The stories bring relevancy, feeling and imagination to a wondrous teenager eager to turn the pages.

“You actually can place yourself in the book,” said Heather Richmond, an avid reader and book club member at the Auburn Library. “You actually live inside it – and that’s when you know you have a good book.”

Added classmate Cat Swearingen: “You don’t even see the pages. You get lost in the book.”

For Richmond and her friends, the good tales go deep and strike a chord in their daily lives. The good books relate to their lives and become an outlet to share thoughts, express ideas, extol successes and face fears.

To make an impact and extend that connection, the library – in partnership with West Auburn High School – was selected to host a three-part reading and discussion series called the “Great Stories CLUB.”

The CLUB (Connecting Libraries, Underserved teens and Books) is a book discussion program created to provide at-risk teens with an opportunity to examine and explain three theme-related books. Each book focuses on a character who struggles with a serious challenge.

The library is one of more than 200 libraries nationwide to receive a grant from the American Library Association to host the series, developed by the ALA Public Programs Office and Young Adult Library Services Association. Oprah’s Angel Network funded the program.

As a recipient of the ALA grant, West Auburn High School will receive programming resources as well as copies of the books for distribution to the club’s teen participants.

“With this program we are trying to appeal to them and the choices they make in life,” said Rachel McDonald, a King County Library System teen librarian who will lead the book discussions along with school library paraprofessional Eletha Gariano. “They will see parallels in their lives and in the lives of their friends.”

McDonald’s group includes 10 voracious readers from West Auburn High who are eager to share what they experience through the chapters.

The books series tackles many issues, qualities and characteristics, including race and gender, secrecy, friendship and loyalty.

The first program, to be held March 3, will explore “Black and White” by Paul Volponi (Viking Juvenile, 2005). The award-winning novel is about the morally ambiguous troubles of teen basketball buddies, known by their friends simply as “Black” and “White.

The book discussion group also will cover:

• “Luna” by Julie Ann Peters (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2004). Self-acceptance of a transgender teen makes Luna a compelling tale. Peters tackles the topic with a spectrum of emotions and utmost honesty.

• “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007). Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist who leaves his school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school. The heartbreaking, funny and well-written tale is based on the author’s own experiences and chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he seems destined to live.

All programs will be held at West Auburn High School’s library. Additional books will be discussed monthly at the library.

“You can never have enough books,” said Swearingen, a junior at West Auburn. “And I’m opinionated, I love to talk and I love to read. It’s a good way to be in your own world.”

The club brings out the best in student learning.

“I like reading,” said Chrissy Nykol, a freshman at West Auburn. “I figured out that the books are interesting. I like to be with friends and be able to express your feelings about the book.”

====

For more information about the club at West Auburn High School, contact Rachel McDonald (253-931-3018, rmmcdonald@kcls.org). For information about the Great Stories CLUB national initiative, visit www.ala.org/greatstories.