April 12, 2022

Even with all the updated technology today in the hands of children, it’s comforting to know that some things never go out of style.

Each month, students in Mayer Middle School’s Book Club have the opportunity to show their appreciation for books. The books aren’t part of their curriculum, nor do they require the students to submit a report. Instead, they simply read and then discuss the books together, finding out more about styles, themes, and each other.

English Language Arts teacher Bridget Chambers is responsible for carrying on the tradition of Book Club at the middle school.

“We pick a book each month to read, and we give the students choices for like four or five different books,” Chambers explained. “They pick one book to read, and everyone reads it. Then we discuss it after we’re all done; whether you liked it, whether you didn’t like it. They ask questions. The kids really seem to enjoy it.”

The Book Club has an amazing partnership with their neighbor next door in the Fairview Park Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library and teen librarian Sarah Carpenter. 

“She has great choices since that’s her specialty,” Chambers said. “She puts four or five books together, and I put it on Google Classroom. The kids get to pick what they want to read for each month. The winning book is what we read.”

With the club starting up this past November, students have already completed five books. “Starfish,” by Lisa Fipps, is the next book for students to read, with a discussion slated for the end of April.

“We talk about who our favorite character was and why,” Maxie Breuning, a seventh-grade student in Book Club, explained. “We talk about what we really liked about the whole book, and if we could tell if it was an author’s first book or not because we have read some first novels. We also talk a lot about themes.”

With each student comes differing opinions, thoughts, and reviews of the books. 

“It’s really cool when someone says something about the book, when I read it, I didn’t really think about that,” Lola Scott, a seventh-grade student, explained. “You can think more about it and maybe remember that it really happened. You can add more ideas to that. So when we all share, it helps us get more ideas of what we think about the book.”

Books, and the love of reading, impact each student differently. With Book Club, these students can reflect on the many reasons why this medium is so special.

“Reading has always been kind of a cool down for me,” Bruening expressed. “Whenever I get angry, I can just go to my room and read for a long time. I like [Book Club] because I can experience different books than I normally read. I’m mostly into historical fiction, so I like having different books and different genres to read.”

“Compared to movies, I really love books more,” Scott explained. “When you read a book, you can come up with your own ideas, and you can imagine your own pictures instead of them just giving it to you. It’s a way for you to get more creative. It feels better to read a whole book than to watch a movie…I feel happy after I’m done reading.”

Chambers noted that she intends to continue Book Club into the summer, meeting in June, July, and September. She hopes even more students will join the club next school year as well.

“I always tell students, reading is never going to hurt you; it’s only going to help you,” Chambers said. “It helps with their acquisition of vocabulary, reading comprehension, and fluency. I always tell students that no matter what you do in life, you have to find a book to read. And students who don’t like to read, they just haven’t found the right genre or the right book.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Students Lola Scott and Maxie Bruening show off some favorite books with book club advisor, Bridget Chambers.