Bookmarked
“Bookmarked” edited by Ann Camacho (Free Spirit Publishing, 2012)
By the time you’re in your junior or senior year in high school, you have probably read a book that impressed you. Or at least a sentence or idea stayed with you long after finishing the book. That’s the concept behind “Bookmarked” – a project that supports the premise that “Books are blueprints for living and roadmaps for our lives.”
Editor Ann Camacho invited past and present students to “Find a quote from ANY book you’ve read . . .and use it as the foundation or seed to develop your personal philosophy about how you live your life.” The essays of fifty students are presented with surprising insight and clarity of purpose. Their reflections are honest, revealing and on occasion, youthfully cocky.
The selection of books by the writers include current and classic literature: from Catcher in the Rye and The Grapes of Wrath to Harry Potter and Twilight. A few books were cited a number of times by several students including The House on Mango Street by Esperanza and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Some of the writers’ comments that caught our eye follow:
“One thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience” and “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
“I read that book until I felt it in my soul, and it helped me cry the way I needed to cry.” In Memoriam by Alfred Lord Tennyson
“There is no royal road to learning; no short cut to the acquirement of any art.” Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
We recommend “Bookmarked” for an entertaining and thought-provoking read.
