Explorers Compete for
Best Book Review

What happens when life throws you a curve? Do you throw in the towel and quit? Or, do you find new, creative ways to overcome your challenge? This is the theme of the book, Who Moved my Cheese? Teen Edition by Spencer Johnson M.D. Several Explorers read the book together and wrote a book review on deadline. The winner will receive a Mary Kay Spa Kit. See who won below!

The adult version of the book went on to sell millions of copies to individuals and corporations who wanted to know how to be productive, creative, and innovative in times of change. Members of the Merze Tate Explorers who take part in our bi-monthly Book Club read the teen version of the book and discussed what they learned and how it will help them better deal with unexpected change in the future. Books read by the Explorers not only provide entertainment but life lessons and inspiration.

Winners are:
1st Place: Alayna Kuhn
2nd Place: Aliah Ward

Who Moved My Cheese
By Alayna Kuhn

How do I deal with change? This is a question I had never thought about until I read the book Who Moved My Cheese? for Teens by Spencer Johnson, MD.  In this book, there are four main characters that have to deal with change – where to find cheese. The characters are Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw. These characters all have different personalities and deal with change in various ways. Sniff anticipates change and prepares for it. He can adapt to change quickly and he handles it well. Then, there is Scurry who moves quickly right along with the change. He can change his direction easily if he needs to – and is swift about it.

Then, there is Hem. Hem is very reluctant to change and he likes to stay right in his comfort zone. When change occurs, he is often stuck in fear and discomfort. Hem gets angry easily and also gets depressed. Finally, there is Haw. Initially, Haw is fearful and nervous about change, but is then able to laugh it off and eventually adapts. Haw often ends up happy once he learns to let go and move along with the change.

Depending on the situation, I resemble different characters. For example, when I moved to a new school district in 6^th grade. Not only was I going to a new school, but I was going to transition from elementary to middle school. I acted like Scurry in this situation because I wasn’t really too stressed. I adapted quickly and had an awesome year! 

Another change I’m going through right now is trying out for a new sport that I haven’t played since 5^th grade. Because of COVID-19, I am also not able to practice with others before the tryouts.  I feel a lot like Haw in this situation.  At first, I was super nervous but as tryouts get closer, I am learning to let go and whatever happens will happen.

Another significant change that I’m currently going through is dealing with the coronavirus. This pandemic has changed my life in a lot of different ways that I never thought would happen.  I am not able to spend time with friends and I will not have the typical freshmen year of high school that I always dreamed of.  There will be no parties, social activities, or athletic events.  There will be no hanging out in the high school cafeteria or passing through the busy halls as I move from class to class.  In this situation, I feel a bit more like Hem and even though I may be physically handling this pandemic well, my mental state isn’t the best during quarantine.  This situation is just so different from my normal life!

Thankfully, Who Moved my Cheese? has taught me how to reflect in challenging situations that may occur in life.  I now have a more positive outlook and I will try to take things less seriously.  I am learning to move with the change, learn from the change, and overcome my challenges.  I realize now that I will learn unique lessons from every change and every challenge – and will use these experiences to build confidence, learn, and grow.

Who Moved My Cheese
By Aliah Ward

I recently read the book Who moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson, M.D. The book is about change, how people adapt to it, and how you can adapt to it. In the book, there are four main characters. Sniff and Scurry are mice, and Hem and Haw are people the sizes of mice. Each character represents how different people react to change. In this review, I will further examine each character, explain which one I can act like, and of course, tell you why I think you should read the book!

I really like how the author writes an allegorical story about how people react to change. For example, he uses cheese to represent a person’s goal or what makes them happy. He uses a maze to represent where people look for that cheese—like a school or a job. He also uses the characters’ names to show how people react to change.

The four main characters, Sniff, Scurry, Hem, and Haw have names that have meaning behind them. Sniff, sniffs out change and is aware of it before most people; Scurry, sees change and scurries to adapt; Hem, resists change because of fear of the unknown; and Haw is reluctant to change, but in the end is satisfied with the outcome. When people adapt to change, they are usually one or a mix of these characters.

I myself feel that I can be all of these characters. Sometimes I’m like Hem when I am too afraid to adjust to change. But other times, I’m like Sniff who already sees the change happening and adjusts to it. I think it just depends on the situation and how it affects you. This brings me to another reason why I would recommend this book.

In the novel, the author writes about how people can act like all of the characters throughout their lives, and how they can and adjust and react to change. I also enjoyed reading this book because it gave examples of real- life things that teens go through and how people learned how they could handle it. Since the author wrote as narrator and that helped me understand how to apply the story to my life.  

 Additionally, I liked the little phrases that Haw wrote on the Maze wall to encourage other people like himself and sniff to adjust to change. My personal favorite phrase was

“Adapt to change quickly- the quicker you let go of the old cheese,
the sooner you can enjoy new cheese.” 

I liked this particular phrase because it reminded me that I can not always stay in my comfort zone or do what is familiar to me because I won’t get anywhere and I won’t be happy. Overall, this was a great book and I really enjoyed it. I think that teens should read it because It taught me better ways to deal with change. have already found ways to use this story in my life and I think that my fellow peers could really benefit from it. I hope you get a chance to read it!