By Tanya Marie Lee
Do you remember holding your favourite book in hand and reading the pages deliciously in glorious reverie of all the imagery that danced in your head? Were you one of the lucky ones whose parents could afford the luxury of buying you books? Do you remember staring out your bedroom window at night thinking about the books you just read and the impact they had on expanding your tiny world as a teenager?
My name is Tanya Marie Lee. I run a national book club in Canada entitled A Room Of Your Own for high risk teen girls who cannot afford to buy their own books. The mandate of the book club is to buy books for high risk teen girls, focus on mental health and wellness, and have the teen girls meet the author and discuss the book. Teen girls (including transgendered, and non-binary) between the ages of 13 to 18 are allowed to participate in the book club and are given their books for free. The expectation is that if you take a book, you have to read the novel before the book club, and show up online for the book club to talk with the author. We meet online now because of the pandemic. Our book club meets virtually through Zoom. We have authors from around the world participate in “A Room of Your Own Book Club.” Meeting virtually online has enabled us to expand across Canada. Our membership has grown by leaps and bounds! Our goal is to engage school libraries across Canada to participate in our book club.
A Room Of Your Own Book Club realizes that we are part of a global community who are lovers of books. We don’t exist only in small towns, or inner cities or the suburbs in our own “bubbles.”! We are all connected through the love of books. Our book-clubbers want to be able to expand their teenaged world through books and interact with authors around the world. Now through technology we are able to do so in fashion, with a dramatic flair.
Would your school library like to participate in our book club? Please contact me, Tanya Marie Lee, at aroomofyourownbookclub@gmail.com for more information.
Oh, did I mention that A Room Of Your Own Book Club’s claim to fame is having a one-on-one meeting with Michelle Obama when she was in town on May 4, 2019? I have the pictures to prove it!
It was the surprise of a lifetime for 15 teenage girls belonging to the A Room of Your Own book club when they learned they were going to have a private meeting with Michelle Obama.
Did I also mention that we are having a four day event in February 2022 with Nobel Peace Prize winning author Nadia Murad? If you would like to be part of this four day event, send your email to me asap with details about your school.
Tanya Marie Lee. Artistic Social Entrepreneur | Executive Producer | Visionary Dare to dream. Fulfill those dreams one goal at a time. Founder/Creator of “A Room Of Your Own Book Club”.
Follow me on Twitter for all the latest news: aroomofyourown@tanyamarielee