Participants range from middle school to mid-life and beyond; this year, more than 600 are expected April 30 on the University of Hawai'i campus. (A smaller gathering is held on Kaua'i, as well.)

Celebrate Reading grew out of a 1996 class Hershinow led for teachers, in which they read and discussed a book as a way of learning how to teach literature.

"Teachers get really excited when — heaven forfend! — they actually get a chance to read something and to pick what they're going to read," said Hershinow, an almost impossibly energetic woman whose accent retains the flavor of her South African upbringing and whose speech reveals her love of words.

"I told them our kids need this — this choice, this excitement and conversation and dialogue and the chance to meet writers — more than you do."

At first, some pooh-poohed the idea, saying the kids would never come to a book circle, that Department of Education rules about what can be read ("no sex, no death, no violence, no politics, no religion, no language") would let out many of the contemporary works that would most interest younger readers, and, anyway, who has the time?

But Hershinow came up with a way, sending graduate students to mentor book circles. The groups take many forms: A few are classroom efforts (at middle, high school and college levels); many meet after school; some are adult or elder book clubs.

The groups can read whatever they like, though each fall, they're given a list of 20 or so books that will be the subject of discussion at the spring event, where the authors are present.

The 'bookworms'

Hurlburt considers herself a facilitator, not a leader, but does try to get the discussion beyond "I liked it/I didn't like it," probing for what, exactly, makes a passage or character work. "You can learn about writing by reading in a thoughtful way," she explained.

"This book just messes with your head," said Jessica St. Clair, 18. The girls, who are about one-third of the way through the book, agree that the Kaua'i writer's light-hearted novel is a speedy read, and that it's hilarious. But, said Jessica Berry, 17, they're still trying to figure out what it's about — if the purpose isn't, as St. Clair insists, "just to make you laugh."

Madonna Ramos, 17, said she's there for the half-credit in English offered to those who attend the hourlong after-school discussions. The other three — St. Clair, Berry and Jessica Reichers, 16 — characterize themselves as "the bookworms."

Reichers said, however, that one benefit of the group is that she's introduced to books she'd never pick up on her own.

Senior circle

At the Pohai Nani retirement community, where Hershinow leads a bi-weekly book circle, Betty Porter echoed Reichers: "This group really expands our horizons. We are introduced to things that we'd never pick ourselves. It really has made my life a lot more interesting."

Hershinow said an important reason for blending the ages in book circles is to leaven the discussion: "The quality of give and take, of doubting and believing, of challenging and responding, is not at its highest if all the participants are very young." On the other hand, young readers bring an honesty and a lack of pretense to discussions.

Moana Smith likes the Celebrate Reading idea because she believes it's important for elders to model the love of reading for younger people. As a teacher, she reserved the period after lunch for reading aloud. "That was my favorite hour of the day," the retiree recalled.

Though they have discussed some books on the Celebrate Reading list, these independent-minded seniors wander away at will. At the suggestion of a member, they've been slogging through Mark Twain's "Joan of Arc."

The task of garnering enough books, and finding the money to pay for them, is an unending challenge for Celebrate Reading organizers, who patch together grants and school funds and often shell out from their own pockets or beg gifts from authors, publishers or bookstores.

In the classroom

There are plenty of books making the rounds in Chris Windnagle's 11th-grade honors English class at Pearl City High, from "Fluke" to Alexander McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" and Nora Okja Keller's weighty "Comfort Woman." The class of 21 is divided into seven groups of three each, all reading different books at their own pace.

Here, working toward the Celebrate Reading event is classwork, as well as an eagerly anticipated extracurricular activity.

Windnagle has the students conduct their book discussions online, via postings to a discussion board, and encourages multi-media book reports. The students' final project will be a PowerPoint book report with hyperlinks; some will also use video.

Windnagle provides the students with provocative questions to consider, linking the book groups to class materials that focus on subjects such as bias connected to gender and race roles, healthy and unhealthy relationships, and social inequities.

A measure of how eagerly the students have embraced this style of discussion: One group has more than 300 postings.

Delving into "Make Lemons," by Virginia Euwer Wolff, one trio is full of questions and observations. This is a young-adult novel about a babysitter for a struggling single mom with two small kids.

The three young women chose the book for its title — from the phrase, "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

Karri Villanueva, 16, said the short chapters read like free-form poetry: "You know how people use poetry to express their deepest feelings and thoughts? The fact that she wrote it like that might mean that these events have a deep effect on her."

Jessica Fabrigas, 16, wondered if the author is saying something by naming the mother of the family "Jolly" — expressing a sense of optimism?

Kalena Cuevas, 17, said she liked another book by Wolff and knew this one would be something people her age could relate to.

If some of the books on the Celebrate Reading list aren't great literature, this bothers Windnagle and Hershinow not at all. The point is to use the reading material as bridges: bridges to discussion and bridges to reading still better and more challenging books. There's also a goal of introducing local writers to new audiences.