Everything You Need to Know About the Iris Book Award 

By Vasilisa K., grade 9 

Some stories entertain us. Some change us. The Iris Book Award unites readers from all around the world. It is a young reading collaboration programme between international schools that has existed ever since 2016. Students in over 20 participating schools have about half a year to read books from their age-appropriate categories. Later in the year, the students who read at least one of the books can vote on their favourite, and the winners will be announced as the “Iris Book Award Winners.”   

“I think it’s a really fun opportunity for students and teachers to, like, work together towards something,” Middle School teacher Ms. Rizzo said. 

MIS has participated in the Iris Award Program ever since 2020. The first few years, only Middle school participated, and starting last year, after getting enough volunteers, the Senior School joined in the Award Program as well. It is a perfect opportunity for students who love reading books and talking about them. 

“And along with the voting, there’s the Book Bowl, which is a competition. So, a fun little get-together for readers who have read the books,” the MIS Middle and Senior School librarian, Ms. Clower said. 

The Iris Award Book Bowl is an accompanying quiz program where students make teams and compete with teams from other participating schools to see who knows this year’s Iris books the most. Last year the Middle School team won third place. Even though both teams did not manage to get on the podium this year, all participants had a lot of fun in the process. 

To prepare the Book bowl, Ms. Clower has organized an Iris book club for Middle School students during lunchtimes, where they read the books, talk about them, and do several quizzes. Due to organizational issues, MIS does not have a Senior School club yet; however, Ms. Rizzo is very eager to start one.  

“I, just like most teachers, have a lot of duties. I don’t think it’s impossible to find time where everybody can get together. But I think having a weekly book club meeting is spectacular. I think it’s a great idea.” Ms. Rizzo said.  

I fully support Ms. Rizzo’s idea of creating an Iris Book Club for the Senior School because I think it’s great practice for us before the Book Bowl, and the club can help people make new friends. We students appreciate the time, dedication, and support of Ms. Clower and all teachers involved.  

The Iris Book Award is a fun experience for students and teachers to read and talk about new books, and even though not many people join, the event is still very fun for all members. I enjoy the Iris book award and the bookbowl, and I hope that more people will join next year and we will finally create a book club for Senior School. So, if you enjoy books and like talking about them, join the Iris Book Club!  

“Come with an open mind and to know that there are going to be other readers there who enjoy reading and that even if they might not like any of the six books, they should give at least one of them a try,” Ms. Clower concluded.  

This Year’s Adult Fiction Titles