Danah Atassi, sophomore, and Megan Knister, junior, kicked off their first year as co-presidents of Book Club, a new club for students who enjoy reading. Members of the club will be voting on books to read and discuss over the course of the school year.

“I like to read and I wanted to get other people together who love to read,” said Knister about why she wanted to start the club. She hopes that students who join Book Club “will learn to like to read more and maybe become better readers.”

As of now, Knister and Atassi are considering possible future projects. “We’re thinking of having a book drive for kids in inner city schools who don’t have enough books to read,” said Knister. They also may organize other fundraisers with Book Club in future months.  As the club progresses, Knister hopes to get more people involved with reading and perhaps, through a book drive, reach out to other schools.

Kathrynne Saunders, English teacher, is sponsoring the club. “I’m a book fanatic,” she said. For this reason, she decided to sponsor Book Club. “I try to read a lot of different stuff so that I can make good recommendations and it’s just something I love,” Saunders said. She hopes that students who join the club will gain “an opportunity to try something new, maybe to read something that they wouldn’t necessarily pick up on their own, and [have] an opportunity to talk to other people who like books, too.”

Book Club’s first choice read for this year is Divergent by Veronica Roth, which contains dystopian themes. At the first meeting, students heard brief descriptions of various books. After receiving input from Saunders and the co-presidents, members voted for this novel.