Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with three groups of high
school teens, mostly young women, during their book club discussion. To
my delight, they read my novel Unexpected Legacy for their group read in
October. It’s mainstream fiction with romantic elements that crosses
over to young adult.
It was wonderful to hear that they liked my
book, and thought it was engaging and realistic, with characters they
could relate to. It was a nice little ego boost.
But what really
struck me in the two hours I spent at the school, was how many of the
students are reading and writing for pleasure, are interested in the
writing and publishing process, and are active on Goodreads. A few of
them were even planning to participate in NaNoWriMo. One young woman
said she would stay up until midnight on Halloween night so that she
could begin writing!
During our discussion, we talked about
self-publishing and writing habits. They wanted to know about scene
selection, and where ideas come from. They asked great questions about
character development and dialog that showed they’d really put some
thought into reading and analyzing the book.
I’m thrilled that my
kids’ high school librarian is sponsoring a book club. And making it
cool. She wrote a proposal, and was granted funds from the school's
education foundation to purchase Nooks for the book club and a budget
for purchasing ebooks. The students simply check out the Nooks for book
club. It’s a great way to foster a love of reading, and to bring
together young readers in a support/discussion group.
I know the
young adult genre has exploded in the last several years thanks to
series such as Harry Potter and Twilight. Still, this is the age of too
many activities to choose from, iPhones, and downloadable everything. So
I’m really happy to see the kids choosing reading and writing as a
pastime. And especially happy to be a part of promoting a love for
reading!
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