Student Book Club Announces Plans for the New Year

    This year, the student book club, with librarian Ms. Tichachek leading, has made some changes to help accommodate many students’ limited free-time, and to adapt to meeting virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. As many students have limited free time today, the book club has adapted to make finding time to pleasure read easier, as the club has decided to read only graphic novels this year.

     “It seems like for me at least and what I’ve noticed, that many students are just a little bit overwhelmed with the workload they have, or they have a lot of free time,” said Ms. Tichacek, Fenwick’s librarian and student book club moderator. “Depending on the classes and what they’ve decided to take this year. So I’ve basically tried to accommodate both sets of students.” With many students having limited free time, it makes sense to pick books that generally take less time to read, such as graphic novels.

     In September, the club read March: Book One by John Lewis, and the experience was overall positive. Junior Erika Schroeder said, “When I opened the book I was surprised because despite being told numerous times, I did not realize it was a graphic novel. This was the first graphic novel I had ever read, and I thought it was really interesting. I still prefer reading normal books, but like so many others things, it was a new experience, not a bad experience. When reading graphic novels there is so much more to consider than only the words. You also have to look at the pictures and interpret how the pictures are contributing to the plot. It definitely takes a little bit to get used to.”

     Additionally, the club has seen an increase in participation from students this year, as many can now make time to read because the books are now only graphic novels. “We

have a lot more students that are interested,” said Ms. Tichacek. “With the amount of students we have so far, the majority is really excited to read them.” Ms. Tichacek also said some students were not fans of the decision to read graphic novels, so as the year goes on, they may make some changes or even read some more “word focused” graphic novels.

     The online discussion meetings have succeed so far, but they are still different from in-person meetings. Schroeder remarked, “Having a book club meeting over zoom was definitely a new experience. Last year, we met at Fenwick, brought food to share, and even drew on whiteboards to remember key plot points. Although it was a new experience, it was not a bad experience. We were still able to talk about the book, or in this case graphic novel, that we read. Additionally, we were able to discuss books we have recently read and favorite authors.”

     For October, the book club selected a manga novel to read, Frankenstein by Japanese author Junji Ito. If you are interested in joining the book club, please email Ms. Tichachek. Overall, the Fenwick Student Book Club has done a great job adapting to meeting online, and to make sure students can still find time to read, especially in this chaotic and time-sensitive environment.