Teen Book Club: Up, Up, and Away!

No one would suggest I run a conventional teen book club, and that's one of the things I'm proud of. I know teens like to be silly and do fun things, and it's not always necessary to sit and discuss a book in depth. I've done book club using Legos and using Play Doh and making Post Secret cards.

While I was reading this week's book, which was Nova Ren Suma's June release Imaginary Girls, I was thinking about how I could run with something in the book and twist it enough to make it an activity for book discussion. What kept coming back to me was the imagery in the book, and one image that kept coming back to me was one in which the main character's older sister writes a series of demands on balloons that she ties with red ribbon. She lets them go and because of her magical powers, people do what the balloons say when they find them.

So I thought....why can't we?



I decorated our meeting room with colorful balloons that were tied with red ribbon.


I was impressed with how close the blue balloon matched the book's cover color.

Then when the group came in, they began writing their little demands/wishes onto the balloons with permanent markers.


Then we untied them from the backs of the chairs (proof the ribbon is red here!). I told everyone we had a place to take the balloons. I got some amused looks at this point, but then everything clicked into place when I led them outside.


One of our group members is wearing sunglasses in this photo, which, if you've read the book, you know fits the story so well. But, here's the pile of balloons. We wrote on each and every one of them. The wishes ran from things like wishing one of our group members would never stop talking, to receiving a pile of books in one's room, to having a cheesecake delivered to the library, and mine, which was having someone bring me $22 in $2 bills only.

Then we each took our balloons from the ground, and it was time to let the demands find their new homes.


Up!


Up!!


And away!

This was a fun activity, and it was definitely a way to tie the story to the discussion quite easily.

As you probably saw in the first picture, we also pulled down our big screen and had a chat with Nova Ren Suma herself. I've had a lot of people ask how I do our author chats, and really, it's simple. I get in touch with the author a month or more in advance and ask if we can chat. Our chats are about 20 minutes long, and as of yet, we haven't done a Skype chat (we will come fall). Instead, we've used Chatzy to set up private chat rooms and type to talk. It's free to set one up, and you can email the link to the other party. What I like about this set up is that coming up with questions can be done on the spot, so the conversation can build as it flows naturally, and it allows us to chat between typing. There's not pressure on the teens to come up with something on the spot, and there's less pressure to be completely focused on the chat. Plus, when you let the teens type, they get to talk to an author themselves! It's a huge thrill for them, and it's fun to connect them with the people writing books for them.

So after our balloon demand release, a short book club discussion about characters and setting, and then a chat with the author, we'd used up an hour and a half and had a LOT of fun.

What we did in book club this week

My best book club turn out to date, both numbers-wise and fun-wise.

To discuss this week's pick, A. S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz, we decided to choose a character from the book and create a Post Secret style card. Since not all of the kids finished the book, I left it open to say they could do any character in any book. The results were, of course, awesome:


I took a pile of magazines for the teens to destroy, along with card stock. It's been told to me more than once that orange is the color du jour with the teens here, so I gave it to them.

Some of my kids were unfamiliar with the Post Secret blog, but I brought the book along to show them. This was a huge hit -- and in fact, it went home with one of the teens after the program. This thrilled me to think about the opportunities that exist for incorporating more activities like this one to discuss the book at hand and to expose the teens to even more cool stuff.

I hung them up in the teen area in one of our nooks to show them off. I love showing off the teen work in the teen space. It really makes it their own.

Of course, after we did this, there was plenty of free building with Legos. These teens cannot get enough of the Legos, and you know, I'm going to keep giving them to them.

If you're curious, Vera Dietz was the second most popular, well-liked, and lauded book we've read so far, just behind Paranoid Park. The teens loved the multiple voices and time periods, and they loved how strange it was. I asked if they thought it was Printz-worthy and there was a resounding yes. I'd do this book again in a heart beat!

Asked & Answered: Teen Activities

I've hinted at some of the activities we've done for the high school book club, but I've been asked to talk a bit more about my use of unconventional methods for discussion. I'll let you know about two methods that have been huge hits.

First up, this:




For our discussion of Courtney Summers's Fall For Anything, I wanted to try something different. The book covers a heavy topic, and I wanted some way for the kids to talk without feeling put on the spot. Considering the success of our recent youth Lego club, I thought I'd try out a little construction with the teens. Little did I know that dropping down a table cloth and pouring out a couple of buckets of Legos would be like Christmas for teenagers.

