Examining Complexity in Middle School Students’ Evaluation of Books Introduced by Teachers

To promote independent reading in middle school, teachers must understand why adolescents choose to read or not read a specific book. Yet, there is limited research on the factors that students consider when evaluating books that teachers have introduced them to in class. This study aimed to describe factors that 43 Grade 7 and 8 students noted as important to their evaluation of 14 books that teachers introduced in class through brief read alouds and short videos. Furthermore, it explored complexity in evaluations of texts when students appreciated some but not all aspects of a book. After each book introduction, students rated their level of interest in the book on a five-point scale and provided a written explanation of their book rating. An analysis of these ratings and written explanations indicated that students attended to a wide range of factors - from topic to author’s message - when considering their evaluation of a book. The majority of students described at least one book as “good but.” While students appreciated some aspects of the book, other factors, including the mismatch between the student’s preferred emotion and the emotion elicited from the book, kept students from assigning a book a higher rating. Given that students weigh a range of factors when evaluating books, teachers can encourage independent reading by exposing students to books that vary not only in terms of topic, genre, characters, and plot, but also in terms of author craft, anticipated emotional responses, and potential student relatability, among other factors.