Junior Anna Piazza reads in her free time. Piazza learns and relates to the books she reads.
Photo by: Sophia Smith
By Sophia Smith
Plymouth High School students express their thoughts and feelings about the books that they enjoy reading.
PHS students read on a regular basis. Freshman Kaila Himes said that she enjoys reading because it adds a twist on reality. Junior Eric Jung says he can “completely block out the outside world” and lose himself in the stories and adventures of others. Multiple students expressed similar thoughts about reading. Junior Anna Piazza said that she likes learning life lessons and experiencing the emotions that books can bring out in the Christian fiction and young adult books that she reads. While students learns life lessons, like Piazza, others experience other things. Sophomore Morganne Kviz likes to enter the worlds of fantasy and science fictions universes. Senior Haley Stein and freshman Alexandra Berg both are relieved of stress when they read.
Sometimes memories spark students’ interest in particular genres. Junior Stephanie Boyle began reading mystery at the age of five when her dad used to read to her. Junior Mariah Tepper remembers reading The Fault In Our Stars by John Green and “[thinking] of her best friend going through cancer treatments.” Kviz reminisces about going into the woods with her grandpa and being told stories about fairies. Junior Anthony Boener does not have any memories about reading the books from the horror, history, and science fiction books that he reads. Boener said, “how can an imagined series of events bring back memories?” Berg has similar feelings about memories as Boener. She said that they are “more of scenarios that I wish I could be part of.”
Junior Anthony Boener reads a historical fiction book in a practice room inbetween performances. Boener reads historical fiction because unrealistic fiction annoys him.
Photo By: Sophia Smith
Reading books of specific genres sometimes inspire the notion of writing a book of the same genre. Junior Haley Balkema would like to try writing a mystery book but “would probably give up.” Boyle would also like to write a mystery book that can “intrigue people of all ages.” Different styles of writing can also come into play when making a story become as real as the stories that a genre can bring out. Berg would write in the format of a journal because it would make the teenage life genre more realistic. Jung has already taken strides by writing a book of similar genre to the ones that he reads. He enjoys fabricating the story and making up races, languages, and renaming things.
Jung likes to place himself into the shoes of the main character and experience the emotions the characters feel in the story. “All those great things are happening to them and I get jealous,” said Tepper. Boyle, Kviz, Berg, and Piazza all share similar thoughts, each stating they do imagine themselves as the protagonist. Though these students enjoy becoming the character, a few do not. Boener does not directly place himself into the work of the author as some students may do.
Books can be a way to pass the time but for some PHS students reading influences their lives. Piazza says that she has learned a lot about herself and God through the Christian fiction genre. Berg uses the teenage fiction books to help shape the person that she has become. Tepper said that many emotions flow through her while she reads realistic fiction novels. Stein had another look on the impact that the young adult books have had on her life. Stein said that “it makes me think how good we do have it here with the government the way it is.”