As the school year draws to a close, thoughts turn to lazy days in the pool and late nights with friends. However, with the approach of summer also comes the yearly summer reading book.
After a school-wide vote held in February, the book “Every Day” by David Levithan has been chosen for Carlmont’s 2017-2018 school year. Although voting was open to all students in grades 9 through 11, many students were unhappy with the results of the election.
“From reading it, I expected it to be cheesy and dumb like I felt ‘The Beginning of Everything’ was,” said Viviane Lorvan, a sophomore.
As students picked up copies of their book, they expressed their hopes for the summer reading, especially compared to the summer reading books of the past few years.
“I think that this year’s book sounds like a normal dramatic love story, along with the concept of reincarnation,” said Callum Keddie, a sophomore. “I hope it turns out to be more than just that.”
Many students received a copy of the book from staff members of the Belmont and Carlmont libraries who handed out free copies to the first 1,000 students in the quad on Tuesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 11.
“I think that it is very helpful that the school provides books because it encourages us to read them,” said Keddie. “Plus, we don’t have to go out of our way to buy the books.”
Amid the varied expectations for the book, however, some students expressed concern over how the books were chosen.
“I definitely think teachers should have more say in the books we choose,” said Lorvan. “These books are intended to be educational, and they are our teachers.”
However, other students prefer the current method at Carlmont, claiming that allowing students to have a say in their reading makes the books more enjoyable to the student body.
“We are given good, valid choices and the students get the deciding vote on what we should read,” said Keddie. “Each book could spark a good discussion and the voting process allows students to avoid books they don’t want to read.”
