I've been PROMISING to put up the Book Scout Bulletins on this website and I'm still working on that. A new thread will be put up soon for those....
But, in the meantime, I wanted to explain exactly what a Book Scout is and how our rating system works.
The job of a book scout is to scout out and give us their personal ratings of Young Adult age-range literature, especially for how much swearing, abuse, and lust is present in the work on a 1 to 5 scale. Much like a spy's communication to an army, these simple brief "reviews" would provide a guaranteed spoiler free look to see if a book is clean enough to enjoy without loss of our souls or tempers.
When we say that a work has no "language" that the work has no swear words (spelled out or in symbol talk). Words such as crap, suck, screw, etc., are technically vulgar words as well though they are not considered swear words. Since we wish to advocate for clean literature, I personally would make note of these words too. Phrases that allude to swearing (e.g. he cursed) are acceptable.
Our star system for Language:
1 star - lots of language (especially the worst words) 2 stars - frequent amounts of language 3 stars - moderate amounts of language 4 stars - a little language (one or two swear words) 5 stars - no language
When we say that a work has "no abuse", we mean that if abuse (alcohol, drug, child, animal or domestic) is in the book at all, it is shown in a negative light and has clear consequences for the perpetrator. We don't wish to recommend books that would glorify that kind of stuff.
Our star system for abuse:
1 star - heavy amounts of abuse or showing abuse of any kinds as good 2 stars - frequent amounts of abuse, especially if shown as postive 3 stars - moderate amounts of abuse 4 stars - a few situations of abuse (or memories of abuse) 5 stars - no abuse in the work
When we say that the work has "no lust", we mean that the book has no explicit sexual scenes (including making out), or any impurity beyond mild kissing between a male and a female. Wrongful desire (i.e. desiring someone else's spouse, only desiring the body, etc.) should be treated the same as abuse (negative light and clear consequences).
Our star system for lust:
1 star - graphic sex scenes or lustful relations, 2 stars - has graphic making out scenes, impure relations, smut 3 stars - moderate, but still cringy scenes (lust, relations) 4 stars - marital acts alluded too, or brief mentions of impurity 5 stars - no further than mild kissing
When we review the book as a whole, we use the standard 5 star system. We prefer to have the reviewer give comments as to why they rated the book as they did.
If there are any questions or concerns, please comment below!
But, in the meantime, I wanted to explain exactly what a Book Scout is and how our rating system works.
The job of a book scout is to scout out and give us their personal ratings of Young Adult age-range literature, especially for how much swearing, abuse, and lust is present in the work on a 1 to 5 scale. Much like a spy's communication to an army, these simple brief "reviews" would provide a guaranteed spoiler free look to see if a book is clean enough to enjoy without loss of our souls or tempers.
When we say that a work has no "language" that the work has no swear words (spelled out or in symbol talk). Words such as crap, suck, screw, etc., are technically vulgar words as well though they are not considered swear words. Since we wish to advocate for clean literature, I personally would make note of these words too. Phrases that allude to swearing (e.g. he cursed) are acceptable.
Our star system for Language:
1 star - lots of language (especially the worst words)
2 stars - frequent amounts of language
3 stars - moderate amounts of language
4 stars - a little language (one or two swear words)
5 stars - no language
When we say that a work has "no abuse", we mean that if abuse (alcohol, drug, child, animal or domestic) is in the book at all, it is shown in a negative light and has clear consequences for the perpetrator. We don't wish to recommend books that would glorify that kind of stuff.
Our star system for abuse:
1 star - heavy amounts of abuse or showing abuse of any kinds as good
2 stars - frequent amounts of abuse, especially if shown as postive
3 stars - moderate amounts of abuse
4 stars - a few situations of abuse (or memories of abuse)
5 stars - no abuse in the work
When we say that the work has "no lust", we mean that the book has no explicit sexual scenes (including making out), or any impurity beyond mild kissing between a male and a female. Wrongful desire (i.e. desiring someone else's spouse, only desiring the body, etc.) should be treated the same as abuse (negative light and clear consequences).
Our star system for lust:
1 star - graphic sex scenes or lustful relations,
2 stars - has graphic making out scenes, impure relations, smut
3 stars - moderate, but still cringy scenes (lust, relations)
4 stars - marital acts alluded too, or brief mentions of impurity
5 stars - no further than mild kissing
When we review the book as a whole, we use the standard 5 star system. We prefer to have the reviewer give comments as to why they rated the book as they did.
If there are any questions or concerns, please comment below!
Catherine Hawthorn
Book Scout Coordinator