New Haven Independent

By Sunnie Lovelace

For all my years as a certified bookworm I’ve never been part of a book club before. When I first started thinking about starting one here at the library, I was a little worried that the book club wouldn’t “work” because I didn’t know how to do it. Now I see that as an advantage. With no template to follow and no model to live up to, I can’t get it wrong. This is a no-rules, no agenda, free-form book club.

I was inspired by the conversations I have with teens that stop by the library. When we realize we’ve read the same books, we could spend hours talking about what our favorite parts were, what did this or that mean, how good was the ending, will there be a sequel? I love those conversations! Books, like movies, are more fun when shared with friends. Sure, you can watch a movie by yourself, but a good comedy is always more enjoyable when the person next to you is laughing too.

I’ve also been inspired by all the really good book recommendations I get from teens. One teen handed me “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer. I knew about this incredibly popular series (starting with Twilight) by Stephenie Meyer, but I never would have picked up this book on my own. Why? Because it’s a book about vampires. I like Mysteries, Chick Lit, Classics and Historical Fiction. I’m not into Fantasy or Sci Fi-certainly not a book about vampires. Except this time I was sooooo wrong. This book is fantastic!! I couldn’t get my hands on the sequels (New Moon, then Eclipse) fast enough! I also fell in love with a Sci Fi book, “Enders Game” by Orson Scott Card, recently-also on a teens recommendation. The moral of the story is that sometimes reading outside of your “comfort zone” can be extremely rewarding. That’s why the book selection for BNBC is totally democratic. Members vote on the books we read, so no one person (I guess it would be me) is picking books according to their tastes. Variety is the spice of the literary life too.

After all the planning, preparing and shopping, when the day of our first meeting-my debut program as a Young Adult Librarian-came along, I was completely paranoid. What if no one came? What if people came, but no one wanted to talk? What if everyone stared at me? What if I forgot to wear deodorant? I felt like I was back in middle school, when every party or sleepover induced a mini-identity crisis. What if my friends don’t really like me? What if my room’s not cool enough? Or my clothes aren’t cool enough? What if everyone said they’d come, but then they got an invitation from someone more popular and went to their party instead?

I busied myself by trying to make the “program room” seem more like a comfortable living room-sans couches. I piled snacks on one table and put on a Jack Johnson CD as background music. The table got covered by one of our huge rolls of craft paper, so it could be doodled on and goodie bags made a lovely centerpiece. One side of the room still looked like a vacant children’s theatre, but I think I at least achieved an overall laid back feeling. Then, I waited…

My friends told me not to worry if no one came to the book club-after all, I’m competing with MTV and video games. Only, guess what? People did come to my book club. Not a lot of people, but enough to have a really good time.

My buddy Zeke (the one that got me hooked on Orson Scott Card) came and provided both comic relief and unique insights into the books he’s read recently. Then I got to meet Isha Honey, an eigth-grader at Worthington Hooker. So far it looks like she and I have similar tastes in books-we both loved “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson, for just one example. Giovanna blew in like a hurricane. I have rarely seen such enthusiasm for all types of books. Giovanna may even convince us to read some Manga in the future!

These teenagers love reading as much as I do. They got that sparkle in their eye when they talked about books they really liked. I am totally looking forward to next month. I’m loving the thriller that we picked out-“StormCatchers” by Tim Bowler-and I can’t wait to find out what everyone else thinks about it. Will they figure out the mystery before I did? Will they like the ending? What book will they pick next? Take that, MTV!

I have extra copies of our book at my desk, for anyone who wants to read it and come join us on Tuesday, February 26th at 4pm. Come find me at the YA desk in the downtown library or check out our Facebook group: YA @ the New Haven Free Public Library, for more info and pictures.