Hello! My name is Carla Meyer. Since this past summer, I have been
interning here at Appleton Public Library as a book discussion leader in the young adult area. My experience with the book discussion has been both beneficial and fun. I would like to take this opportunity to share what we have done thus far.

I have had a few, but very dedicated, book discussion participants. We, as a group, have had a great time discussing four books so far: Gloria Whelan's Homeless Bird, Walter Dean Myers' Monster, Virginia Euwer Wolff's Make Lemonade and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. All four novels have provided wonderful discussion topics and led us to further examine other books by these authors. We also took the opportunity to explore different critiques of the books as well as listening to scenes on tape. Currently, we are discussing our final book The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci.

The group also got the chance to meet with author Gloria Whelan on October 16th to ask questions about Homeless Bird and get copies of her books personally signed to them. All participants were very excited about this opportunity.

In closing, it has been my privilege to lead this book discussion and work with this group. In doing so, the group has gained useful knowledge in analyzing texts as well as having a fun time sharing our thoughts and interpretations along with personal stories that relate to the wonderful books selected. I, in turn, have benefited greatly from having the chance to utilize my skills obtained in college, as well as prepare myself for my future career in library science. The group, as well as I, is looking forward to seeing more young adult book discussions come about in the future.