Middle Schoolers Share Love of Reading

 

The Middle School Book Club, open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, meets informally on Fridays during lunch block, and about once a month they plan a special lunch to discuss a book they’ve read. Most of the books chosen have been suggested by the students themselves. At the end of the school year, the Book Club holds a “library lock-in” where they camp out overnight in the library, and occasionally the group will watch movies based on books they’ve loved.

The Book Club kicked off the school year with a visit in mid-October to the Boston Book Festival where they listened to book talks by young adult authors Ali Benjamin, Jo Knowles, and Paul Griffin. They spent time wandering around the various book stalls, and hanging out in the Boston Public Library’s newly renovated area called Teen Central, which features a Media Lounge and Lab.

Later in October, the Book Club hosted a young adult author on campus—Sara Hammel, who wrote the recently released mystery, The Underdogs, published this spring by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The students heard first-hand about the writing process and posed questions to the author, before having her sign copies of their books. Hammel’s debut mystery revolves around a murder investigation in which the main characters become involved, and ends with a surprising twist. Next month’s book choice is Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin.

The Book Club supplements the Middle School’s already strong commitment to reading, which includes weekly SSR sessions—Silent Sustained Reading—during which students take a break from class and read a book of their own choosing. This shared activity reinforces the belief that reading should be considered an integral part of the faculty and students’ daily lives.