Sahuaro’s beloved book club is back for the 2023-2024 school year. They had their first meeting on Monday, August 14th, and plan to meet every Monday this year. They are starting the year with a positive attitude and high expectations for the club.

When asked about her favorite part of the club, President Jillian Stachowski said, “The discussions and the activities we do. They’re always so much fun because we get to discuss the book and have debates on it, and we get to do activities after and just team bond.” Vice President Mason King is also ready for the new year, saying, “I’m excited for all the new people that joined Book Club, and all of the new books that we’re going to be reading.”

Last year Sahuaro’s Book Club read 7 books, or 9 including the two books read for Tucson’s Festival of Books, where they interviewed author Claire McFall about her book Trespassers. Their goal this year is to read more books, and they’re doing this by testing out new strategies for picking out books. The first book will be selected by the officers of the club, and the next books will be voted on by the members of the club after the students present their book candidates. This year the officers selected The Perks of Being a Wallflower as the first book.

The new school year brings a new group of officers to the club. Most of the officers last year were seniors, and they left the club in good hands this year. Jillian Stachowski, the club’s passionate president said, “I wanted to be president because I knew it would be a lot of fun, it’d be a new experience, and I’d really get to do what I love.”

Members will read around 100 pages a week and come to the next meeting ready to discuss what they read. On days when the club is getting a new book, or doing something that won’t take up a lot of time, the club does activities. Last year they made origami and 3-D hearts out of recycled book pages. This year they’ve colored bookmarks and cut out hearts to make a garland.

Due to their success last year, Sahuaro’s Book Club will also continue with fundraising. They’re starting the year by selling donuts, agua fresca, and coffee every Wednesday and Friday morning until their stop date, which hasn’t been set yet. So be on the lookout before school to buy drinks donuts for two dollars each, or two donuts and one drink for five dollars.

Make sure to follow The Book Club’s Instagram to be kept up to date on all of the exciting projects and fundraisers they’re doing!