Warren Central just added a long-awaited book club to the list of extracurricular activities for students to indulge in. Reading is a fundamental part of life, and for those who are already a devout fan of literature, then this club surrounds them with minds alike. It also gives them a space to build relationships and express themselves at a pace they are comfortable with.
“It gave them a space for people to listen and hear like, ‘Oh there's people just like me,’ and it gave people who really like to talk a chance to talk,” Dayna Masih said.
Masih is the school’s media specialist and began hosting the book club after some students asked her to last semester.
The club’s first meeting was on Nov. 30 to discuss the book “Raybearer” by Jordan Ifueko.
“I picked the book based on one that we already had, it happened to be a really good one,” Masih said.
But choosing the second book, “They Both Die at the End” by Adam Silvera, was a bit of a different process.
“The public library has book club books, so I went to the teenage section of that one and chose our second book,” Masih said.
The club will meet to read its third book, “Five Total Strangers” by Natalie D. Richards, later on in February or early March, once students have had a chance to read it.
According to Masih and students involved, they have been trying to explore a book from different genres at each meeting, which is something junior Amari Posey appreciates. They started with a fantasy novel, then moved to a science fiction story, and their book now is a mystery.
“I read a lot of books and wanted to find new books to read, so I figured going to book club and being suggested books would help me expand my genres a bit more,” Posey said.
The community for reading books in Warren Central is very strong, and Masih was happy to get a chance to make a space for them.
“There are teenagers who come in every day at lunch and talk to me about books,” she said. “Then there are other people who really like reading but they don't really like talking.”
Sophomore Sharlaya Scanlon said she joined the book club because it gave her a chance to build a community with others who like to read.
“It was just something that really caught my interest, and I was looking to meet new people and make new friends,” she said.