Written by Felipe Elias
As of this year, the 2029 class of EAC, our current 9th graders, are deep into the world of literature in both English and Portuguese classes. In Portuguese class, the absolute favorite among the 9th graders is Fabien Toulmé’s graphic novel, “Não Era Você Que Eu Esperava”, with its visual format and heavy emotions about a father learning to accept his daughter’s Down syndrome, making it way less intimidating than a massive wall of text. Meanwhile, in Mr. Jeremy’s English class, students prefer John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” due to the relationship between the two main characters, Lenny and George, and the interesting and jaw-dropping ending.
Additionally, all three teachers indicate that getting students genuinely excited about reading today is an uphill battle against social media. TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are making it harder to concentrate, with the intense stimulus provided by them; thus, reading a huge novel that requires quiet and patience is largely more difficult to do nowadays. With all of this said and introduced, this report evaluates which books ninth-graders at EAC found most impactful in 2026 and explains why, using survey responses and interviews.
Form Answers
To better understand the ninth graders’ preferences, a form was created to get more answers. It consisted of asking each grade the following questions:
Grade Level
Favorite English Book
Favorite Portuguese Book
Favorite Aspect of the Book
A short answer of why you think each book is special to you
With the following questions, the data collected from our peers clearly reflected their preferences. When it comes to choosing their favorites, the clear winners were for Portuguese, Não era você que eu esperava, and for English, Of Mice and Men. Although both teachers stated that they have a very hard time fighting the effects of social media today in kids, as they challenge teachers to try new ways to inspire the kids, students indicated how one of their favorite elements in the books is the stories, as both books possess captivating and interesting stories to talk about, removing some of the problems caused by the short-term captivation of social media.
The form also gave us useful insight into the impact of the books on the students. For instance, the students showed that Woman at Point Zero was powerful as it “gave a voice to women who refuse to stay silent, even in the face of injustice,” showing that even the more challenging reads can leave a great impression. Similarly, for the Portuguese book, Não era você que eu esperava, one peer mentioned that it “shows real emotions about unexpected life changes and learning to love differently.” Individual responses also highlighted how personal these choices were: one classmate shared that Of Mice and Men was special because they found it “very beautiful and bittersweet,” showing the different impacts and ideas the 9th graders have of a favorite book for them. Overall, all of this proves that while the algorithm is tough to beat, a meaningful story can still cut through the noise and leave its message.
Interviews
To dive deeper into how these stories manage to compete with screens, we interviewed some of the ninth graders to hear their sides of the story. For this, the following questions were asked:
- When a book like ‘Of Mice and Men’ or ‘Não era você que eu esperava’ actually hooks you, how does it manage to beat the urge to check your phone?”
- When you run into a book that feels tough or distant at first, what keeps you reading instead of just giving up?”
When asked how books like Of Mice and Men or Não era você que eu esperava actually manage to beat the urge to check their phones, a student answered that:
“Books like these keep me going with their interesting themes, and they end a chapter with something unfinished, keeping me on the phone.”
Guilherme Palermo
This pointed to the clever pacing and structure of the narratives, proving that when the story is captivating enough, it can easily break the cycle of short attention span due to social media. Shown through the idea is that ending a story with a cliffhanger can lead students to be more curious and prone to finishing the book.
In addition, reading a book with complex language can be tiring because it takes a lot of attention and dedication to understand the hidden messages. However, when asked what keeps them reading instead of just giving up, one classmate shared a very interesting motivation:
“What keeps me going is the thought that if somebody was able to write that, I am able to read that.”
Guilherme Palermo
This determination shows that, even though books and social media compete for attention, the ninth graders are still finding ways to focus on books and keep reading.
Overall, the interviews showed that students keep reading when the story has cliffhangers, is engaging, and is easy to understand, further improving their participation in class and engagement in discussions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, 9th grade at EAC shows a conflict between social media and the power of a good story. Even though social media like TikTok and Instagram make it hard to focus, the data and interviews suggest that the 2029 class can still get past this struggle. Whether it is through the Portuguese graphic novel, Não Era Você Que Eu Esperava, the cliffhangers of Of Mice and Men, or the impactful message in Woman at Point Zero, great books still leave a huge impact. Ultimately, when a story is captivating, and students keep reading, literature wins, as Guilherme Palermo noted. Even with cellphones present, a book can still hook the 9th graders into its impactful and meaningful messages, as long as it can captivate them with its elements.
EAC PRESS 