Criteria/Content

READER LEVELS

Pre-K - Books especially good for the pre-school group.  Usually these are board books, but not always.

EL (K-3) - We think early readers will like these books.  The content or readability should interest someone who is just learning to read independently.

EL - These books are for the 4th, 5th and 6th graders.  The subject matter and length are great for established readers who are not quite ready for more mature themes, strong language or graphic content.

MS - 7th, 8th grade - Students who are making their own reading choices, who want something that reflects who they are and the world they are trying to figure out.  Some use of 'language' and introduction of more mature themes, without graphic content.

HS - 9-12 - Students who definitely choose their own books and want books that are readying them for an independent life.  Themes are usually more mature, there will probably be strong language and the content may be PG-13 or rarely R-rated.

PUBLIC ONLY - these are usually HS level books that our readers find extremely compelling reads, but for some reason (mature content, violence or language) they don;t feel they can recommend them for purchasing for a school library.

Please remember that our reviews are first and foremost for school librarians in our home state of Utah. Some schools may be more lenient in their choices, and other schools may be more conservative in their choices.

BUYING ADVISORY

ESSENTIAL - Any school library at the advised level should at least one copy of this in their library.  It will be a popular book that kids will tell their friends to read.

ADVISABLE - After you have purchased all of the ESSENTIALS, have a look at these.  Buy the ones that are the more popular genres in your library, ones that intrigue you, or ones that support the curriculum.

 OPTIONAL - Not as instantly popular as the ESSENTIALs and ADVISABLES, but good books to look at to fill out your most popular genres.  We usually recommend buying these books in paperback. 

NOT RECOMMENDED - Whether the writing is poor or the content is graphic or violent without being support by a compelling plot or theme, we recommend that you pass these books by.

 PUBLIC ONLY - these are usually HS level books that our readers find extremely compelling reads, but for some reason (mature content, violence or language) they don;t feel they can recommend them for purchasing for a school library.

AUDIENCE APPEAL

HIGH – Kids will share this with all of their friends and want to own this book for themselves.  Cover, writing, and topic all make a perfect kid-loved book.

AVERAGE – Between the two extremes

LOW - Lackluster cover, niche topic, poorly illustrated, a book that adults may love more than kids do and kids will only find them through class discussion or hard hand-selling

CONTENT RATINGS

We all know that rating scales for content advisory can feel arbitrary, but this is an important part of our mission at Kiss the Book. When we started specifically rating the content of books, we decided to use the MPAA standards for movies, because we felt that they are common enough that many people understand what the ratings mean, even if they don't agree with them. To be clearer, we decided to break the ratings into three parts, each with a separate rating:

LANGUAGE

MATURE CONTENT

VIOLENCE

If you want to understand MPAA ratings better, and specifically how they are applied on KTB, you can read further here.