Our Wildwood, Volume 50

BOOK SHELF by Michelle Simon (P. ‘31), Head Librarian Middle and Upper School

YOU MAY HAVE HEARD SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE CLAIM THAT GEN Z IS NOT A GENERATION OF READERS. This is simply not true! How Gen Z reads and what they read, however, does differ from past generations. The use of BookTok, a subcommunity on TikTok for discussing and sharing book recommendations, is extremely popular among Gen Z. In fact, Publisher’s Association conducted a survey in which 68 percent of Gen Z readers reported that BookTok inspired them to pick up titles they otherwise would not have. Respondents also said they developed a passion for reading by following BookTok and #BookTok on other media platforms. Publishing data shows that Young Adult, Romance, and Fantasy are among top genres for Gen Z, and it is also reported that they are more likely to choose books based on diversity and representation than past generational groups. While Gen Z has never known a world without e-readers and phones, they still prefer print. Be assured that reading novels is alive and well.

A ROVER’S STORY by Jasmine Warga

A PSALM FOR THE WILD-BUILT by Becky Chambers Reviewed by Megan DiNoia, 7th Grade Humanities Teacher

Reviewed by Talia T. ‘30

A Rover’s Story is a great book about a Mars rover named Resilience. Resilience (Res for short) experiences the world unlike any other rover. Resilience feels human emotions. Meanwhile, a twelve-year old girl named Sophia (her friends call her Sophie) has to write a letter to Res for a school project. She decides to keep writing to Res, even though she thought it was silly at first. Res encounters many friends on his mission to Mars, including Journey, his twin rover who keeps telling him that human emotions won’t help him make rational decisions, and Fly, a drone who won’t stop asking questions. When Res gets to Mars, Res and Sophie each

Sentient robots, climate crisis, and an abandoned countryside might trigger visions of a desolate, apocalyptic landscape in a violent dystopian future, but Chambers’s A Psalm for the Wild-Built is anything but that. Instead, this novella reads like a cozy, fireside chat between two old friends. The story follows agender monk Sibling Dex through eco-utopian towns into the abandoned wilderness, where human settlement is banned. As Dex journeys into the wild in search of their life’s purpose, what they actually find is Mosscap, a robot that has never before interacted with a human. Long

before Dex’s generation, robots had migrated into the wild and have continued on for generations, transforming from human-made machines into a species of “Wild Built.” An unlikely friendship develops as Mosscap accompanies Dex on their journey to find themself. A Psalm for the Wild-Built is equal parts science fiction and

discover something that could change their lives forever. Will they both be able to make it out of hard times? Will they be able to save what matters most to them? This beautiful story is one that most of us can relate to. This book made me want to put it down and cry, but it also made me want to jump up and down in joy and happiness. Join Res and Sophie on their long emotional whirlwind as they experience what it means to be fully alive. Sixth grade students were treated to a special visit by A Rover’s Story author Jasmine Warga earlier this school year. Jasmine shared the process she uses for writing, which students can put into practice throughout the year.

philosophical meditation on what it means to be human. We catch glimpses of our possible futures in the novella’s solarpunk world—which decenters overconsumption and prioritizes sustainability, empathy, and equity—and in its characters, even in a wild-built robot who wisely teaches its human friend that “it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”

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