Last quarter, Dual Enrollment was cooking up some great reads for students.
Seniors were given the option to choose from the following titles: The Kite Runner, Angela’s Ashes, Life of Pi, Frankenstein, Educated, Brave New World, 1984, and The Hate You Give.
Book clubs were formed based on student book selections. Students were charged with running their own book clubs. Dual Enrollment Professors Kathleen Trace and Dr. Alex Bergren gave students a date by which the book would need to be completed and students selected how much they would read for each book club meeting. Trace and Bergren also provided “roles” for students for each meeting: manager, literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, and discussion director, but students worked independently within those roles determining what passages to discuss, questions to ask each other, and words to define. Each class, students discussed and analyzed their books through a different lens (setting, characterization, conflict, etc). Many students felt very strongly about the book they chose to read. Let’s see what they had to say:
Senior Keven Mazuera-Caro chose to read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The Kite Runner is a story narrated by a boy named Amir who is born in Kabul Afganistan at the time of the rise of the Taliban.
“I think Kite Runner is a well written piece of literature,” said Mazuera-Caro. “It brings readers a new perspective to Central Asian countries. Also, [The protagonist] changed so much throughout the book that it was fairly easy to find quotes and write my literary analysis essay,” said senior Keven Mazuera-Caro.
Senior Tyra Anthony chose to read Angela’s Ashes by Frant McCourt. Angela’s Ashes was one of three memoir options (the others were Educated and The Things They Carried). It tells the story of McCourt’s childhood in poverty-stricken Ireland. It chronicles his family’s struggles to survive, his father’s alcoholism, and his mother’s determination to provide for her children. Anthony confessed that “it was better than I thought it would be.” 
Senior Lily Ibarra was also surprised by how much she liked the book she chose: Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
“[Life of Pi] was one of the best books I’ve read,” said Ibarra. “It balanced fiction and real-life amazingly.”
Life of Pi, can be read as pure fiction or allegory.
“Since [Life of Pi] can be interpreted many different ways, there was quite a lot of freedom in how I chose to go about the essay,” said senior Elizabeth Sweeny.
Quite a few students chose to read The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. The Hate You Give explores racism and police brutality through the eyes of a 16-year-old girl who is experiencing two worlds: the poor (primarily black) neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban (primarily white) prep school she attends. 
“I’d give [The Hate You Give] an 8/10,” said senior Jacen Fletter.
