As another school year begins and I start to see the St.
Catherine’s students trickle in each afternoon to get a jump on their homework,
I am hit by a familiar pang of jealousy. They have no idea how much I would
give to trade places with them. I love my job, I just love school too. I always
have.
In high school, I managed to talk my guidance counselor and
parents into granting me an exception in order to get out of having an assigned
lunch or study hall so that I could take more classes...for fun. My guidance
counselor looked at me like I was nuts as she signed the paperwork, but I
figured I could eat between classes and do homework on the bus ride to tennis
matches or in the lodge between ski races. No one can say I didn’t try to get
the most out of my 13 years of public education.
My love of structured learning did not end with high school
or even college. Even though I completed my Master’s while working full time
and then some, I still found myself getting butterflies every time I registered
for classes. Struggling to pay the bills and an utter lack of sleep could not
put a damper on my absolute love of learning. Now, I find it hard to recreate
that giddy feeling of knowing that you get to start fresh every September.
So until I can find the time to go back to school, I will
have to settle for reading some of my favorite “school books”. I’m not talking
about required reading for high school English, but rather, books that are
primarily set in a school or in which organized education plays a major role in
the plot.
While I hate to jump straight to the obvious, the Harry
Potter series is one of my all-time favorites and in many ways, Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft and Wizardry is as close to a character as a place can be. These
wildly popular books follow a young wizard struggling to learn what it means to
be part of the magical world, all the while battling a great evil. The earlier
books in the series focus on the lighter aspects of being a novice wizard
trying to pass his potions and divination classes while the later books become
darker and highlight the battle between good and evil and how the line between
the two is often blurred.
Next, there are several newer books from the Young Adult
genre that fit well into the category of “school book.” Contrary to popular
belief, YA is not just for young adults and in my opinion, some of the best
current fiction authors write for this genre. Titles like “All the Bright
Places,” by Jennifer Niven, “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell, “Please
Ignore Vera Dietz” by A.S. King, and “Every Day” by David Levithan are all
great examples of books that bring to light the joy and challenges of growing
up.
One standout among these great books is “Looking for Alaska”
by John Green. This poignant and timeless novel highlights the the difficulties
of navigating complex personal relationships as a young man embarks on his
first year in boarding school. I urge adults of all ages to rebel against the
restrictions that the name of the genre implies and pick up any one of these books.
Lastly, I would truly be remiss if I did not mention “Cat
Among Pigeons” by Agatha Christie. My favorite uncle gave me this book for my
15th birthday, thereby triggering a lasting love affair with Hercule Poirot.
This classic whodunit takes place at the Meadowbank School for Girls, a
prestigious British prep school where a murder has been committed. As in all
Christie mysteries, characters effortlessly waltz in and out of the story and
readers are kept guessing until the end.
With any luck, rereading a few of these books will give me
that giddy back-to-school feeling, just without the fear of bombing a test,
forgetting my locker combination, or dropping all my books in the middle of the
hallway in front of that cute guy that sat next to me in AP American History.
Not that any of those things happened or anything.
