Excellence in Literature: Handbook for Writers {Review}

My daughter was very excited when I told her we had been asked to review an e-book entitled Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers (high school into college) from Everyday Education, LLC .  Which daughter, I hear you ask?  Well, Charlotte obviously!  For she is the only daughter I have who reads the dictionary for pleasure, who keeps her own book of words (where she writes down words which fascinate her, their meanings and any attempt to use them in real life), oh, and who, on visits to the library, takes out a plethora of ‘How to Write’ books.  And she reads them.  Enthusiastically.  And relates all she has learnt to her family at dinner.  

Usually, when I review a product I use it alongside the children in order to familiarise myself with it too, but this time I really felt Charlotte would benefit from having free access to it.  This review then, is written by her, a thirteen year old girl who has a passion for words like I have never seen or known before.  This was too good a fit to her for me to review it, because, of course, it is she who will be heading towards high school in a couple of years and it is she who will derive the most benefit from using this Handbook for Writers.  So without further ado, I hand you over to Charlotte 🙂

What is the Handbook for Writers?

This is an ebook which explains the how-tos of writing, in particular how to argue well, which I have to say, is a very handy skill to have when you live in a household with six other people 😉  Recommended for students in high school and college, this book is long at 420 pages and covers, I think, everything one could possibly need to know about constructing different types of essays and research papers as well as a guide to style and usage of grammar rules.  For a more comprehensive look at exactly what the book contains take a peek over here, where there is a screen shot of the entire contents of the book.

How Did I use the Handbook for Writers?

I read the book first from sheets Mummy printed for me, and then the actual e-book off the computer.  I would have preferred an actual book-in-hand, as I found reading from the computer harder going than reading the print on paper.  I took note of the information I thought applicable to me to use at a later date.  I chatted over everything I learnt with Mummy.  This is very much a handbook of instructions to be used as a reference resource rather than a book containing exercises for me to do.

What Did I Think About The Handbook For Writers?

At thirteen I would say this was for slightly older students than me.  I found it hard at first but as time went on it absorbed my attention more and more.  I am naturally fascinated by the mechanics of writing, and so I appreciated the very thorough sections of grammar and sentence structures.  In fact, the ‘rules’ given were so helpful to me – for example, I always knew a question mark belongs inside the quotation marks, but now I know and I know why:

She asked me, “Why were you late?”
[The question mark is inside the quotation because the quotation is a question,
but the total sentence is not.]
Is Shakespeare the origin of the question, “What’s in a name?”
[Here the entire sentence is a question, and so is the quotation. The question
mark (part of the original text) stays inside the quotation marks, and there is
no additional question mark to indicate that the entire sentence is a question.]
What does Eliot mean by his phrase “objective correlative”?
[Here the question mark is outside the final double quotation mark because the
entire sentence is a question, but the quotation is not.]

Everything in the grammar section is explained very clearly and is therefore very easy to understand.  In the end I printed out the whole of this section so I had it to refer to for my own writing (over 100 pages of extremely comprehensive grammar instruction – does life get any more exciting?!).  I love to write, and often a phrase or sentence may seem awkward to me but I am not sure why.  This hand book will come in very handy during those circumstances.  I also suggested to Mummy that we print off a copy for my older brother and twin sister to have as reference for their own writing.  Lillie and I will be taking our English Language in June next year and I really do feel this resource will be invaluable.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to receive and review this Handbook for Writers 🙂

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