Jan. 12, 2024
By Allison Vasquez
Staff Writer
Book Club members shared their love of literature in a secret book exchange that took place during the club’s monthly meeting in the media center on Dec. 15.
Media specialist and Book Club co-advisor Ms. Murru said Book Club president senior Camille Echols pitched the idea in mid-October.
“[Co-advisor] Ms. Cappiello and I thought it would be a great idea for students to give each other gifts,” Murru said.
Out of the club’s 15 members, Murru said nine decided to participate, typing their favorite genre in a Google spreadsheet. These students were assigned a partner at the Book Club’s meeting in November and were given instructions to bring a wrapped book for them to December’s meeting.
Murru said she hopes the secret book exchange becomes an annual tradition.
“I think everybody had a really great time [and] seemed very pleased with their gifts,” Murru said.
Senior Parker Conklin received the psychological thriller “The Girl Who Was Taken” by Charlie Donlea from senior Sumanjit Kaur.
“I’[d] definitely do the book exchange next year. It was a fun experience, and I’d like to see what people would pick out for me.”
“It was the first real Secret Santa that I was in…. It was very entertaining,” Conklin said.
Conklin gifted the fantasy novel “Star Eater” by Kerstin Hall to freshman Lila Pearce-Jaryno.
“It wasn’t that hard [to select a book] because of the spreadsheet that we had,” Conklin said. “Then, I just went with a cool cover.”
Pearce-Jaryno gifted the historical fiction novel “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid to freshman Isabella Fata.
Pearce-Jaryno said Fata’s mom suggested the book because Fata requested it as a Christmas present.
They said they were excited to participate in a book exchange.
“I’[d] definitely do the book exchange next year. It was a fun experience, and I’d like to see what people would pick out for me,” Pearce-Jaryno said.
They said reading Ray Bradbury’s dystopian novel “Fahrenheit 451” in Ms. Burns’ English I-Honors class reminded them about the importance of reading and learning from literature.
“It’s showing what people do when they lose that sense of being able to be told a story,” Pearce-Jaryno said. “I genuinely think stories are the most important thing in the world.”
