First Meetings!

Per the sidebar to the right -- please join us for our first HHS Reads meeting on Thursday, September 11, and for our second meeting to discuss our first book, Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher!

On September 11, we're meeting to eat some of Mrs. Bennett's delicious Better'n Anything cake, discuss the Teen Top Ten nominees and how teen award nominating processes work, and activities throughout the year. Come to hear more about book club through the year! Freshmen are welcome!

On October 2nd, HHS Reads discusses Whale Talk for Banned Books Week. Chris Crutcher has the interesting honor of being one of the ten teen authors most targeted by banning and censorship efforts, and Whale Talk in particular is one of the top challenged books of the last five years. This book is the story of The Tao 'T.J.' Jones, a terrific biracial athlete who doesn't like team sports, and is so a constant source of frustration to his championship-sports-obsessed school, its coaches, and certain redneck elements within the school booster organization. When T.J. is badgered into helping a teacher create a swim team, a different incident inspires him to recruit a team of misfits in an effort to thwart the school's ridiculously strict policies on lettering in sports.

Much like last year's ...Part Time Indian, this is a book that's about much more than its summary, touching on family dynamics, past mistakes, race and class issues, violence, forgiveness, and the emphasis on sports over academics in schools. It's funny and unexpected, and we hope to see you come to discuss it with us!