Colonial's readers choose favorite books of year

By Callie Leff, A&E Editor

COLONIAL LIBRARY -- The school year has been going well so far. Everyone has been learning, laughing and having lots of fun. Since reading is such a big part of school, Colonial kids are bound to be reading some good books, don’t you think? It’s fun to learn about what everyone is interested in.

Kira and Julia Findikyan shared their favorite stories. When Julia, class KM, was asked which book was her favorite, she said, “‘I Love You So’ because it talks about how I don’t only like you, I like all of you.”

Her twin, Kira, who is in class KH, went with “‘We Are Twins’ because in real life, me and Julia are twins.” It is about how twins can look very similar, but are very different on the inside.

It appears that these two Kindergartners like happy, funny, heartwarming stories this school year. I’ll bet they are not the only Kindergartners who like these kinds of stories.

As for first grade, mystery is taking over.

“That’s hard!” Lucy Dolan (1C) first said when she was asked which book was her favorite. “Oh, I know what. ‘The Bobbsey Twins.’ Well, I just like mystery books.”

The Bobbsey Twins books are like the Nancy Drew series, but for younger kids.  It seemed like every first grader had their own special book, and their teachers are probably just glad they are reading.

Comedy’s the new cool in second grade. Leo Rothschild, member of class 2S, said his favorite book is “‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ because it’s really funny.’”

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is about a mostly average middle-school kid, except maybe this one is a little extra wimpy. He has an older, high-school brother who doesn’t care about him, a younger brother who steals all of the attention, an embarrassing mom and a dad who doesn’t like any of the same things as his wimpy son. He also has a dorky best friend who doesn’t seem to understand how you’re supposed to act in middle school. This is a comedy book that has pleased second graders. A lot of third, fourth and fifth grade students love this series also.

Third graders appear to like fantasy, opting for “Firestar” from the “The Last Dragon Chronicles” series.

James Findikyan (3K) said his favorite book was “‘Firestar’ because it’s just a good book.”

“Firestar” is about a college student who is writing a book and then he finds out that the book is really happening in real life. It is the third book in a series, and each one of them is very popular with elementary school children. I have even spotted this series being read by one of my fifth grade friends, who chose to remain anonymous.

Classes 5H, 5V, 4C and 4M were each given a survey about their favorite books. The books they had to choose from were “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio, “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling, “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeline L’Engle and “The Mysterious Benedict Society” by Trenton Lee Stewart.

“Wonder” won with twenty votes, while “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games” were tied for second with fifteen votes each.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” came in third with ten votes, and lastly, “A Wrinkle in Time” and “The Mysterious Benedict Society” tied for last, each scoring two votes.

“Wonder” is about a boy with a disease that makes his face look different than most people’s faces. He goes to school for the first time, and this book is extra cool because part of it is from his point of view, parts from each of his friends, part from his sister, part from his sister’s boyfriend and part from his sister’s ex-friend.

“Harry Potter” is about a boy with dead parents, and he finds out that he’s a wizard. He goes to a school for magic and soon learns that he is being hunted down by an evil wizard... Voldemort.

“The Hunger Games” is about a dystopian society where the government makes teenagers chosen at random battle to the death on television for the rich people’s own entertainment.

You already read what “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” is about.

“A Wrinkle in Time” is about a girl and her brother and her friend who go into different dimensions to save the girl’s father who disappeared years before. “The Mysterious Benedict Society” is about four children who have to face difficult tasks. They go to a special school where the people teaching them are not exactly good people.The people working at the school are basically brainwashing the world. The four kids, along with Mr. Benedict and two people who work for him, make up “The Mysterious Benedict Society.”

Lauren Mcnulty (4M) said her favorite book is “‘The Hunger Games’ because it’s very entertaining and suspenseful.”

Josh Miller (5H), on the other hand, went for the most popular book for Colonial fourth and fifth grade students. “‘Wonder,’” he said, “because it was a good book and it was a good idea for a story.”

Colonial School’s popular books range from picture books and fantasy, from dystopian fiction to realistic fiction and mystery. Colonial students certainly are a very interesting bunch.

This story appeared in the June print edition of the Colonial Times.