‘Hate List’ offered free of charge

Joey Hoff, Editor in Chief
June 20, 2010
Filed under News

“Hate List” hit the hands of every JC student free of charge on June 8.

The guidance department chose “Hate List” by Jennifer Brown as this year’s school-wide summer reading assignment. With financial help from the Student Affairs Council, the Parent Association, librarian Anne Baker with the library budget, and an anonymous donation, “Hate List” was free of charge for every student.

Published in late 2009, the 416-page novel tells the fictional story of a teenager who finds herself entangled in the tragedy of a school shooting.

“I grabbed it, I read it, and I immediately knew it was exactly what we wanted,” guidance department chair Carol Heflin-Shupe said.

But Heflin-Shupe admits that the process of choosing the novel wasn’t an easy task. “We worked backwards,” she said.

Instead of simply choosing a book, the Guidance department wanted to center the summer reading assignment on Rachel’s Challenge, a non-profit organization created by the family of Rachel Scott, the first victim killed in the Columbine Shooting.

According to the Rachel’s Challenge mission statement, the organization “exists to inspire, equip and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school, business and community by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion.”

Although the Guidance department is planning an assembly with guest speakers from Rachel’s Challenge, Heflin-Shupe stressed that the organization’s mission will not end when the assembly is over.

Next year, Rachel’s Challenge will work with school groups like the SAC to promote the message of positivity and compassion with activities throughout the year.

“I thought that it was something worthwhile.  It would be an inspirational thing. It’s not just a one-and-done situation,” Heflin-Shupe said.

On Tuesday, the Guidance department introduced the novel to the student body with a 15-minute presentation involving a dramatic reading from juniors Leah Polakoff, Elaina Lopresti, Alex Demos, Dan Froehlich, and Matt Miller.

“[The presentation] gave us a different perspective on the book,” sophomore Miranda Ripken said.

After the dramatic reading, students made their way to their homerooms where they received their free copies of the novel and read them for a 45-minute silent reading period.

“The reading time is great because it gives us a head start for reading this summer,” freshman Kailey Tracy said.

“Hate List” has a retail price of $16.99, but after negotiating with the Guidance department, “Hate List” publisher Hatchette Group Books offered to sell the novel to JC at $7.65 per copy under the condition that novel would not be resold.

Junior Sara Stifler said, “I like the free part. The fact that I don’t have to pay for the book will make me more interested in reading it.”