Bonding Through Books

– By April Miller –

Earlier this year, Rye Middle School began a monthly book club for girls and their moms, as a fun way to improve mother-daughter communication, and also to encourage girls to read for enjoyment and empowerment.

The club was started by Michele Haiken, who teaches Language Arts Electives to all three grades. Haiken knows what she's doing, having run book clubs at other schools and even basing her doctoral dissertation on a girls' book club.

"There needs to be more conversation around books in school," said Haiken. "As teachers, we are always assessing students, but in the book club we can all talk about books and go beyond discussing setting and character motivation like we would in an English class."

The club is co-run with Guidance Counselor Judith Halpern.

The book selection for April was "Ask Me No Questions", by Marina Budhos. The novel tells the story of a teenage girl from a Bangladeshi family that has been living in New York City on expired visas for years. They hope to eventually become citizens, but after the events of 9/11, being an illegal immigrant is dangerous, especially because they are Muslim. The family tries to flee to Canada, but is stopped at the border and the father is detained as a suspected terrorist.

"It taught us that 9/11 really impacted some people's lives more than others," said sixth grader Emma Herbold.

The group discussed the theme of the immigrant experience in America and the importance of identity and assimilation. They also talked about sibling rivalry and discovering your strengths, important points of the book.

As part of the discussion, the mothers and daughters created a family tree, which they presented to the group, explaining where their relatives came from and why they came to America. Each family tree featured relatives who had faced discrimination, whether for being Irish in America or Jewish in Germany, which made the book more relevant to their own lives.

"This book made me think about things I don't usually think about," said seventh grader Maddy Junkins," which is just what Haiken and Halpern want to hear.