is not the only criterion for selecting a book. Roger Leslie

Review

Teachers compiling new book lists and librarians seeking high-quality shorter novels will like this, but it will be especially helpful to students who need to discover that brevity is not the only criterion for selecting a book. (Booklist )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press; Revised edition (May 9, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578860075
• ISBN-13: 978-1578860074
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,180,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great resource, May 9, 2002

By 

Dawn Kessinger (Lima, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The World's Best Thin Books, Revised: What to Read When Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow (Paperback)

This is a good resource especially for librarians and teachers, but it wouldn't hurt parents to have a copy, either. This is an easy and quick way to check on shorter, but quality, books that kids who like to procrastinate can read for school. Bodart is very thorough in including as much information about the book as possible in as brief a way as possible - the only problem I see with that is kids or teens using the information listed in "World's Best Thin Books" as the source for their reports instead of actually reading the book. Also, as one who works in the youth services dept. of a public library, I've seen the problem of kids (and parents) not wanting to read a book that's not on an accelerated reading list. Some of the books in Bodart's compilation ARE on the accelerated reading lists, but there's still the problem of because the books are shorter, less points are awarded (not always, but sometimes) to kids who read those books and for that reason alone, shorter books are set aside. Regardless of outside glitches, Bodart has a great idea and presents a thorough, easy to use reference book for anyone who is in the position to encourage a child to read a shorter (or in this case, thinner) book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource, February 19, 2011

By 

PMacLady (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World's Best Thin Books, Revised: What to Read When Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow (Paperback)

This is an excellent resource for librarians, teachers, home-schoolers, parents and students! Trying to help a reluctant reader? This book will suggest titles and provide a framework for book reports or novel-based projects.

Trying to get a book read for tomorrow? This book lists the titles by thin, thinner and thinnest! There's enough info to tell you whether you would find it interesting, provides character names and themes, and questions to think about as you read.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The World's Thinnest Excuse, July 17, 2011

By 

Vance C. Holmes "Poetic*Justice" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World's Best Thin Books, Revised: What to Read When Your Book Report is Due Tomorrow (Paperback)

Save your money. The dated information in this pricey book is widely available for free.

Furthermore, let's clear up the two misconceptions Bodart uses to sell this book.

First -- a "Reluctant Reader" is not at all the same thing as a lazy student who has procrastinated and put off an assigned book report. If that's the problem, I'd suggest a book on time-management.

Secondly, a book's page count has nothing to do with its quality. A 50-page novella may be far more complex than one that's 300 pages long.

If Bodart's intention was to create a booklist of quick, easy reads -- she has failed. If the idea was a collection of crib notes, the brief book descriptions in this publication will be of little value.

For reluctant readers -- or the parents and educators who love them -- do yourself and your wallet a favor . . . get help from your local librarian.