Life sucks in the Middle East. 

In an attempt to reveal the truth about Iranians, Marjane Satrapi only revealed the obvious to students in her novel “Persepolis.”  Although it had good morals and themes, I found this comic book to be a complete waste of my valuable time.  Since when are comic books even allowed in high school?

This is just one example of why summer reading is extremely painful for students.  Summer reading is the last thing students want to do during their break, especially when they have to flip through a comic book that holds no relevance to their current lives.

But maybe it can be more enjoyable for those students that don’t touch a book if it’s related to school.  How?  By letting them choose the book.

Every year, a specific department chooses the book that the entire school reads as a community. The Fine Arts department picked last year.  Hence, the boring book.  Even the guest speaker was boring.  Summer reading is often times hit or miss.

 “Seasons of Life,” the book that was required the summer of ’08, was one of the best books I’ve ever read.  I was sadly disappointed when I had to read about a little girl’s life somewhere in Iran the following year.  If teachers want us to connect to other people across the world and their cultures, we should at least be able to do it in an interesting way.

This year, the Guidance Department is choosing the summer reading book.  After working on the decision making process for about seven months, guidance counselor Carrie Siemsen promises that this year’s book is very relevant for high school students. They strived to pick a book that relates to students’ everyday lives. Let’s hope that they are right. The last thing I want to do this summer is read another boring, insignificant book.

However, if students picked what book they read, they would be able to actually enjoy it and better reflect upon it. In order for this to be fair though, Seimsen suggested that students be given the opportunity to vote upon three to four choices that that administration chooses. That way, the school can still read a book together and students have a say in what they read.

Siemsen explained that summer reading is a great way to keep students engaged and academically active over the summer. It helps to keep JC in their minds. It’s also a great way for the entire JC community to reflect on the same ideas. So why ruin this experience, just because students don’t want to read a specific book?

Art teacher Michael Gaudreau emphasized that summer reading is a way for students to get their vegetables. Gaudreau believes that allowing students to choose their own summer reading book is not necessarily what would best benefit them. Gaudreau is partially correct when he says that teachers have more of an insight on books than students. However, nine months of the year are dedicated to a strictly academic diet. So why can’t students have a little dessert over the summer?

Jonathan Galarraga can be reached for comment at [email protected]