Chew on This

By Eric Schlosser

Review by Sarah

The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

Have you every wondered what REALLY goes into the fast food we buy all the time? Do you know what is actually in those great strawberry milkshakes, or what happens to the cows and chickens that make your hamburgers and chicken McNuggets? This book tells you everything you don’t want to know about fast food.

The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

There’s more to fast food than just the hamburger. The food has to come from somewhere… a slaughterhouse, the animals, and the low-paid workers. There are a lot of dirty details that not many people know. Eric Schlosser’s Chew on This reveals all those gross and horrifying details. Before reading this, I never knew how much pain workers and animals went through to give us fast food. Before reading this, I had the stomach and guts to eat it. You may think you know a lot of the horrors of fast food, but trust me, I thought that too, and boy was I wrong!!!

The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

This book reveals the secrets of fast food. What’s in it, what makes it taste good, why people are so fat these days, and its history? Oh, not to mention the labor people go through to give it to you! This book left me sick to my stomach, yet so satisfied. After reading this, I vowed to become a vegetarian and to boycott fast food.

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

There was one part of the book that I remember vividly. I just couldn’t put the book down! For some reason, this was the most disgusting and disturbing part. It was the part about the slaughterhouses. It was really interesting, and it was the #1 reason why I will never eat any meat at a fast food restaurant again.

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

You would like this book if you are against fast food, are overweight, feel like being grossed out, or just want something interesting and different to read. I think that this would be a bad book for vegetarians or people who are sensitive to really disgusting things.