As a middle school educator, Heather McCarthy is over the moon whenever a student falls in love with reading. But relationships with books aren’t always smooth sailing, and McCarthy’s eighth graders are not the type to let their literature down gently.
McCarthy, a media specialist for Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School, recently asked students to fill out “novel-entines” — love letters or breakup letters — to their latest self-selected books. The results were surprisingly vicious, McCarthy said.
“It was hilarious,” McCarthy said. “The vast majority were breakups: ‘I just don’t have enough time for you. You’re too emotional. I thought I’d like a mystery but I’m really up for more of an adventure.’ They were funny.”
One of those breakups came courtesy of eighth grader Blessing Bodunde, who wrote a goodbye to “Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere” by Julie T. Lamana.
“I’m sorry to say this, but we’re done,” Bodunde wrote. “It’s not me … it’s you. I gave you multiple chances to keep me entertained and you absolutely did the opposite. Maybe if you were shorter I would’ve stayed longer, but the fact you’re almost 300 pages long says enough. Sorry.”
Bodunde typically likes any book with an interesting plot but favors romance. She picked “Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere” because she found the cover intriguing.
“I know people say, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ but I picked it, and the summary looked really good,” Bodunde said.
But she ultimately ended the relationship.
“I didn’t want to, but I had to do it for myself,” she said. “The plot just wasn’t getting my attention. I tried to read it and I tried to give it a chance, but it just wasn’t working.”
McCarthy said she had her heart broken a few times by the “novel-entines.” She is obsessed with author Jason Reynolds, for instance, and finds it hard when students don’t connect with his work.
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“If a kid breaks up with the book, I’m like, ‘No, you have to go back, give it another try. Are you sure? What was the problem?'” she said with a laugh. “But we all have different tastes in books, I guess.”
In fact, the library serves as the perfect spot for students who want to try books they’re not sure they’ll like, McCarthy said. And in addition to being a fun, holiday activity, the novel-entines come with an important lesson.
“We teach them it’s OK to abandon a book,” McCarthy said. “Give it at least 20-25 pages, and if it’s not for you, don’t read it. Don’t waste your time on it. Find something you’ll love to read. … There’s no judgment. Just find something you will enjoy.”
Noah De La Llave and Rosario Tellez were among the eighth graders who found plenty to love about the books they chose. De La Llave chose “Internment” by Samira Ahmed. He called it an “amazing story” about resistance.
“The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew it was love at first sight,” he wrote to the book. “Your tragic story kept pulling me back with every page. The further I read, the more I loved you.
“I could read you a million times, and every time I would feel a mix of happiness and sadness. … I will forever cherish our memories together. I will read you again soon.”
Tellez said she picked “Flipped” because she saw and enjoyed the movie. The cover also grabbed her attention.
“Instead of a regular cover, there was a picture of a baby chick,” she said. “I just thought that was really funny and interesting, and it made me want to read it.”
Tellez enjoyed that the story was told from two different perspectives, so the reader could understand how both main characters were feeling. She had fun writing her love letter to the book.
“Our time together has been absolutely amazing,” Tellez wrote. “Everything about you is truly marvelous. You have a great plot, characters, conflict, two great points of view, and most of all the hidden ‘love.’ You have made me smile, laugh and tear up. I will never forget our time together. … I’m forever grateful to Wendelin Van Draanen for introducing me to you.”
De La Llave said he uses the library at the school a lot to read historical fiction, romances and science fiction. But writing a letter to one of the books was new.
“It was really fun,” he said. “It was a learning experience.”
Eighth grader Patrycja Potenta wrote a letter that wasn’t quite a love note, nor a breakup with the Charlotte Bronte classic “Jane Eyre.” Potenta said Jane Eyre was “way ahead of its time” but also a “very long book.”
“I don’t know how to feel about you,” Potenta wrote. “My feelings toward you are confusing. I feel like I don’t have time for you anymore. You are 461 pages of a great plot and storyline, but sometimes it is overwhelming and I feel like we need a break. Either way, I always find my way back to you. You are too irresistible in my eyes and mind and worth all the time and effort. You’re always gonna find a way back into my arms.”
Potenta said the library at the middle school has a great selection of books. She heads there often to pick up classics, fantasy and romance. But this was the first time she wrote a letter to any of them.
“It helped me sort out my emotions and what I was going to do with the book in the future,” Potenta said.
McCarthy said a lot of librarians do similar activities in February. Seventh graders at OLHMS took part in book “speed dating” to explore different genres before picking a book for a “date.” Sixth grade did “blind dates” with books, for which the books are covered and students get just a little information to review before they pick one. But this is the first time McCarthy tried “novel-entines” in eighth grade.
“Eighth grade is the most fierce in their writing,” McCarthy said.
One student who signed the valentine “Comet” was excited to read “The Dog in the Wood” by Monika Schroder until realizing it was “so boring.” In breaking up with the book, Comet confessed to reading another book and being on page 192 already. A student named Savannah wrote that “The Way I Used to Be” by Amber Smith looked “very attractive, but when I got to know you it was just not it.” And Gianna wrote to “Skink — No Surrender” by Carl Hiaasen to say it was too much mystery when she needed an adventure.
“They were actually really funny,” Tellez said of letters written by her peers. “The way they wrote it, it made it sound like you were actually going through a breakup or a love letter.”
Bill Jones is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.