The discussion involved having the teens depict a scene from the book in Legos. What they came up with totally delighted me and made me laugh so much. Not all of the kids finished the book -- I tell them if they make it to 50 pages and don't like the book to move on -- so those kids were able to build whatever they wanted. When they finished, I let them take their creations upstairs to our teen department and put them on display. They were incredibly proud of what they made.

I cannot believe how popular the Legos were with the teens. The Legos were so popular, in fact, they begged me to offer a teens-only Lego program and they begged me to do this kind of discussion again.

Fair enough.

A couple of weeks later, we were ready to discuss Blake Nelson's Paranoid Park at the library, and while I knew the kids wanted to do Lego discussion again, I wanted to change it up. So I did what I thought was only a natural progression:

If Legos were like Christmas, then Play-Doh was New Year's. I had a few containers of different colors, as well as a number of little tools for cutting and shaping the dough. Like with the Lego discussion, I asked the teens to depict a scene from the book with the Play-Doh. The results were hilarious and brilliant -- you wouldn't believe the amount of blood a teen boy can create with a little Play-Doh.

Both of these book discussions were successful and a lot of fun for both me as a facilitator (or enabler) and for the teens. I'm not a believer in keeping a book discussion rigid because the truth of the matter is that the kids don't always read the book. Things come up and they get busy, especially on a biweekly basis (that was their scheduling decision because my once-a-month suggestion was not enough meeting for them). Using fun, creative means of discussing means everyone can take part in the club, whether or not they finished or even started the book.

Next up, we're reading A. S. King's Please Ignore Vera Dietz, which they've all already told me they're enjoying greatly. I think we'll be making post cards Post Secret style with a bag of old magazines I have in my office -- an idea I got from Angie -- and I might even have the kids share some of their comments on the books we've read to make shelf/book talkers for those titles.

Book Club, Part Two

A longer post explaining my insanity will come soon, but I leave you with a series of photos to describe the second meeting of my high school book club.

We discussed this book:



By doing this:


And this:


You can't imagine the look of sheer delight on the face of a high schooler who enters a room for a book discussion and happens upon a table cloth covered with Legos. More soon!

Discussion Guide: XVI by Julia Karr

Since the goal of my book club is to read and discuss newer YA books, not many resources exist for discussion. I hope by sharing some my discussion questions, teen reactions, and activities that other folks interested in getting a teen book group (or even adult book group reading YA books) can benefit. Enjoy this discussion guide for Julia Karr's XVI.

Author website: Julia Karr

XVI-affiliated website (includes the contests we used for activities): Class2k11

Read alike/See alike: Feed by M. T. Anderson, Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, The Matrix

Fortunately for readers, the edition of Karr's book we had included a discussion guide in the back. However, I didn't care for most of the questions and instead reworked some and invented my own. Of course, I emphasize that any time the teens go on a tangent -- as long as it's marginally linked to the book -- go there with them. Without further ado:

• What were your overall impressions and thoughts? Give me your gut reactions.

• What worked and didn't work in the world Karr developed?

• Do you think anything that happens in this society is already happening in our own? (This one was one they dug -- a lot of discussion of advertising and media)
  

• Is this like the US now? Can it be our future?

• Is this a feminist book?

• What did you think of the characters? Did you have any favorites? Did you care about any of them more or less than the others?
  

• What did you think about the discussions of the media's influence on society? How did it relate to the overall story?

• What did you think about the language and new words used in this story? Did they work? Did anything not work?

• Did the book remind you of anything else you have read or seen?
  

I found this to be the right amount of discussion, actually. Some generated a lot of discussion, and some didn't bring very much out. Here are some of the teen reactions I had to these specific questions:

• Teens thought the main idea of the story was really good, though they thought the story was going to focus on the issue of turning 16 when it went elsewhere – but that ended up being a good thing to them.

• They liked falling right into this world. It wasn’t too generic or too realistic and they thought it reminded them a bit of Scott Westerfeld’s Uglies in world building and execution.

• We talked about how the role of books and knowledge played into the story and the teens were blown away by the idea that a government could want to hide books from people. A lengthy and valuable discussion of the roles of books and knowledge in society followed.

