Book Club Helps Mount St. Dominic Students Kick Off New School Year

CALDWELLS, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Mount St. Dominic Academy. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Mount St. Dominic Academy, a four-year private Catholic college preparatory school for girls in grades 9-12, located in Caldwell, ended the first day of school on a high note with Book Club discussions about the books they chose for summer reading. The groups comprised faculty and students in all grades. There were 14 fiction and non-fiction books to choose from, with the goals of discovering new ideas, developing perspectives, expanding empathy, and of course – having fun.

Director of School and College Counseling Linda Grancagnolo, who led a discussion group, said “It was a perfect way to discuss summer reading. The informal setting allowed the students to really share their thoughts.”

Nicky Higgins, an 11th grader said, “It was fun and nice to have a discussion and share our viewpoints. It brought us together as a community since it was with students in all different grades.” 12th grader Ciara McKeon echoed these sentiments and said, “We had a good discussion and got to see all points of view.”

The fiction books ran the gamut from American-Born Chinese, by Gene Yang (graphic novel); The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo (Narrative Verse); Honor, by Thrity Umrigar; Aristotle & Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz; and Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus; to The Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri.

The non-fiction choices included Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X Kendi; From Harvey River: A Memoir of My Mother and Her Island, by Lorna Goodison; Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson (Narrative Verse); Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah; Macbeth in Harlem: Black Theater in America from the beginning to Raisin in the Sun, by Clifford Mason; America Is in the Heart, by Carlos Bulosan; I Was Their American Dream, by Malaka Gharib (a graphic novel); and Crying in H Mart: A Memoir, by Michelle Zauner.

Eileen Brown, a new history teacher this year at the Mount, said “The girls were very engaged and some said they were looking forward to reading the sequel to the book they chose. The informal Book Club setting allowed us to get to know the students and they enjoyed getting to voice their opinions on something they weren’t being graded on.”

The Book Club was the brainchild of Principal Laura Hollenbaugh who planned to use the time as a community building and ice-breaking exercise. It was also an opportunity for students across grade levels and faculty who might not regularly interact with one another to get to know each other.

“This was an opportunity for us to build community through conversation, meeting in small groups to explore the experiences and identities presented in the books we’d selected. These discussions gave students and adults alike the opportunity to contribute their unique perspectives and interpretations of texts, and to further develop our appreciation of and commitment to diversity and inclusion. Allowing for choice in the process resulted in meaningful participation and lively discussion!” said Principal Hollenbaugh.

12th grader Cassidy Sontz said, “It was a good experience and we got to know everyone's opinions on the same book.”

Eve Hammett, grade 11, said “It was great. We all connected. My favorite part was that we all shared personal experiences related to the book. It was personal and nice.”

The conversations, some led by faculty and others by senior students, were lively and at times serious. However, one thing was for sure – everyone needed more than an hour to unpack their thoughts. Luckily, all students will get the chance to do so in the coming weeks as they perform critical thinking exercises and analysis on their books of choice during upcoming classes.

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