Get the audience to repeat the title or key phrase from the book like a refrain. The repetition alone will help sell the book; giving the audience a part to play is even better.

Start with dry facts, then jump to a shocking event.

The classic hook. Bring the audience to the edge, then stop.

Copy dialogue from the book and read it with the audience. Talking with, not at, the audience will increase the energy level in the room.

Ask questions to put the audience in the shoes of the character. If the theme of the book is loneliness, then build the booktalk using a series of rhetorical "How does it feel?" questions. For most kids, reading is as much an emotional experience as an intellectual one, and an invitation to share feelings can be a powerful hook.

Read only the first line for a shortbut effective book-hook.

Read or describe the goriest, grossest scene in a book.

Refer to an article in the news, then link it to a book.

Present the booktalk in the conditional mode; let the audience think of other possibilities.

Jump quickly from one scene to another; let the audience deduce the connection.

Talk about it and around it, but don't tell it.

Link the book to a popular movie with a similar theme or setting.

Turn the book into a game of Clue, and invite the audience to play.

Read a dramatic scene from the book; stop just before the punchline.

Create one set of expectations, then pull the rug out with a trick ending; save a vital piece of information for the very end.

Use an object to lead into a scene.

Ask a series of these to set a mood or pique curiosity.

If you want a reaction, do something to create it - plan not only what you want to say but also the kind of reaction you want to inspire.

Use sound effects (snap your fingers, clap your hands, stamp your foot, etc.).

Talk about several books that share the same theme (one of the books should be well-known).

Present strange happenings in a deadpan manner.

Describe a fight or murder.

Present the moral dilemma facing the central character.

Present a warning statement.

Relate the book to events in the listeners' lives.

Save one "can't fail" talk in case the others do. But if you've got your hooks into the audience, they won't!