Sharing a good book

Meet 13-year-old Carolyn Chester, the St. Paul Book Corner’s first youth to join the reading team.

With a selection team, readers, and the many people who recommend books, the items on the St. Paul Book Corner’s shelves are carefully chosen. It takes a team of dedicated people, and the bookstore is happy to welcome its first young adult to the reading team.

Thirteen-year-old Carolyn Chester fell in love with reading early on. Six years ago, she found herself transported to a new world when a young orphan wizard took her on a journey from which she’s never looked back. After completing the Harry Potter series, all seven books are a serious undertaking, Carolyn found herself in love with the world of literature. For her, it’s the careful way authors describe the details of the world and the characters that draw her in.

Carolyn loves the library. Her family even had to instill a “no books at the dinner table rule” when she was so enthralled with Harry Potter she couldn’t put it down, not even to eat. She is currently in an honors English class at Bettendorf Middle School. For many years she has participated in her school’s Battle of the Books competition where students form teams, read books from a selected list, and compete against other students to test their book knowledge. Carolyn still uses this and resources like the Iowa Teen Choice Awards list to find new book recommendations.

Earlier this year, Carolyn had a part in helping to bring a love of reading to another younger person.

“I was in the Book Corner one Sunday morning looking at bracelet ideas and inspiration for my bracelet business. (Book Corner manager) Andrea Spencer was chatting with a woman about a book for her ten-year-old granddaughter and I recommended a few books off the shelf,” Carolyn said. “While reading a book, I often envision a specific person to whom I’d recommend it so after asking a few questions about what the woman was looking for, it was easy to make a recommendation.”

Some of her current choices are:
“Bluebird by Sharon Cameron is one of my favorites. I would recommend this one most. I love the way the book plays with time, flipping through past and present when describing the story,” Carolyn said. “I recently selected Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder for a school book presentation. It’s about a young girl going to college. Her brother has a type of leukemia but is finally in remission. She wants to be a doctor because of her brother’s illness but it seems like she’s only choosing that path because others want her to. I find wisdom and advice in books and sometimes take their words to heart more easily than I would another person.”

Carolyn is a storyteller by nature. When asked about what an ideal weekend day would look like for her, she adds in every minute detail from what time she would wake up to what she would see, hear, smell, where she would go, and those who would go with her. The day concludes with warm, bubbly Stouffer’s mac and cheese for dinner.

Book Corner manager Andrea Spencer remembers her first interaction with Carolyn.

“I was helping a woman find a book for her granddaughter. I recommended one about which I’d heard great things but hadn’t yet read. Carolyn had read it and offered her thoughts on the book. She was very knowledgeable about what she was recommending,” Andrea said. “She asked what the woman’s granddaughter was currently reading and what authors she liked. The way Carolyn entered the conversation and spoke about these books was the most natural thing for her. I was blown away by her confidence, her intelligence, and professionalism; the way she carried herself and interacted with me and this congregation member showed a maturity beyond her years.”

Andrea believes Carolyn’s recommendations to the book selection team are important because of her life stage. The juvenile literature section needed some fresh new titles and who better than a thirteen-year-old to help fill the shelves?

“I can only have my own perceptions about what young people experience today. The beauty is that we have someone like Carolyn to offer feedback on what is needed, what’s current, and what’s interesting,” Andrea said. “There are so many new books and new topics to delve into. It’s getting harder to stay current which is why I have the Book Corner team. They stay on top of all the latest reads. It’s not just me finding and selecting these books. There is a huge team of volunteers who support the bookstore and make this place function.”

In addition to her love of reading, Carolyn is also quite entrepreneurial. She’s taken leadership courses and is a member of Junior Optimist International, her school’s Student Council, and St. Paul acolyte. She has been a dancer and involved in theater for most of her life. She loves playing volleyball and in her free time, runs multiple small businesses.

“I’ve always been motivated to run small businesses. My first business was picking up sticks when I was young. I think I only made $5,” Carolyn laughed. “My parents give me a lot of advice and help me as much as they can without doing it for me. Volunteering with the Book Corner is exciting for me. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this my whole life.”

Carolyn’s Book Corner picks!
The Book Corner has a variety of books for all ages. A copy of each new book is also donated to the church library.
Attack of the Black Rectangles by A. S. King
Swim Team by Johnny Christmas
A Soft Place to Land by Jessie Mueller
The Out of My Mind Trilogy by Sharon Draper

A few staff-inspired book recommendations:
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (audiobook)
Andrea Spencer, bookstore manager
A breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era America.

The Eyes and the Impossible by David Eggers
Jessica Taylor, director of communication
The Eyes and the Impossible tells the story of a brave and charismatic dog appointed by three elderly bison to be the “eyes” of the park in which they live. A wonderful selection for all ages.

Shakespeare: The dog with a broken brain by Borghild Strandenes
Paul Caldwell, host
Borghild Strandenes runs a small rescue in France. A visit to a dog named Shakespeare will change both of their lives. This memoir follows their magical, heartbreaking, and uplifting journey.