The View from the Other Side

Reviews. I've had some. (I'd love to have more, especially those really clever and wise ones that say my books are excellent.) But this is the first time I've been asked to do reviewing, and I'm finding that it's a lot of fun! I've been sent a bunch of books loosely grouped as "Fantasy" and told to write a (very) few words about 10 of them. I'm to choose one as my "Reviewer's Choice" and four others that each get to have 100 words written about them, and then five "Best of the Rest" who get 30 words each. Oh, and there are little symbols to indicate that the books are suitable for boys, girls, younger readers, older readers, reluctant readers, things like that. Straight-forward, you'd think.

And it is, sort of. I mean, I've been expressing opinions about the books I read ever since "See Dick run." I like expressing opinions about books. (And parcels of new ones coming to the door feels a lot like Christmas.) But then I had a bout of doubt. Am I supposed to be reading and talking about these books as me, or as a boy/girl/younger reader/older reader/reluctant reader ...? Or as a book buying adult parent or teacher? Or as a sympathetic/jealous/impressed fellow writer?

It has to be a bit of all of them, I decided. We'll see if that's right.

If you want to see the end result, check out February's Junior Education Plus. If you're not a subscriber, you can see it online at www.scholastic.co.uk/junioredplus.

Now I better get back to reading ...

Joan.

(By the way, I googled "Ultimate Power" and clicked on Images, thinking to find a picture to jazz this post up a little ... It was, on reflection, a bit of a mistake. Reviewers generally, I'm willing to bet, do not look like that.)