There should be a way to avoid this without revealing the entire
plot or asking around for people who've read it.
People should be able to pick up a book and know what to
expect without any potentially offensive surprises appearing. This would be
much easier with a rating system based on content rather than genre. A system like we use for movies today. Such offensive content could be . . .
- Sexual innuendos and situations
- Language
- Violence
- Drug, smoking, and alcohol references
- Racism
With this, a person could look at the back of a book they’re
thinking about reading and see the content they can expect, rather than
scouring the internet for a review of a book that they may not be able to find.
There are already sites on the internet that rate books
according to the content in them, basing their ratings on the categories listed
above. These sights are . . .
- Common Sense Media
- Rated Reads
- Compass Book Ratings
- Novel Book Ratings (shown below)
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Screenshot. “The Hunger Games.” Novel Book Ratings. Web. 2013. http://novelbookratings.com/book.php?mode=home&bookID=3347
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Common Sense Media deals almost exclusively with children’s books, movies, TV shows,
music and other forms of media. Many popular children’s and young adult books are found on the sight. Each of these books receives a thorough rating, based on many of the types of content listed above, that allows parents of young readers or the readers themselves to determine the kind of content in the book and whether or not it’s worth reading. Below is an example of Common Sense Media's book rating system.
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Screenshot. “The Hunger Games.” Common Sense Media. Web. 2013. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/the-hunger-games
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Unfortunately, this site doesn't cover adult books that
could be read by children or young adults, so parents and readers have to look
elsewhere for information about books that they might want to read.
To fix this problem, I propose that a content rating system
for books be instituted. Books would be reviewed during the publishing process,
just before their release, and would contain a small label on the back. This
label would have a rating and would also contain an advisory as to the questionable
contents, allowing readers to determine what books they wanted to read and
ensure that people had a knowledge of what they were about to read.
