Script for a Book Talk
(2-3 minutes)

Step 1: State the title, author and genre of the book. Begin with an interesting hook. Briefly tell about what happens at an exciting part of the story, but don't summarize the plot or reveal the ending. Thoroughly and vividly describe the setting and main characters (2-3 sentences).

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Step 2: Read aloud a key passage that reveal the character, an exciting moment, a humorous incident, or a turn in the plot (2-3 sentences).

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Step 3: End the book talk by leaving the listeners "up in the air" so they want to read the book. Explain how the themes address problems that your listeners are facing. Restate the title and author
(2-3 sentences).

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Step 4: Suggest other books by the same author, in the same genre, non-fiction books that deal with the same subject or concept, or books with a similar theme or time period or same kind of main character (1-2 sentences).

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An Example of a Book Talk

 

Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express by Margaret Wetterer is a biography of a young girl who lived in Iowa in the 1880's, more than 100 years ago. A severe thunderstorm began to flood the creek in front of the Shelley home.

"At 11 o'clock at night, as the train went past their house, two men stood on the outside of the engine looking to see if the tracks had washed out. A few minutes later, Kate heard a loud CRASH! And she knew the bridge had broken apart in the storm." So now Kate must decide what to do next. There are some really scary and exciting parts ahead.

If you like adventure, suspense, and reading about brave people who lived in the past, you would like Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express by Margaret Wetterer.

And if you like these kinds of books, you would also like The Snow Walker also by Margaret Wetterer and Grandpa's Visit by Richard Keens-Douglas.