Eight Books to Promote Reading: Experiences from a Book Club in Grades 4-7

ABSTRACT Drawing on a one-year-long ethnographic reader-response study of a book club activity in a Swedish school, the present article offers a narratological analysis of books used in the book club, as well as some didactical implications for practice. The analysis of the books shows a preponderance of male protagonists, foreign settings, and first-person and omniscient narrators. The books used were characterized by classic folktale plots. A majority of the books were about animals and adventures. And, many of them dealt with existential themes. When it comes to leading book clubs, the author suggests keeping in mind that struggling readers might be the greatest book lovers, and that stereotypical texts can be used to counteract stereotypes. Interpretations of what is “real” emerge in the book club were shown to be potential starting points for discussions on the conditions of fiction. To avoid ideological dilemmas, it is important to make clear what the aim of a book club is.