1. Characters: Who are the main characters? Are they fully developed, or does the author do a
weak job of making his characters strong and believable. Remember….it’s okay to criticize.
2. Plot: Maybe start off your critique with a brief plot summary. Also, does the plot keep your
interest? How? Be specific to help future readers of your book.
3. Theme: What are readers supposed to “get” out of this book? Does the author do a good job
of making his/her main idea clear?
4. Gender Issues: How strong/weak are the males and females in the novel you chose. Does the
author have stereotypes that you disliked, or are the sexes portrayed accurately?
5. Prose: How is the writing? Is it boring and weak? Choppy and hard to read? Too easy?
Discuss the author’s style and writing a bit.
6. Overall: What is your overall opinion of the novel. What are its positive and negative
qualities? Would you recommend it to a friend?
7. Give it a GRADE! Just like Ebert and Roper, I want you to give this thing a grade. You may
give it the boring letter grade, or you can be creative and come up with your own rating
system. “Two thumbs up!”, “I give it three Jenny-Stars”, etc.