Discussion and Scoring – Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award /Academic Year 2023-2024

The purpose of this page is to give mentors and judges a useful guide to talk about all books in constructive shared conversations. Our hope is that this guide will be especially useful if a book team is comparing two, or maybe three books and trying to decide which is the book is preferred. If needed, this guide may be used to decide the winner of the CBSA. If the guide constrains the conversation, adjust it to meet your needs.

The Denver Soup book team comparing the GUNCLE with SHE’S TOO PRETTY TOO BURN

Directly below is the recording of of a wonderful discussion by the Denver High School Team in 2021 of the Guncle by Steven Rowley. It is 44 minutes. Below that, is the edited version which is about 5 minutes.

The Discussion and Scoring guide

BOOK OVERVIEW: Did you like the book? What parts did you like? If not, what parts did you not like? How could the author or editor have changed the book to make you like it better? On a scale of 1-10, one being low and 10 being high, where would you place this book? Who do you think would really enjoy reading this book? Would you read another book by this author?

Specific questions to guide you to score the 7 aspects of texts:

PLOT: Lots of readers love lots of action: fighting, wars, romance, surprise. Is this book driven by plot? If so, did the plot serve the goals of the author well? Were you disappointed in it? Did it ever soar?
SETTING: When you close your eyes can you see any scenes of this book? What stands out? Did the book give you a feeling that you wanted to avoid or return to? Did the book affect your mood?
WRITING: Were there any phrases or sentences that you stopped to reread? Did the book build with the later scenes building on earlier ones? Can this book be read on many levels so it could attract readers in different age groups? Do you think you could read this book more than once and find new insights each time? Is there any part that you will remember for a long time?
HUMOR: Were there any scenes that you felt like laughing out loud? Which ones? Or were there subtle humorous conversations that helped the writer work through tough subjects? Did you sometimes get uncomfortable when reading about embarrassing moments, or social slips? Did the author love puns or jokes? Was the book based on absurdities? What role did humor play in the book?
CHARACTERS: Were the characters likable or relatable? Were the characters stereotypical, paper thin or did you feel like they had depth? Were you inspired by any of the characters? Was their conversation witty or delightful?
IDEAS: Did the book strike you as original or trailblazing? What idea did it introduce to you that other books have not? Did the book challenge your previously held ideas? Do you think this book will impact your future thinking?
VOICES of actual or fictional MARGINALIZED GROUPS, such as, but not exclusive to Asian, BIPOC, LGBTQ+: Did this book include any marginalized group or groups of opposing world views? Did you feel that the portrayal of these characters in this book was genuine? Did the book help you understand these peoples or cultures better? Did you feel like these characters were tokenized?

Scoring Form

Date

First and Last Name of person filling out this form

Name of Book that your team is judging.

1. Plot: Rank the plot on a scale of 0-5. Is this book- a page turner? complex? satisfying? Here are some plot driven books: Harry Potter, The Percy Jackson Series, The Westing Game and The Leviathan Trilogy.

Selected Value: 0

2. Setting: Rank the setting on a scale of 0-5. Is the setting in this book- transporting? absorbing?memorable? Here are some books with notable settings: Island of the Blue Dolphin, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Harry Potter, Eragon, The Book Thief, Jefferson’s Sons

Selected Value: 0

3. Characters: Rank the characters on a scale of 0-5. Were the characters memorable? relatable? or real? Here are some books known for having notable characters: To Kill A Mockingbird, Counting by 7's, Harry Potter, Cinder, The Hunger Games.

Selected Value: 0

4. Marginalized Voices: Rank the book on a scale of 0 to 5 on its portrayl of fictional or actual marginalized voices or communities. Here are some exemplary books in portraying marginalized voices: Fire Keeper’s Daughter, The Hate U Give, Everything Everything, George, Look Both Ways in the Bario Blanco, Long Way Down.umber Slider

Selected Value: 0

5. Humor: Rank the humor in this book on a scale of 0 to 5. Was this book quirky, entertaining or absurd? Some books that use humor to achieve thier goals are The Phantom Tollbooth, The Series of Unfortunate Events, Wayside Stories, Holes, The Absolutely True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian, Hoot, Fighting Words.

Selected Value: 0

6. Ideas: Rank the ideas on a scale of 0-5. Were the ideas in this book trailblazing? disrupting? challenging? Here are some books that have challenged readers: Stranger in a Strange Land, Melissa's Story (George) Diary of Anne Frank, Cather in the Rye, Fighting Words.

Selected Value: 0

7. Writing Quality: (Please note: Writing Qualtity is worth 10 points rather than 5 points.) Is the writing- clear, carefully crafted, beautiful? Were there any phrases or sentences that you stopped to reread? Did the book build with the later scenes building on earlier ones? Can this book be read on many levels so it could attract readers in different age groups? Do you think you could read this book more than once and find new insights each time? Is there any part that you will remember for a long time? Here are some books which have endured the test of time for their good writing: A Wrinkle in Time, Harry Potter, Poet X, The Book Thief, Monster, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Selected Value: 0

Sum of points for all 7 rankings from all book team members______ The number of book team members. _______. Final Book Score: Sum of points from all book team members divided by the number of book team members. _______ (Please write only the last number in your answer.)