The class was finishing up, students handing up class copies of The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo. One student, let’s call her Mary, put the verse novel into her bag.
“Ehm, Mary, shouldn’t you hand that up with the other books, they’re school property?”
“Oh, no sir, this is my own copy. I wanted to own the book.”
English teachers crave such a response; a student that loves a book you introduced to them. This seems a heartwarming story, but it made me think; why did she have to buy the book? Wouldn’t it have been better if I could have just let her keep the novel?
This is only one of the many unintended consequences of the Book Scheme introduced to all levels of secondary school this year (it was up to Junior Cycle before this, but now extends to Senior Cy
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