Book Interviews
–>Dennis Chen – Senior – Hunter College 2013
1. What is my favorite book out of all four years at Stuyvesant?
– My favorite book would have to be The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
2. What was my favorite book about?
– The book starts out as a romance between a middle aged woman and a teenage boy, but it unfolds later on into something much more when 20 years pass by and they meet again in a court room where the woman is on trial and the man is a law student witnessing the trial.
3. Sounds interesting yet? It gets better.
– The boy tries to reignite the lust he had before for this woman while at the same time trying to figure out the incredible secret that she held from him. In the end he realizes something drastic that changes his life from then on.
4. Isn’t there a movie coming out about this?
– Yes I have recently heard there is a movie coming out and I am really excited about watching it, but as it is with all other movies based on books, the book is always better than the movie. Therefore I highly recommend everyone who is planning on watching the movie to read the book.
5. Are there any other books I would recommend?
– I personally loved the Twilight series. I know it is thought of as a female’s novel but a good book is a good book.
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Betty Chen – Senior – NYU Stern 2013
1. In all your years at Stuyvesant, what book do you find your favorite?
–I would have to say that my favorite book is The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus.
2. The Nanny Diaries? Can you tell me a little about the plot line?
–Well, The Nanny Diaries tells a story about a nanny (go figure), who is a fresh graduate out of college but takes a nanny job to kill time while she figures out who she really is. Throughout the story she devotes herself to this job and becomes a bit of a workaholic, which ends up tearing apart her life. The sole reason she becomes this workaholic is because she ends up loving the kid she is nannying.
3. Wow, this book seems intense, what did you like most about it?
–The reason I liked this book so much is because I can relate to having to balance my responsibilities with my feelings. Sometimes you just cant tell which is suppose to come first.
4. Do you feel that she ended up choosing the right one?
– I personally think that things turned out good for her in the end, but you will have to read the book yourself to find out how it actually ends.
5. Are there any other books that you would recommend?
– I would recommend any of the “Charlie Bone Series” which is actually named The Children of the Red King series by Jenny Nimno.
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Qi Ling Gu – Senior – St. Johns University 2013
1. As cliche as this question is getting, what is your favorite book?
– My favorite book would have to be Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell
2. Can you tell me a little bit about the book?
–Island of the Blue Dolphins is about a girl who is stranded for 18 years on her own. She originally decides not to leave the island her people use to live at in order to wait for her brother but when her brother is killed by a pack of wild dogs, she is left on her own. She then must do what she has never even thought was possible, fend for herself.
3. Her brother died? How did you feel about that?
–That was the worst part of the book. He was her only companion and when he died I seemed to feel her pain. I actually cried at that part, thinking about how much it probably hurt her.
4. Wow, so this book is a book you were really into, enough for you to actually cry?
–Yes, it was very interesting because you read about her struggles to survive. From her brothers dead to her revenge on the dogs to her hunting for food, you get a sense of how hard her life is especially when you compare it to our lives.
5. Well other than this is there any other book you would recommend?
–Besides this book I would highly recommend Black Boy by Richard Wright.
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Leon Zhao – Junior – Handball Team
1. What book that you’ve recently read would you recommend to future students at Stuyvesant?
– My favorite book would have to be The Rule of the Bone by Russell Banks
2. Can you tell me a little about the book?
– Well it tells the story of a teenager going through like going down the wrong paths. He falls down the road of a criminal, drug addict who is trying to find his way to discovering himself and what is right and wrong.
3. Sounds interesting. What would you say your favorite part of the book is?
– My favorite part of the book is that Russel Banks really understands how teenagers speak. When you read the book it isnt as if someone is trying to describe a story about a teen but rather the teenager actually telling you what he went through. You can really connect to it.
4. Are you saying you can relate to a drug addict?!
– Course not -_-. I saying that this book is interesting because while reading it you dont feel like your forced to read it. It is a book that just flows and captures you with the “teenage vernacular” that some “cool” parents try to understand.
5. Are there any other books you would recommend?
- I really liked Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, it’s a really good book and I think anyone who enjoys this one will also enjoy that.
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Winnie Mei – Senior – Senior Sing Step 2009
1. What was your favorite book?
–My favorite book would have to be Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling.
2. Really? I loved that book please tell me a bit about it.
–Well in this series of the Harry Potter books, he finds a book in his potions class at Hogwarts which contains scribbles and notes from someone else. This ends up benefiting him as he continues his journey through his life.
3. What did you like so much about this book?
–The main reason I enjoyed it is because I really enjoy magic. Any book that has to do with magic and I would be satisfied.
4. Did you read all the previous books and will you read the last one?
–Yes and yes.i really enjoy the series and I think I will finish it off with the last book.
5. Are there any other books you would recommend to people?
–I would highly recommend the Kite Runner
Book recommendations by Stuyvesant students for Stuyvesant students and readers around the world. Also known as Stuy Bookshelf/Book Box. Submissions are open—click on register below!