East Lyme High School Book Clubs

This summer we have something new! Some teachers are running book clubs. If you would like to participate, here is a list of our offerings. You’ll meet in person or virtually for one hour during the indicated week and talk about the book! No quizzes, no papers, just share thoughts. Check out the google classroom for more information and updates. nw42up3

July 6-9 Poetry with Barber Find a poem. Read it. Read it again. Maybe read it one more time. Now what? This club will not ask you to do a lot of reading, but it will ask you to think about words and share what your chosen poems do for you.

July 12-16 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott with Singer and Bryant Little Women is a wonderful story about family, feminism and becoming the best version of yourself. Whether you are new to the story, have read it a million times or just loved the movie we encourage you to join our summer reading club. AND/OR Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man with Kargusang (tentatively meeting July 13 @3) “Emmanuel Acho believes the only way to cure the nation's oldest disease -- racism – starts with a profound, revolutionary idea: actually talking to one another. No, seriously. Until it gets uncomfortable… And then some."

July 19-23 The Big Field by Mike Lupica with Harfenist Playing shortstop is a way of life for Hutch—not only is his hero, Derek Jeter, a shortstop, but so was his father, a former local legend turned pro. Which is why having to play second base feels like demotion to second team. Yet that's where Hutch ends up after Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the best shortstop prospect since A-Rod, joins the team. But Hutch is nothing if not a team player, and he's cool with playing in D-Will's shadow—until, that is, the two shortstops in Hutch's life betray him in a way he never could have imagined. With the league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?

July 26-30 Heroine by Mindy McGinnis with Trusler When a car crash sidelines Mickey just before softball season, she has to find a way to hold on to her spot as the catcher for a team expected to make a historic tournament run. Behind the plate is the only place she’s ever felt comfortable, and the painkillers she’s been prescribed can help her get there. The pills do more than take away pain; they make her feel good. With a new circle of friends—fellow injured athletes, others with just time to kill—Mickey finds peaceful acceptance, and people with whom words come easily, even if it is just the pills loosening her tongue. But as the pressure to be Mickey Catalan heightens, her need increases, and it becomes less about pain and more about want, something that could send her spiraling out of control.

August 2-6 Beloved by Toni Morrison and Warrior Cats into the Wild by Erin Hunter with K. Buckley (the English Buckley) Suggested by Morgan Conover; from "100 Books to Read Before College" Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding New York Times bestseller transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.

Aug 9-13 The Spring Girls by Anna Todd with Singer and Bryant This modern day retelling of the Little Women story follows 4 sisters as they navigate their father’s deployment, sibling rivalry, and their journey to discover who they are and their place in the world. AND/OR The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath with Teixeira Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read A bestselling modern classic—both poignant and funny—about a boy with autism who sets out to solve the murder of a neighbor's dog and discovers unexpected truths about himself and the world.