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Girls Inc. of Omaha: Making reading fun with a teen book club
A New Chapter
Girls Inc. offers a book club for teen girls
At Girls Inc. of Omaha, girls are gaining an appreciation for reading in a new book club just for teens. Kimberly Bell, the center's Teen Specialist, chose The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison as the first selection because she believed it would encourage girls to think about the intersections between societal and personal issues. The book club discussions have been consistently thought provoking, and girls are taking some important messages to heart. "I've learned that you should accept yourself for yourself and that there are different issues in society. Sometimes people are worse off than you are, so you just need to give them a chance in life," says Candice Smith, a 15-year-old book club participant.
In its fifth month, the book club has about 25 members. Twice a week, the girls get together for an hour to read chapters out loud and discuss what they've read. To add to the experience of reading The Bluest Eye, Bell has organized other activities to engage girls in the book club experience. "We've read some of Toni Morrison's poems and even had some of the girls act them out," says Bell. In the future, she plans to encourage participants to write book reports and design their own jacket covers for the book selections.
Not all of the members were enthusiastic readers before they joined the book club. In fact, Candice admits that she didn't really like to read. But now she says that Toni Morrison is her favorite author and she's looking forward to reading more of her work. Shawna Lewis, 16, was also immediately drawn in by the book's exciting plot. She recommends that other girls get involved in book clubs if they can. "You should get into a book club, see if you like it and then just keep reading!"
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