Book: My Autobiography

Reviewed by: Sara Ottomano - Wells Public Library, Wells, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: May 9, 2016

Review

This middle grade non-fiction book is an interesting read for your pre-teens who love books and want to learn about how they came to be. Written from the perspective of a book, the narrative is humorous, engaging, and ambitious. From the spoken word to e-books, this book covers a lot of ground and addresses different ways that books were created. The bold, black-and-white images throughout add depth to the narrative, often supplementing the text with visuals of processes not fully described, such as the steps to make papyrus. One of the only drawbacks of the book however would be its layout. The text is constantly interrupted with images and quotations, and while this could be a technique to draw young readers into a non-fiction book that might otherwise be dry, it can sometimes be a bit choppy. Recommended for pre-teen readers that are interested in the history of the book and bold graphic-novel-like images.

Overall Book Score: very good