The Paly library is inviting students to participate in reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the first of many opportunities that students will have to read with the Paly Book Club this year.
The Hunger Games is a fantasy adventure story featuring two male and female heroes, who battle against a totalitarian government, according to librarian Rachel Kellerman.
Kellerman first read The Hunger Games last year after reading positive reviews. According to Kellerman, The Hunger Games is similar to other dystopian fiction such as 1984 by George Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
The novel also focuses on everyday issues, which Kellerman feels would makes it a good read for high school students who can relate with the characters.
“The two main characters are young adults and the problems they have mirror those of young adults today even though they live in a fantasy world,” Kellerman said. “Many aspects of their world mirror our own, so that by reading this book we can reflect on aspects of our society such as lack of privacy, obsessions with violence, government control versus free will, what’s good for society versus what’s good for the individual.”
With no student organizers at the moment, Kellerman is also searching for interested individuals who are interested in helping.
“I’d love it if someone wanted to step up and help organize things or bring another focus,” Kellerman said. “If students wanted to put together a more genre-oriented book club, I’d be interested in sponsoring that such as a graphic novel club.”
For interested students, Kellerman has set up a blog located in the “Groups” section of the InClass course labeled “Library Information and Passwords”, which all students are enrolled in. To join, students should look for the “sign up” button next to the book club group listing.
Once membership is confirmed by Kellerman, students are free to post topics for discussion and comment on current topics. Kellerman is still working on moderating the blog, but looks forward to exploring this new option on InClass.
While there is currently no set date for an official meeting, Kellerman hopes that once the books arrive and are distributed, a meeting will be scheduled a few weeks after. The library is currently taking names of interested students.
“If students want to sign up, they should give me their email,” Kellerman said. “I will use an email list to notify kids that their books are in and they can pick them up at the library.”
The second book the club will read after The Hunger Games is a book from the Silicon Valley Reads selection called In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.