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JMHS Book Club Finding Success in First Semester

John Marshall High School’s book club is drawing students in and rekindling a love of the nonfiction genre, thanks in part to a pair of $2,500 grants from Penguin Random House publishing company.

Teacher and club adviser Jonna Kuskey acquired the grants by applying to Penguin Random House as part of a grant program. In turn, the grants kicked off the start of the club in January. By February, the books had arrived and were distributed, leading to the Book Club’s formal formation. Three times during the spring semester, students will meet during homeroom to discuss their readings, culminating in a reception and book swap event toward the end of the year, prior to the last day for seniors.

Kuskey said the initial grant was awarded to the school after she submitted an application, which was followed up with matching funds to acquire books. More than 413 books across 18 titles, all nonfiction, covering topics such as U.S. history, business nd the history of arts and culture were acquired.

“I wrote the grant so that all the books were nonfiction, for a couple reasons,” she said. “Studies show that students are not reading as much as they used to, for pleasure or school, and as a senior teacher I reached into nonfiction, because most of the students are not going to be going and reading poetry, unless they’re English majors. They need a good grasp of how to read nonfiction. … I asked the teachers to pick nonfiction books of interest to them, and that’s how we created the catalog.”

Kuskey said nonfiction books were selected as students were increasingly coming to focus on fiction or prose at earlier grades, which led to many missing out on an entire field of literature even into high school, but which was more involved at the college level. Kuskey also said she felt critical thinking was a skill nurtured by reading nonfiction, another skill prized at the college level.

“It’s an adjustment for them, but I think as they go, they realize it’s not dull or boring. There’s a difference between reading nonfiction, and reading a textbook with that same information. There are some really good subjects that are interesting,” Kuskey said.

After the book catalog was created, students selected their favorites from the selection. Fifty-nine students chose “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a 2017 novel covering a string of murders of Native Americans living on land after oil deposits were found. Other books with large followings included “The New Kings of Nonfiction,” “The Penguin Lessons,” and “The Civil War in 50 Objects,” each with more than 30 students participating. In total, 193 students signed up as book club members, along with 48 parents and 36 faculty members.

Kuskey nominated “Killers of the Flower Moon” based on her own interest in filling in missing knowledge of a part of history, with connections to the local oil and gas industry, which she said many students also were drawing a connection.

“I chose it because it’s a part of history I didn’t know about. The Indians were killed because of the money they were getting from their oil,” Kuskey said. “I thought that would be interesting, here, because of the oil and gas. I’ve only met with my group once, and that’s what a lot of them were saying. They didn’t realize it was an episode in history, and they were drawing parallels between these Indians and what was going on here.”

Students involved in the book club said the opportunity to read books outside their normal comfort zone is helping to add to their breadth of experience.

“The book club is really nice — I love getting new books,” student Maggie Lyons said. “I’m a huge book nerd, but it gives a lot of us an opportunity. I hate nonfiction books, so if not for this book club, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. It’s nice to broaden my horizons.”

A smaller joy of the club, yearbook teacher Jessica Bramer said, was students rediscovering their appreciation for books.

“There’s something ceremonial about feeling a book,” Bramer said. “This is an escape — it’s impactive. I have to have a physical book in order to finish it.”

“That’s something foreign to a lot of them, with their Kindles and such,” Kuskey added.

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