• They liked how the role of religion in the story felt like mythology – the characters talked about beliefs like we talk about mythology, that it’s kind of silly and pointless, despite the fact it really matters to people and is a basis for understanding existence.

• Teens felt the ads and media role in the story really could happen and are even happening now.

• Saw the idea of social tiers interesting and relatable in today’s world. They wanted to know a bit more about how this worked, though, since in this world people could move up and down through a lot of different circumstances. During our chat with the author, we found out there will be a second book, and the teens are hoping some of these questions are answered there.

Overall, this was a good book, but the teens said it won’t be a favorite. But it left them with a ton of questions and really gave them a lot to discuss. In other words, this was a perfect one to begin with. Not all of the teens finished the book, and that in itself was worth talking about.

After our discussion, we hopped onto Facebook and held a chat with the author. I let the kids draft their questions, which we did during and after discussion. Something in discussion would come up and the kids were eager to find out more -- and let me tell you how satisfying it was to be able to let them do it. But if you're stuck or need ideas, here's what we asked:

• What inspired the story?

• Do you think that this is our potential future?

• What was your road to publication? (teens were shocked to find out how long this took!)

• Is there a sequel in the works?

• Who do you think your target audience is with this book?

• Are your characters based on anyone in real life?

• What message are you trying to get across with the story?

I did not edit their questions at all, and I didn't give them boundaries. These generated an excellent conversation, wherein Julia even asked the teens questions!

Book Clubbin'

One of my dreams as a librarian was to start up a teen book club. One that was just high schoolers who could handle heavy issue books and where we could get into some meaty (but fun) discussions of the topics presented.

Color me thrilled when I not only got to start it but got the group of kids I got.

It all started with book talking -- I presented the idea to the kids and got a few bites that way. I talked to my regular teen volunteer who, at first, thought it would be a boring thing. Then as I told her more and more my goals and vision and the fact that I wanted to leave most of it up to them, the teens, she was hooked. I set up a planning meeting and invited all interested parties on one of the local high school's early release dates.

I had five kids show up. Five is huge! It was an excellent mix of guys and girls, and it ranged the entire school grade wise. We enjoyed cookies (which they would have been totally happy without, honestly), creating a name for our club, and coming up with some of the things we'd like to try. I'm a completely open and flexible person, and I'm extremely lucky in my job because my boss lets me try anything I want to. So when my kids say they want to do something, I'm going to make it happen if I can. At this meeting, I also got the kids to give me boat loads of contact information, including their phone number, email, English teacher, favorite books/authors, and preferred means of being reached. This last part is key to keeping in contact with them; mine want Facebook notices and texts, which I'm working on. At the end of our planning meeting, we'd picked our first book club book, a date to meet (and let me note -- I suggested meeting once a month but they insisted on meeting every other week!), a place to meet, and then my favorite part: I pulled out about 50 advanced reader copies of books I had at home and let them at it.

Those were some happy kids.

To facilitate picking a common book, I pulled about 10 different books sitting in our teen area that caught my eye or that I'd read about and gave some impromptu talks about. My kids picked to meet for the first time at Starbucks and their book of choice was Julia Karr's XVI, which came out in January. I had a slight panic about this since we had a copy but I didn't think I could grab up 6 copies of it by the time we'd meet. I ended up deciding to spend programming money on a copy for each member (they were paperbacks around $5 each copy) and numbered each one. I told the kids that I'd need the books back since they were library copies and I'm thrilled to share all came back in excellent condition. Those'll be used for a floating collection I've got in the works and for summer reading prizes. I took the books to the high school when they came in a few days later and got them to their English teachers to distribute.

When I dropped off the books, I included a note saying I'd cover the cost of one drink (~$3.50) and my biggest caveat: if you're not feeling the book, stop at page 50 and read something else. Give it a shot but move on if it's not your thing. I realize what a statement this is, but remember, my goal here is to encourage the love of reading and if you're not loving what you're reading, why keep going if it's meant to be for fun?

