September offers a promising introductory chapter to the school year. PHOTO CREDIT: goodreads.com
Back to school — you see it, you hear about it, you’ve probably experienced it at least 12 times if you’re an undergraduate student here at the University of Rhode Island. Maybe you love it, maybe you dread it, maybe you feel like it ruins the precious month of August for you or maybe you think it makes September great.
However you feel about it, going back to school during a pandemic isn’t the easiest thing to do. But being able to do many things on campus that we haven’t been able to do in a year-and-a-half is pretty exciting. And there’s nothing better to put you in the back to school mood than reading a good back to school themed book.
For years, my best back to school stress relief tool has been reading some of my favorite comfort books. But in addition to that, I find that reading books that romanticize the idea of school and academia not only help relieve stress, but also help me get excited for the start of school.
So without further ado, here are my top four recommendations for back to school books!
- “Looking for Alaska” by John Green
I’ve recommended this book before in a previous book column publication, but this book fits perfectly into these recommendations. The story is about 16-year-old Miles Halter who is obsessed with people’s last words before they die. He decides to attend a boarding school called Culver Creek in Alabama in order to try and find his purpose in life, and along the way meets some interesting people who ultimately become some of his closest friends. This book does a really good job delving into what it’s like for people of different backgrounds who come to school and realize how much they really have in common. While this book may be considered quite sad by the ending, I think the message it teaches is important and Miles’ love for his school and friends is not only clear throughout the entire novel, but contagious as well!
- “Anna and the French Kiss” by Stephanie Perkins
This book is certainly more upbeat and light-hearted than “Looking for Alaska,” but shares a similar message. 17-year-old Anna Oliphant is forced by her father, a famous novelist, to attend The School of America in Paris, a boarding school in France. While at first Anna is upset about leaving her life and friends in San Francisco, California, she quickly meets a group of interesting friends who all have their own histories and grow close to Anna, helping her learn French as well as showing her around the new city. This book is so vivid in language and really makes you feel like you’re in Paris with this group of friends. Plus if you like it, the author has two other books that take place in the same literary universe as Anna.
- “Truly Devious” by Maureen Johnson
This book is the first in a series, but can be read as a stand-alone. Stevie Bell decides to attend Ellingham Academy, a boarding school in Vermont, after becoming fascinated with an unsolved kidnapping that occured at the school almost a century earlier. Johnson does a great job developing a captivating mystery in this novel that ties the two plots of the past and present together. Plus, who doesn’t love a creepy boarding school in Vermont?
- “A Study in Charlotte” novels by Brittany Cavallaro.
There are four books in the “Charlotte Holmes” series, but once again, the first book can be read as a stand-alone. The novel is a modern-day retelling of the classic Aurthur Conan Doyle “Sherlock Holmes” novels and tells the stories of Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, the teenage descendents of the esteemed Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. The two attend Sherringford Preparatory School, and while they have been told their whole lives not to follow in the dangerous footsteps of their predecessors, they feel they have no other choice when mysteries start threatening their school and their reputations.
All of these books are incredibly fun and quite easy to read. If you need a pick-me-up from the stresses of school, or you’re just looking to transition from a summer state of mind to a fall one, these books are the perfect choice for you.