League of Extraordinary Readers meets Wednesdays to discuss young adult favorites
Ms. Kovel called the book club attendees “her people” as they excitedly discussed their favorite young adult books from the past few years.
September 10, 2014
After a much needed push from junior book-lover Rileigh McCoy, students can now enjoy a book centered around young adult fiction every Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 PM in Ms. Kovel’s room 611.
“I love to read more than anything ever, and I didn’t know anyone who I could read and talk about books with. So I thought I may as well start a book club,” junior Rileigh McCoy said, founder of the League of Extraordinary Readers, said.
Students snacked on “bookworms,” gummy worms in little containers around the room, as they discussed options and goals.
NC contains countless book enthusiasts, but for years, all other attempts to start a young adult centered book club have seemingly ended in failure soon after the club’s start. With Ms. Kovel as the club’s sponsor/adviser however, students will find that this book club brings new light to an old concept. Ms. Kovel decided with McCoy that the club will mostly focus on young adult literature ranging anywhere from dystopian to romance to coming-of-age novels. She hopes this will encourage students to form and understand complex ideas about books.
“I think so often in literature classes we don’t get the opportunity to read books students choose without the stress or pressure of a test in the background. I’m looking forward to hearing students’ natural thoughts about young adult literature, and I’m hoping this will give them a chance to voice these thoughts,” club sponsor/adviser Ms. Kovel said.
Unlike literature classes, book club members receive the chance to voice their opinions about themes, concepts, and literary devices outside of a classroom setting. Members also receive the chance to discuss books teachers would normally never mention in classrooms due to curriculum constraints. Instead of exploring To Kill a Mockingbird or Jane Eyre, students can examine the issues and values in novels they choose, such as Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Rainbow Rowell’s Eleanor and Park.
“I feel like anything that’s a conversation starter is meaningful. Books like The Fault in Our Stars have so much more personal impact than what we traditionally perceive as worthy of literary analysis,” Ms Kovel continued. “ I think we can analyze the world as a text, so we shouldn’t belittle young adult literature. People read it because it matters.”
Students began their first meeting, last Wednesday, September 3, by participating in a “Blind Date with a Book,” where students read background information about potential options without knowing character names or titles, then ranked their favorites. Neal Shusterman’s Unwind, a dystopic option, won. Students will begin discussing this text this afternoon at their second meeting. The club wants to remind students to bring Keurig K-cups to use Ms. Kovel’s coffee maker and to bring a mug to brew their drinks to enjoy during their meetings.
Visit the club’s website here.
