Two 11-year-olds have taken their love for reading and their desire to discuss social issues with people of all ages to form a unique book club.
A couple of details make it an impressive endeavour as Alexandra Steel and Susanna Tomasini aspire to connect people in the community through reading.
Firstly, the club will choose a specific theme, with members freely selecting what to read either on their own or from a list they provide.
Secondly, the club is open to all ages, so named the Bridging Pages Book Club for its focus on bonding between generations and people of all backgrounds.
“We’re bridging social issues to people. It’s an education bridge,” said Tomasini.
“And the bridge between seniors and youth,” added Steel.
Tomasini recognized there is a gap between seniors and youth connecting. She explained the lack of interaction between them comes from a lack of similar interests.
However, she thinks many people, regardless of age, share something in common.
“They are concerned for our world and what is happening,” she said.
Steel described her passion for reading historical fiction and how it brings her and her grandfather together, unlike anything she noticed among her peers.
“Lots of us like books,” Tomasini said of the other factor that helped bring the book club to life.
It started with four Grade 6 students and two adult mentors. Through the Rainbow Initiative, the brainstorming commenced in March 2024.
Now, with the club’s implementation, the two young leaders have received $400 from the Kiwanis Club of Orillia to bring the idea forward in the community.
The funds are for posters, notebooks, pens, light refreshments at the meetings, and stickers they plan to design for the club member notebooks — maybe a couple of buttons for the founding members, too, they considered.
Both girls are excited to see their ideas manifested. With a running list of potential themes, they decided to begin with climate change.
“It wouldn’t be as emotional as war might be,” Tomasini said of the topic Steel put forward.
“I think climate change is important to talk about because it’s something we need to fix, or we might need to move to another planet,” Steel said, referring to a dystopian novel she and her friend both read.
Each founding member has her own collection of novels. It isn’t difficult for them to come up with suggestions for the club. The help from a librarian to formulate a list about climate change, which now has about 15 books of various genres, made it easier.
Not short for ideas, the girls agreed one challenge along the way was to choose one topic over another. Tomasini said they had to eliminate the suggestion to teach reading because it didn’t fit with the rest of their brainstorm.
Talking about how they selected the club name brought a lot of laughter from the girls. Tomasini admitted ChatGPT helped with it, despite Steel’s idea to call it the Sparkle Unicorns Book Club.
With AI at the forefront, they acknowledged it makes for a future discussion theme, along with war, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief and loss, racism, homophobia, and poverty.
“Seniors and youth are going to have very different perspectives on the world,” Tomasini said about her expectations for meetings.
What went well for them?
“Everything,” said Steel.
Deciding on the meeting location was a challenge at first, though the Orillia Public Library made sense to them. The first one will be held Feb. 12 from 6 to 8 p.m.
The two girls work well together while also embracing their differences.
Tomasini said her goal is to have about 16 participants on Feb. 12, while the comical Steel said with a big grin, “My goal is for so many people to show up, we need another room.”
Tomasini described herself as “laser focused,” reading one book at a time, often within a day, while Steel said she gets bored and switches between five books at a time.
Tomasini loves fantasy and science fiction, while Steel reads a lot of historical fiction.
They are both hoping the Bridging Pages Book Club lasts “as long as it can.”
Ultimately, they want anyone to join with an open mind and an expectation to freely converse about novels and social issues, despite any differences.
Those who want to register for the club can email [email protected].