A group of four freshmen, each with their own copy of Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, excitedly discussed the book’s themes, symbols, characters, and ideas with their upperclassmen leaders. Each quarter, Lillian Wong (9) and her classmates in English teacher Melanie DelaCruz’s Honors English class chose a book to read over five weeks, meeting weekly with a small group to prepare for a final on-demand essay or graded book talk. Wong said that the book club meetings, which span the first 15 minutes of class on Fridays, were a welcome respite from the lectures and assignments of her other classes. 

“I enjoy having the time in class to talk with other people because it doesn’t feel like an assignment and just fun,” Wong said. “I enjoy talking about [the books] and everybody gets to share their ideas. I’ve made really good friends from book clubs.”

Wong said this open environment helped her grow closer to her classmates and the book club leaders, and despite her initial nerves, friendships flourished quickly from the room of former strangers. 

“I was definitely nervous at first because I didn’t know everybody very well,” Wong said. “But, I was really excited to read the book that I had chosen, and as I got to know people better, it was easier to talk with them and share ideas.” 

Wong said that the casual meetings allowed her to process the material better and feel more prepared for her final. 

“Everybody’s participating and it feels like there’s less pressure to have the right answer because it’s just your peers,” Wong said. “You have a little more freedom. It’s not like you’re being scored and it gives you the time to process the book without being stressed about a grade.” 

Noah Chong (9), who was in the same book club, said that he felt ready for the final because of the insights provided by his group’s upperclassmen book club leaders Phoebe Vo (12) and Robbie Gray (12).

“They’re very good at writing and they’re good at reading,” Chong said. “They read deeper into the books, so that helped me. I found symbols and their meanings, but [hearing the leaders’] perspectives helped me change how I thought.”

Gray said he grew close with his book groups, especially his first quarter students, due to the emotional themes covered in their book, Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful. The club discussion encouraged the students to be vulnerable with one another. 

“It was a very emotional, thought-provoking book about family relations and what it means to transform into a better person than you are,” Gray said. “That book brought me very close to the freshmen. I’m always impressed by them, and I think it’s a great way for these freshmen to sort of make connections with some of the older kids.”

For Gray, the book clubs offer a chance to inspire underclassmen to value reading. He’s covered six different books with six different groups over the past two years in hopes that the freshmen will recognize that literature can be beautiful and enjoyable.

“[Guiding] those kids into the readers that they may not have been before, or helping them engage with texts at a much deeper level is the goal,” Gray said. “That’s why I like to come back and do more books.”

Like Gray, Vo said she hopes to encourage the freshmen to share in her love of reading. 

“We do book clubs in order to get kids excited and enthused about literature,” Vo said. “As someone who loves to read,  inspiring kids to find books that they like and helping them to understand those novels has been so meaningful.” 

Wong had always loved reading, but she said being in the book club made all the difference in how she approached literature. 

“I definitely think I’ve started looking at books differently,” Wong said. “As I read, there’s more thought put into it now about the minor details, which really helps me appreciate the author’s specific writing style.”

Beyond her improved skills in literary analysis, Wong said she found mentorship in the book club. Potential upperclassmen leaders may volunteer for second-term clubs, which will begin Jan. 31 in first, third, and fourth periods, and may arrange with their teachers to take on this role during class time. 

“[Gray and Vo] are really there if we need them,” Wong said. “They’re helping with the book clubs, but they’re all mentors and I would trust them with any questions that I have for the future.”