As an English teacher, it genuinely pains me when students announce, “I don’t like reading,” “Ugh… another novel?” “Do we have to read this?” As a parent, though, I see the joy and excitement my own children bring to books, and it always makes me wonder: Where does the love of reading end? At what point does it fade for some students? Over the years, countless researchers have explored ways to nurture lifelong readers. One approach that truly resonated with me was the introduction of student-led book clubs. In a professional development workshop, I first learned about book clubs from Penny Kittle (https://www.pennykittle.net/). Since then, I’ve admired the idea.
Like many teachers, I have always valued having control over my novel studies; I needed to select the text, design the tasks, and guide the themes. So, at first, it was difficult to let go and give students the freedom to choose their own books. Granted, these were novels already on our classroom shelves (some well-loved, others nearly forgotten), but relinquishing that control still felt risky to me. What if it doesn’t work?
I started with my Grade 9 students. I put out a range of novels—Just Ella, Girl Fight, Stargirl, The Hate U Give, Run, Handbook for Boys, and others—and let them choose. Some were titles I had read, but most were not, sadly. But I made a deliberate decision: if I truly wanted students to love reading, I couldn’t limit them to only the books I personally knew. The goal was simple and honest: I want them to love reading. Their choice mattered more than my comfort and familiarity with every text.
Fast forward to a professional development day, where we were asked to introduce ourselves using Venn Diagrams, which was an icebreaker I didn’t expect to inspire anything beyond polite conversation! We were tasked with learning about one another’s similarities and differences. I realized then that I was the only person in the room who believed that pizza from Windsor, ON, was the best! During this time, I had been experimenting with book clubs as an alternative to traditional assessments. I wanted to move away from the predictable essay/test cycle and try something that allowed for creativity, collaboration, and authentic engagement with books. And that’s when it clicked: The Book Club Venn.
While rooted in the classic comparative Venn Diagram, this activity is anything but standard. Students select a partner from a different book club group and participate in a round-robin style discussion about their novels. They exchange insights, focusing on shared themes, such as conformity, identity, power, and ambition. Together, they complete a comparative Venn Diagram, capturing not only similarities and differences but also the deeper ideas that emerge when two texts are placed in conversation.
This visual organizer then becomes the basis for a short, oral presentation. At the end of the unit, students explain their thinking, reference textual evidence, and articulate how their novels explore common human experiences through different lenses. It is a presentation given only to me, where we have an earnest conversation about the learning that emerged from this activity. Each time I’ve implemented this activity, I’ve been in awe of the level of sophisticated thinking it inspires. Students synthesize ideas across two very different books, analyze themes and characterization, question power structures, and even touch on social commentary, often more naturally than they do in a formal essay. The conversations feel authentic, and student voice and choice become the focus.
One of the strengths of the Book Club Venn is its flexibility: it works beautifully in both in-person and digital learning environments, and it can be adapted for Grades 9 through 12. Most importantly, it invites students to talk, to think, and (hopefully!) to rediscover the joy of reading, which was the ultimate goal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sabrina Cicconi
Sabrina Cicconi is an English secondary teacher with the Toronto Catholic District School Board. With over a decade of teaching experience, she is passionate about literacy, student voice, and creative assessment design. Sabrina holds an Honours Specialist in English and multiple additional qualifications, and she is a past recipient of both the University of Windsor Alumni Odyssey Award and the Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She continues to explore innovative ways to help students rediscover the joy of reading.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Spring 2026 issue.
