Evaluation of the Novel

Six+1 Traits of Writing

Ideas and Content – The author had clear ideas while writing Running Loose. He stayed on topic throughout the whole book. This book was very original. I have never read a book similar to this one before. When the author was talking about racism, death, and abuse he added interesting details that made you want to keep reading to find out more on what he had to say about those topics.

Organization – Running Loose had a plot that was easy to follow. From the moment I started reading the book I couldn’t put it down. There was always something happening in the book. Weather it was exciting or sad I still kept reading to find out what would happen in the end. All of the events fit together very well due to the smooth transitions the author put in the book. The end of the book was funny. I feel that the author could have ended it a different way, though. It didn’t seem very strong and memorable. All in all, the book was very easy to follow and remember what was happening.

Individual Voice – The author has a very strong voice in Running Loose. He is not afraid to say what he think about racism, death, and abuse. It is easy to tell that the author has also experienced or witnessed these events in his life. He feels that racism and abuse are wrong and death is a very sad thing. The author believes that everyone should be treated equal, too. There are events the author put in the story that makes it easier for teenagers to connect to the story. It is always nice to read a story you can connect to.

Word Choice – The author used great word choice while writing Running Loose. I would always get this great detail picture in my mind while reading. I love when authors do that because it makes the story easier to understand. The author didn’t use boring everyday words. He used words that were active and exciting or sad and calm depending upon the situation. Also, he used different length sentences in the book. It’s nice when an author does that because you don’t get sick and tired of the same length sentences. The only thing I didn’t like about the word choice was he used a lot of swearing. That got to be a little annoying after a while and wasn’t always needed. Overall, I was happy with the author’s word choice.

Sentence Fluency – The author wrote Running Loose with great sentence fluency. Pretty much all of the sentences came out naturally and had a nice rhythm to go along with them. All of the sentences were different lengths, which was nice. Also, the author used smooth transition words to get from one subject to the next.

Conventions – Since Running Loose is a published book all of the conventions were great. The spelling, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization were all perfect. It would also be easy to read out loud if you wanted to.

Presentation – Once again, since Running Loose is a published book it followed the appropriate format needed. I did really like the picture on the cover of the book. It was unique.