EELB 612 - Murillo

BOOK REVIEWS
(Review #1 and Review #2, worth 15 points each)

– Reviews provide a descriptive, evaluative discussion of a recently published book. Reading how others have evaluated a book may help you decide whether to use that book in your research.

– Reviews are one way to help evaluate the quality of scholarship to the literature on Education. In it’s own right, a review can be an original and creative contribution to scholarship.

– Emphasis should be given to the strengths, weaknesses, and possible implications of the book being reviewed. A careful analysis of the author’s scholarship and the depth and breadth of the book is desirable.

– Reviews average 2 1/2 to 4 pages in length, and draw from your own knowledge, experience and style as well.

– Look at the Book Reviews in a given academic journal for examples of what this assignment should look like. (E.g. Educational Studies Journal or the Journal of Latinos and Education).

                        Some questions to keep in mind:

1. What is the book’s argument?
2. Does the book do what it says it is going to do?
3. Is the book a contribution to the field or discipline?

4. Does the book relate to a current debate or trend in the field and if so, how?

5. What is the theoretical lineage or school of thought out of which the book rises?

6. Is the book well-written?

7. What are the books terms and are they defined?

8. How accurate is the information (e.g., the footnotes, bibliography, dates)?

9. Are the illustrations helpful? If there are no illustrations, should there have been?

10. Who would benefit from reading this book?

11. How does the book compare to other books in the field?

12. If it is a textbook, what courses can it be used in and how clear is the book’s structure and examples?

It may be worthwhile to perform an on-line search to get a sense for the author’s history, research agenda, other books, university appointments, and so forth. This can provide you with useful context.

                         Basic Classic Write-up or Structure:

13. Title including complete bibliographic citation for the work (i.e., title in full, author, place, publisher, date of publication, edition statement, pages, special features [maps, color plates, etc.], price, and ISBN.

14. One paragraph identifying the thesis, and whether the author achieves the stated purpose of the book.

15. One or two paragraphs summarizing the book.

16. One paragraph on the book’s strengths.
17. One paragraph on the book’s weaknesses.

18. One paragraph on your assessment of the book’s strengths and weaknesses.