There are many types of descriptive words you can enter in NoveList (genres, character names, character types, time periods, themes, settings, subjects). There are a few examples here but for a more in-depth discussion about constructing these kind of searches, see Constructing a Search (use the Site Map if you'd like to go now). Here are some basics about entering descriptive information in NoveList:

• Not Case Sensitive - You can use either upper or lower case letters (france OR France).
• Stop Words Unnecessary - Many small words are STOP words (words that we do not search on) and are unneeded as part of the words you enter. Examples include "a," "an," and "the."

Identify words that describe the type of book you enjoy (your imagination is the limit):

• Genre: mystery, adventure, westerns, love stories, fantasy
• Character: women detectives, lawyer detectives, Indians, eleven year old boys, brothers, African-Americans
• Time Periods: sixteenth century, Victorian, colonial, roman, prehistoric
• Events: civil war, world war II, depression, gold rush
• Themes/Subjects: courage, moving, survival, bible, wilderness, animals, awards (Newbery, YALSA, etc.)
• Setting: south, Ohio, England, Boston, Africa, northwest

• For our scenario, we entered the words "boy," "grandfather," "farm," and "race" based on the reader's recollection of the book's plot (he could not remember the title or author of the book).

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