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 supported 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:

• Some swear words can be used in places where they are not being used as a swear word. In those cases, do not count them. • The ‘F’ word is kept as a separate count, but only where it is spelled out – WTF does not count. • Made up swears words do not count as swears • Roughly, 2-3 “god” type swears are still okay in a G-rated book; • Any ‘harder” swears or a count up to about 15 would be a PG rating. • Over 15 swears makes a books PG-13; • Over 35 swears or so makes a book R. • Any F words makes a book R for Language. • If you count more than 100 swears in a book, you can stop counting. Label it as 100+ and “R”. MATURE CONTENT

Kids mentioning drugs, smoking, drinking, sex, suicide will rate a book at least PG (ie, "Ace and Sue did it last night"; "The boys carted out the brewskies for the party")

Kids using drugs on page, kids smoking or drinking on page, kids having sex on page • Any of those things makes a book PG-13. • More repetitions, and more descriptive language, especially of sex, make a book R • Ask me about anything else you think might be considered mature.

•

VIOLENCE: abuse, hitting, deaths, rape, suicide attempts, etc.

• rape is considered an act of violence, so mentions of it or acts of it are rated under VIOLENCE.

•     mentioning these things can make the rating PG, depending on the degree or frequency (ie, was it a friendly punch to the shoulder or a punch that caused damage, and/or are punches thrown repeatedly)

•     emotional, mental, physical abuse of children, bloody hitting, bloody death, raise the level of a book to PG-13, and R if it repeated, detailed, and persistent.

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

TALKING LGBTQIA+ : 

1. LGBT+ does not automatically affect the content ratings of a book. Treat LGBTQIA+ content as part of the MATURE CONTENT rating just as you would heterosexual mature content. Take into consideration what they are doing, not who is doing it. 

 2. LGBT+ LABEL: If an LGBT+ character is an important part of the plot, or LGBTQIA+ issues are important to the book, then add the LGBT+ label when posting. 

 3. If the main character identifies as LGBT+ and/or LGBT+ issues are part of the plotting, remember to mention that in either your summary or personal reflection.