Nearly a dozen students from New Paltz Middle School meet after school weekly for Book Club to enjoy “being on the same page.” Grade 7 English teacher Randi Rosen facilitates a shared experience for the student readers through evocative, engaging discussions of relatable book selections, which are generously paid for by the Middle School PTA. Recently they created whimsical paper butterflies with “retired” book pages. Everything from character analysis to context and plot to literary devices is fodder for the club’s discussion. The students’ literary preferences include fantasy, sci-fi, romance, classics, mystery, and “dark” fairy tales.

 

A few crowd favorites include: “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane” by Kate DiCamillo, “The Hazelwood” by Melissa Albert, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han, and “Soul Eater” by Atushi Ohkuba.