Reader's Playground: A Collection of Short Stories and Poems

by Brendan O'Connor

Welcome to Reader's Playground, where the echoes of high school hallways meet the whispers of childhood nostalgia. Here, you'll find poems and stories written throughout a high school career – a time of both exhilarating discovery and bittersweet goodbyes to the familiar.

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2025

Reviews

[ashley_l13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not usually one for poetry, but this was different for me. Each poem left me with feelings of nostalgia, joy, and so many more.

As I go into my senior year of high school, the poem “so long highschool” helped me to see how close the end of this journey is, and how to accept it.

“I live” made me feel seen in an age of technology and AI, when all anyone sees is technology when there is so much more to see.

“Dandelion seeds” was by far my favorite, for reasons I can’t quite explain.

Overall, I loved every minute I spent with this book, and I hope to be able to read more from Brendan in the future :)

[Lisa-Rose McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reader's Playground is an honest account of the high school emotional experience as seen through the eyes of a creative student. From teen uncertainty to the wonder and uneasiness of growing up, this book of short stories and poems is filled with imagery and ideas beyond the author's years. A must-read for adolescents who might wonder if they are the only ones feeling the way they do about divorce, grief, relocating, sense of self, and the transition from child to high school graduate. Beautiful and honest.