In the week and a half mean time between getting the books to the teens and the meeting, I did a few things. First, I got in touch with the author and set up a short chat for the end of book club meeting. Then I did a little thinking about activities we could do at the meeting and scoured the class2k11 website to find TWO fun activities. I passed off the cover redesign activity ahead of time via facebook and email to the kids so they could get a jump on it early if they wanted. Then I did my reading and wrote out some questions to discuss. I did not plan a single question for the kids to ask the author, though, and honestly, I left my discussion questions pretty minimal because, ahem, I did not finish the book myself. The other thing I did was pull together a list of possible next reads and grab a pile of galleys to distribute.

I showed up to Starbucks early and took one of our library netbooks with me to get the chat all set up. Then the kids came and we got to talking! Of our 6 members, only one person finished the book. And whereas most book clubs this could be problematic, this ended up being a huge opportunity to talk. We talked about why we did or didn't finish the book. But more than that, we talked about the huge topics at play in the book, simply because everyone who read it GOT THOSE. It was a fantastic discussion of media influence, government, and feminism/sexism, and we had a great time talking about the different things in the book that we did enjoy. So this is to say, even though finishing the book proved challenging, we had a lot of good things to talk about. We talked for about 30 minutes about the book before diving into taking a "hands on" photo from the class2k11 website and developed a small list of questions to ask the author.

While the kids prepped their photo, I got our chat rolling. We decided to use facebook to chat, since my library's facebook presence is actually a normal profile, rather than a page you can "like." This gives us chatting privileges. I hopped on and said hi to Julia, then took my kids photo, before getting back to the chat and our questions.

This chat was fantastic. The answers my kids got to the questions were so good, and not only that, but Julia offered US questions, too, which really got the kids rolling. We talked about who would play Nina in a movie, as well as whether we thought our world was moving toward the one depicted in XVI. We kept the chat to 20 minutes -- enough for 6 questions or so -- because that is about the attention span of me typing and reading answers to them. But here's the big heart warming moment: this was one of the coolest things these kids have done. Every one of them said this was the first time they got to talk to an author about her book and some were excited to be talking to someone "famous." This was what made it ALL worthwhile.

After chatting, we picked our next book and meeting location. Folks, even though I covered their drinks and food at Starbucks, they were begging to meet in the library next time so they could have a book swap. I don't think you need to go fancy or buy your kids to come. If you have fun and follow their interests, they will show up.

Picking our next book was a bit of a challenge, since I apparently drafted a good list of next choices. We had 9 of the 12 books starred as next possibilities, and we ended up throwing the titles all in a hat and drawing. I asked if they wanted to talk with the author (if possible) and it was a resounding YES! from all around. And I cannot wait to post about the next meeting because I have a discussion medium cooking up I doubt has ever been done before. . .and it was actually all their idea. I just facilitate.

So if you're looking to get a book club started, my advice is this:

- Get in with your local teachers. They know who their readers are. They know who'd be interested. Get those students' names and send them individual invites. This thrills them.

- Know your current teens and talk about your idea with them. Tell them to bring their friends. Word of mouth is key.

- Let the kids do the deciding. I have some parameters, but I keep them loose. I let the kids pick the club name. I let them draw a mascot. I let them decide what books to pick -- with my input simply to keep the choices manageable. I let them decide what things they want to do during the book club. Guess what? Good book discussions aren't necessarily vocal. Sometimes, it's through art. Sometimes it's by connecting to something in the book and making that meaningful. Let them express themselves as they want to.

- I realize not everyone has the flexibility I do in terms of where to meet. But try if you can to see where kids have the best chance of getting to. Let them pick times and dates to meet. The more ownership they have, the better.

- Keep your patrons informed. We post our book club info on our blog and website. I plan on making a bulletin board in the teen department showcasing the awesome stuff these kids are doing. It lets others know what you're doing and invites others to join. It also gives those core kids excitement. They MATTER.

- Have fun but be proactive. I am a very hands-off person in management, and this is good for most teens in a group this size. But there are quiet kids who are afraid to jump into discussion. Sometimes, you gotta call them out (nicely, of course) through easy questions. Ask them what they thought about specific things. Ask them to be the one to pick the book for next time. Ask them to talk about their favorite things. It works. But if it doesn't, remember this: they wouldn't come if they weren't getting something out of it, even if it's simply companionship from other teens.

I'll be back to talking about the book club again in a couple weeks to talk about other lessons learned. But in the mean time, what is your book club advice? What's worked and not worked? Share with me so I can learn more, too.