Book clubs are a great way for learners to foster their reading habits, understand different perspectives, and communicate their own reflections. This special book club will focus on literature for youth by authors of South Asian descent. 

Learners will be asked to complete a specific reading  - whether it is specific chapters of a book, essays, or short stories - before the class meeting. In the classroom page, there will be a weekly post on which learners can post their own questions about the reading. 

During the class meeting, the learners will have an opportunity to first give general reflections on the book. Following this initial discussion, we will dive into deeper questions on the reading. These questions will both be drawn from ones formulated by the learners on the classroom page, and ones developed by the instructor. Discussion may cover but may not be limited to characters and voice, plot and conflict, themes, and symbolism in the story. Learners will also be welcome to discuss connections they see with the story and our world. 

I'm a big believer that the best way to learn is by taking an active role in the learning process. My biggest hope for this book club is that the young readers become their own agents for understanding and appreciating the texts. 

For the first four weeks, we will be focusing on _Thirst_ by Varsha Bajaj (written with underscores since italics/underlining is unavailable here):

Week of July 1st: Chapters 1-10 of _Thirst_ by Varsha Bajaj
Week of July 8th: Chapters 11-21 of _Thirst_ by Varsha Bajaj
Week of July 15th: Chapters 22-32 of _Thirst_ by Varsha Bajaj
Week of July 29th: Chapters 33-45 of _Thirsy_ by Varsha Bajaj