With all the posters around the school, the cat is officially out of the bag: Milford High School has a Book Club. With the addition of about 10 new members in September, the advertising tactics employed this year seemed to have worked well for President Addison Scigliano. Things weren’t always easy for Scigliano as her presidency was an unexpected decision by Angelina Maruskin, a 2023 Milford Graduate and founder of the club, two years ago. “Angelina graduated and Alana Banier was supposed to run it, but then Alana couldn’t, so she gave it to me. It was really last minute,” said Scigliano. “I had to get all the stuff and everything ready and choose books the day before school started.” Scigliano was open to the position and is ready for another year full of pure book geek mania.
The Book Club has become home to a multitude of different readers after President Scigliano began focusing on including as many genres as possible throughout the year. During the first year of the club, Scigliano was unsatisfied with the fact the club only read one genre and wanted to institute a change. “I hated all the books they did because it was all romance,” said Scigliano, “but then I got to run it and it was like finally we can actually have books in there.” The genre diversity is a personal goal of Gen. Ed., Adult Living, and Interior Design teacher Kelsey Breen, patron of the Book Club.
“I’d like to see the club members maybe step outside maybe what they usually like to read,” said Breen. “Read something that’s a little different then maybe what they would’ve chosen for themselves.”
Embracing more genres has proven to be a perfect way of bringing readers together, revealing the true goal of the club: to create a community at Milford where anyone who wants to can hang out once a month and talk about books. Last year the Book Club read nine books, crossing all genres from “romantasy” (fantasy and romance) with “Crave” by Tracy Wolff, to psychological thriller with “None Shall Sleep” by Ellie Marney. This year more books were added, wracking the total up to 20 predicted books for the 2024-2025 school year. October’s books were the much anticipated “Red Rising” by Pierce Brown and “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman, a spooky thriller coming just in time for Halloween. With the multitude of genres and books being added to the reading list this year, there truly is something for everyone which allows for some amusing conversations.
The best part of Book Club is “really just being able to discuss with everyone and to have a group of people that I can get along with,” said junior Will Seyler. It’s the community and friendships that this club creates for individuals whose main interest is traveling to fictional worlds between passing times that make it truly special. Amanda Davenport, Milford High School junior Book Club member noted how “I’ve never really been a big sports person. I never was, so it’s nice to have a group where I can just be and make friends.”
Book Club members have created a community that exists solely to encourage people to share their thoughts and talk to one another about their interests without worrying what others might think. “I want people to express their love for books because I love expressing my love for books,” said President Scigliano. “I want people to feel comfortable doing that.”
Due to Scigliano and her Vice President Lily Fiedler being seniors, the pages might be running out a little too quickly for this young club, but no reader should panic yet as Scigliano has been forming a plan. “I have a person who I think would be good at running it, but I’m not gonna say who because it is a surprise,” said Scigliano. It can be assumed that this possible future president is a valued member of the club, the problem is though that everyone happens to be a valued member, so identifying this individual will be like finding a needle in a haystack. It might just be easier to await the reveal of Scigliano’s master plan and ultimately the future of the book club.
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in 601. All are welcome to join!