Let's read?

Where does reading begin? You know, the kind that makes you want to read more and more, or the kind that makes you forget how long you've been on an airplane, or the kind that makes you skip lunch or dinner? Has it never happened to you? Or has it ever happened to you?

I don't know about you, but I really like reading paper books. It doesn't always work out, because luggage transportation is expensive nowadays, so I have to download books to my tablet. But the shine of the screen can't get in the way if the book is really exciting.

I've recently read a few of these exciting books. I wanted as many kids and adults as possible to read these same books, and I thought it would be more fun to read together.

Discussing what we read is like a Narnia closet through which we enter the reality of the story, get to know the characters and begin to befriend or argue with them

The title of the course speaks for itself: it offers a shared reading discussion of books about teenagers (category 12+).  The format is not a class, but a club.   You can come to the meeting without ever having opened the book to be discussed. Getting to know the characters will begin right at the meeting.  Two meetings are devoted to each book - the first to get acquainted, the second to reflect on it. The course is experimental, so all sorts of interesting surprises are possible.

What are we doing?

We read together books that are interesting to teens (and also to their parents, for good books are interesting to everyone).

Why?

To live a more interesting life, to understand other people and myself.

What are we reading and discussing?

The books that I propose to read together were written relatively recently and\or recently translated into Russian. They reflect our modern time with its words, everyday life, realities, rules, habits, geography. This world seems clearer to us than the world of the texts of the 19th century, but the labyrinth of questions is no less. The events in question develop in the United States, Italy, Israel, and Russia. Their heroes are teenagers who find themselves in a difficult situation for themselves. From the first pages we wonder - will they cope? Will they get out? A string of different people and circumstances pass before us.

1.  Holly Sloan's "I Count by 7." (USA, 2013, Russian translation 2019).
2.  Rob Bouillet "All Because of Mr. Terrapte" (USA, 2010, translated into Russian 2022) *12+
3.  Bianca Pitzorno "Listen to My Heart" (Italy, 1991, translated into Russian 2020s) *12+
4.  N.Dashevskaya. I am not a brake" and others. *12+

How does it happen?

Two meetings are dedicated to each book.

Who can become a participant?

Adults and teenagers from 12 years and up. Who loves to read or wants to love this activity, who is interested in what happens in our world, reflected in the pages of books, as in a mirror.

Who am I?

My name is Tatiana Shelyganova. I was born and grew up in St. Petersburg. I have a higher pedagogical and humanitarian education. For many years I taught literature in middle and high school. I love traveling, reading, nature, art, theater, and finding like-minded people in these spheres. I like the strategy of slow reading, where the book and its characters become part of you. I like to bring characters and stories to life - theater often helps.