Sex. Violence. Slavery. While these are not the usual things one would encounter in a teaching environment, CA teacher Charles Golden had his two AP classes organize a book event around “Beloved” by Toni Morrison as a new way to prepare for the AP exam. The book club was held for the first time Thursday in the band room, with another on April 2.

Set in the late 1800s, “Beloved” follows the lives of three African-American women dealing with the psychological aftermath of slavery. One of the heads of organization, senior Erin Arscott, said even though the book is controversial, it is still an important piece of literature in history.

“Most of the books we read in CA are kind of depressing regardless, but this one’s just a little bit more morbid,” Arscott said. “It’s also different because it is in the perspective of a woman, which I don’t think we’ve experienced this year.”

Golden said “Beloved” is taught later in the year because the students have to be prepared for not only the edgy topic, but also have the skills to comprehend the deeper meanings and find its relevance in modern times.

“Some of the stuff that’s discussed in this book is still painfully relevant to us today as a culture,” Golden said. “This is maybe the most important novel written in America by an American author. It has received world acclaim for what it has done to enlarge our sense of what we need to be as human beings if we’re going to be the best human beings we can be and to do that, it’s kind of a painful book.”

The two AP classes spent about two weeks planning the event, according to Arscott. Both parents and students who had an interest in “Beloved” were invited to take part in analyzing passages, discussing further meanings and eat a meal with courses from the late 1800s relative to the book.

“The food that we picked actually pertains to the book, which should be an interesting addition to the conversation,” Arscott said. “There’s a lot of pie, fried chicken, some carnival food because there’s a carnival scene, lemonade, sweet tea, that sort of stuff.”

Golden said he designed the project, which requires in-depth planning and problem solving, to help prepare students for the AP exams, which are coming up in a month. He said the event helps students hone skills that will apply to anything in life, such as getting someone to look at things from their point of view or explain why what they are saying is important.

“We’re doing higher level thinking that pays off when we have to pull a book like “Beloved” out of our brains when we take an AP test,” Golden said. “When we have to do a complex project, we’re extending our engagement with it, we’re thinking about it in different ways, we’re doing some problem and solution kind of work with it, and it’s going to stick in our brains.”

Senior Francesca Haynes said the night went a lot better than she was expecting and both students and parents had interesting ideas to bring to the conversation. Arscott’s mother, Polly, said she hopes Golden will continue the book club.

“The subject was a little heavy, but it is a very well written book,” Polly said. “I think listening to the kids’ perspectives on what the story was really about and not just the surface of it and watching everyone engage with each other was great.”

Golden said he does hope to have this book club again at least once a year, but right now he is just looking at how the students and parents took in the material and how beneficial it was.

“I’m just trying to see how we can build on this in further years,” Golden said. “Hopefully we could turn what happens in the classroom into something that could happen outside of the classroom and bring the community into school.”