We believe that curiosity is the best way to lead middle schoolers into learning. Reading and listening to stories is one of the best ways to engage children and help them acquire new skills.

During this onsite session, our French teacher Angélique Aristondo recommended for the students to read the best-selling graphic biography Les Cahiers d'Esther - Histoires de mes dix ans (Esther's Notebooks - Tales from my ten-year-old life) by French author Riad Sattouf for this book club's on-site session. This comic consists of 52 strips, telling between them the story of a year in the life of a sharp, spirited and hilarious child. The result is a moving, insightful and utterly addictive glimpse into the real lives of children growing up in today's world.

We read some excerpts in the original French version in class. While primarily relying on the book, we also looked up a few new words online, such as "arrondissements" (Parisian city districts). The students, who were nearly complete beginners at the beginning of the academic year, were delighted to realize that they now can read an authentic French book without much help from their teacher. Moreover, they very much enjoyed the story, describing it as "fun", "relatable", and "cute". They kept the comics with them after the class ended, as they were willing to keep on reading them during the rest of the onsite session.