Teen Book Club Hits and Misses

I've been running a teen book club at my local library for a little over two years. I recently asked the teens what their favorite books were that we read in the group and which ones missed the mark. 

If you'd like to see all the books we've read as a group, you can check them out on the TBC shelf on my Goodreads profile.  

Hits:

1984 by George Orwell showed up on the favorites list of all the teens, and quite frankly I was shocked. One teen explained, "I enjoy books that have depth and complexity, and that say things, and preferably expand my mind by reading them. I also enjoy classics, which have stood the test of time, for some reason or another . . . I love exploring them, and discussing them after!"

I wasn't sure if the teens would "get" this book, and they did. We read it right after Animal Farm so we could compare the two books. I also explained what inspired Orwell to write the two stories and they were fascinated by the history behind it.

Farewell to Manzanar was one I was hoping the teens would like, and most of them did! Since the autobiography of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston focuses on Japanese interment camps (something you never hear about in school), I was really hoping the teens would be interested in learning something new and discussing it. This book gave us one of the best discussions we've ever had. 

The Book Thief is one of the most recommended books I've ever come across and it definitely lives up to the expectations. Again, most of my teens recommended this book too. It still gives me "the feels" when I think about it. 

Honorable Mentions:

    The Hobbit                                        Nation                                 The Time Machine

Misses:

The Obsidian Blade, well actually the whole series, wasn't a big hit among the teens. It wasn't that it was a terrible book, but as one teen stated, it lacked literary style and seemed to have no meaning. I enjoyed the first book and the different events that Hautman took you to, but I have to agree, by the third book everything was so muddled it was too hard to keep track and just wasn't enjoyable. 

Okay so here is the thing about Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, it's your typical teenage love story. If you liked Twilight, you'll probably love this book, but the Teens and I aren't typical teenage love story fans. This book fell flat because it seemed like it was going to go somewhere but just didn't seem to go anywhere. 

End of the Week Roundup

I've noticed since I started writing these Friday posts that sometimes it's really hard to find five things that are "worthy" enough to jot down here. This week, up until Wednesday, that was the case. I really like doing these posts, they help me appreciate the little things in my life, even if it is difficult at times to find things to include in the list. In fact this blog in general has led me to be more positive and it has put me in a good mood. This is definitely a great hobby that I've picked up. Now that I've typed this I realized this is probably roundup #1 for this week. Go me for finding something out of seemingly nothing!

2. I have three classes back to back on Tuesdays. My second, three hour class was cancelled this week so I took the opportunity to catch up on writing final papers, homework, and some future plans I have for school. This also gave me the chance to catch a glimpse into what life would have been like if I had gone to school the "regular" way. I ate lunch in the school's cafeteria, walked halls that I didn't normally walk, and sat among other students and just took in my surroundings. I was thankful to be able to get an idea of what life would have been like--so I wouldn't have to wonder. But as hard as life has been for me at times, I'm glad I chose the path I did.

3. I stopped into the library Wednesday night to pick up books I needed to use for research for papers I have to write. My plan was to get in, say hello, and get out to get started on my work, but I should have known that is never going to happen in a place that I love and adore, and that loves and adores me back. This particular Wednesday there was a teen poetry session and two of my favorite people at the library (the third one was working behind the desk) happened to be part of the poetry event, so I joined in the festivities and had a blast. I left feeling so elated and happy, like I was on cloud nine. There are certain people you meet in this world who will always uplift your spirit and these ladies do that for me, I'm grateful that I was ever given the chance to get to know them.

4. One of my favorite moments of the poetry event was "Spine Label Poetry". What you do is walk around and grab books and use the titles on the spine labels to create mini poems. I chose to be inspired by my longing for Tennessee and put together this nifty little poem:

In this mountain
Where we belong
Heart of the matter
Finding love forever

How awesome is that little ditty? I can't tell you how much fun it was running around finding books that fit my idea of what I wanted to say. It was so creative and inspiring. If I ever get to be an English teacher this is most definitely going to be part of a lesson plan.

Here is another, this is by Hannah, one of my teens from the book club I run. Hannah is incredibly intelligent, funny, and the kind of girl that could be your best friend after 5 minutes, she is, simply put, awesome:

The truth about forever
Where people like us live
The dead and the gone
Keep holding on
Firebirds Rising!

One last thought, this was so much fun, try it out!!!!

5. Speaking of libraries, another local library was having a book sale last Saturday. Sadly the pickings were slim, but I was able to pick up this awesome book for $1. This thing is huge and hopefully I'll get some great recipes out of it. I love the feeling when you hold a humongous book in your hands, and this one you could definitely use to lift weights with!

So that's it for this week, have a great weekend, I hope to see you all on Monday!