Blog and Review Policy

I review current (publication date is this year) and coming YA novels and some adult novels with cross-over appeal for teens. I sometimes review arc's months prior to publishing. If it is a review for an arc, I will state page count and that it is an arc and page count may differ on the final book. Sometimes, cover art is not final. If the publisher states that, I include it. I will always say in my review how I got the copy: purchased, borrowed, sent to me by the publisher, or sent to me by the author. Most books fall into the teen category--although some are good for tweens. I will always state recommended grade levels and if there is language, violence, sex, mature theme, mature situations, etc. I will sometimes include, "I have this novel in my middle school library collection" to let librarians choose for themselves whether the title fits their collection or not.

I do review:

Books for Reluctant Readers
Great guy books
books for tweens
Chick lit
Dystopian fiction
YA fiction
YA fantasy & some science fiction--I hate robots
some steampunk if it's well-written
Paranormal romance
Paranormal fiction
Vampires, Zombies and werewolves
some graphic novels with wide appeal
some non-fiction if it has great teen appeal
some early readers if I request them from the author/publisher
some adult novels with wide appeal, for example, The Help

I rarely review:

Picture books: I occasionally review picture books and/or early readers
Adult books: only if they have strong crossover appeal to teens
Self-published books or books on an Ereader--I love the feel of a "real" book but will read ebooks on vacation sometimes


I never review:


Books promoting a particular religion
Books promoting a political party or stance
Older books--more than one year old


I'm especially looking for:

Excellent YA titles
Good YA science fiction
Great girl reads
great books for tweens
Undiscovered gems
Strong character development
To submit a book for consideration, please send an email to pthomp@sisd.net

Please include:

The title of the book
The author
A paragraph (not more) describing what is unique or interesting about the book and why I would be interested in reviewing it
The publication date, if not already published
A link to the book on your web site


Please don't include in the email:

A long synopsis (OK to have this on web site)
An excerpt from the book (OK to have this on web site)
Other reviews of the book. I try very hard not to read any other reviews before reading a book.
Email attachments
I generally respond to the email only if I'd like to see the book. If you don't get a response to your email within a week, you may email me once more to follow-up.

I  sometimes participate in blog tours and publisher giveaways. I will hold the review until publication date if you prefer.

I will sponsor book giveaways from publishers on my blog. I only offer books that I have already read and/or reviewed. Publishers may contact me at pthomp@sisd.net


I review according to the following policies:

If I request a book, I make every attempt to review it.
If a book is sent unsolicited, I read it only if it catches my interest.

I read every book that I review with teens, tweens, and library collections in mind.

I don't review every book that I read. I try to review all books that I requested. If I don't review a book that I requested, it is because the book is not worthy of recommending to my peers or to teens. I review books that I feel will appeal to some segment of readers, a book that is bound to make a splash, a book that will be a must-read or a book that has something new to say or is an undiscovered gem.


Young Adult books--What We're Reading Now by Pamela Thompson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com.
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