Teen Seen with Quinn Salter by Sydney Salter

Today I am interviewing my favorite teenager, Quinn Salter, who is also the founding member of Aunt Syd's Book Club. Quinn is only 14 but he's lived and traveled all over the world which gives him a unique perspective about life and culture. He's also an avid reader. Right now Quinn is living in Bangalore, India with his parents who are International Baccalaureate teachers, his 12-year-old sister, and his cat Coco, who is not happy to have everyone crammed into their apartment. 

A troop of monkeys also lives in his apartment complex! I love reading about monkey break-ins that my sister-in-law posts on our family WhatsApp group. 

1. Tell us a little bit about how your quarantine experience is going. Are you reading more or less?

Yes I am reading more but during quarantine it is difficult to control myself and do the work so I procrastinate a bit more but I do read more. And since E-learning or online learning is difficult to focus on I do other things like reading.

2. What book are you reading right now? What do you like about it? 


I am reading IT right now. It is a long book and is very interesting. I read a couple other books by Steven king and liked them like The Stand and a bit of Nightmares and Dreamscapes. What I like about IT though is it is a long read and has many different perspectives which adds a nice touch of interesting development in the story line and each person in the book gets closer and closer to each other. I also like the fact of it goes between past and present. Right now when I read its in the past and showing a bit of their childhood and connections to the town of Derry.

3. What kinds of books do you like to read? Are there any genres or topics that you avoid?


I like fantasy books. Like Eragon, I enjoy reading books with magic etc. I am interested in mystery also I read some books like The Davinci Code. And a bit of Twilight. I tend to not read romance nor drama.

4. What’s the best book you’ve had to read for school?

The Devils Arithmetic. This book was my favorite one we had to read for school. It was new and it talked about a sad but interesting topic, The Holocaust.

5. In the US there’s a perception that boys don’t like to read for pleasure. You’ve lived all over the world. How do guys in Japan, Cameroon, and India think about reading? 


In my opinion I think that may be untrue since in other places like Japan they have manga and also books. They like reading manga and the books there they also like to read. I don’t think it’s because they're forced to read but because they want to. Cameroon is a different place because they didn’t like to read and also there are very few books and not many authors. Even if there are then the books are French and few people in Cameroon who have access to books can read French. In India books are very accessible and people do like reading. Like if I go to a mall and a store that is modernized, there is a whole book part in the back. There are other books but its mainly Indian novels.

6. If you could turn any book into a video game which one would it be? 


I would turn the Eragon series into a video game because I have always liked games with magic and dragons like Skyrim which is one of my favorites.

7. What do you wish writers understood better about teenagers? 

I don’t know any way a writer can understand anything better about a teenager since in this age there’s a lot of technology and that means that not as many people are going to read. Like for me when we're locked in a house most people I think would pick up their phone or device and look at that and not even try a book. I don’t think that this applies to everybody but I don’t know what a writer should understand better about a teenager.

8. Some adults think that teenagers shouldn’t read books with swearing, sexual content or graphic violence. What is your opinion about that?

I think that they should. Because it may give them a new perspective and also help them learn about the world. Like if for example I am younger and I don’t know a word that is a bad work and I ask my parents about it then it will help set boundaries and educate them on how words can be bad and hurt people. It helps set a life without those things or trying to evade them by understanding what they are.

9. What is your ideal reading situation? Do you like reading paper books or e-books? Where do you like to read?

My ideal reading situation is after doing some work and having free time to go read. I may have a glass of ice and sit in my bed and read. I like paper books more but I can read e-books either one is fine. I like to read in my bed or anywhere really.

10. What will you be reading next? 

I do not know what i will read next. I don’t have much access to books but the book I’m reading now IT, is a very long book but since I am bored sometimes I may read it too quickly so I’ll finish it faster. But I don’t know.