Sam, my 13-year-old student, did not care for "The Catcher in the Rye." She stated it was boring and that nothing happened except that Holden, "complained a lot and was always hitting on girls." There is some validity in that statement. At least she somewhat understood what was happening, even if she thought it was nothing.

Since the entire purpose for me being here is to get her to read, I allowed her to set aside Salinger for another book. I gave her summaries of the other books on the list and let her choose.

She picked George Orwell's "1984" and read more in the first day than she did in three weeks of reading "The Catcher in the Rye."

There are common themes in these books: alienation and acting out against authority being the most obvious. They are also from the same post-WWII era. The protagonists each hope for a better world and struggle to make sense of the worlds they inhabit.

According to Sam, "more stuff happens" in 1984. That works for me. She is much more engaged in the material and is able to discuss it in an intelligent and thoughtful manner.

We should finish up in the next day or two and then she is off on her own adventure with other family members. The reading won't end. She has chosen to take "Treasure Island" with her. I told her not to expect Johnny Depp.

Even better than Sam finishing one of our books is that we discovered the sharing of books is not a one-way road. She gave me a copy of "The Name of This Book is Secret" by Pseudonymous Bosch. After going over what a pseudonym is (brought up again when discussing Orwell), I dove into the book and had a great time reading it. It's a middle ground between Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket. It is full of magic and mystery, kids who are too smart for their own good, and adults spanning the gamut from kindly old men to sinister strangers.

It is also the first in a series and kids seem to enjoy their serials these days. The best part about it, though, is that one of the major premises of the book is that the narrator is hiding the true identities of the protagonists. This simple idea should prevent anyone in Hollywood from butchering it.