For girls ages 9-12 and a female adult.
Bring your dinner. We will eat together and enjoy a fun activity before discussing our selected book.
Here our some of our goals:
- Enjoying good times between mothers and daughters and getting to know some other cool people!
- Reading a mixture of fiction books set in a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds.
- Enjoying a variety of ideas and opinions. There are no right or wrong answers to discussion questions. One of the best parts is celebrating our differences!
2017-2018 Meeting Dates
September 26, 2017 *The reading list for the year will be decided at this meeting!
October 24, 2017: Short by Holly Goldbery Sloan
In this heartwarming and funny middle-grade novel by the New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s , Julia grows into herself while playing a Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz. Julia is very short for her age, but by the end of the summer run of The Wizard of Oz , she’ll realize how big she is inside, where it counts. She hasn’t ever thought of herself as a performer, but when the wonderful director of Oz casts her as a Munchkin, she begins to see herself in a new way. As Julia becomes friendly with the poised and wise Olive–one of the adults with dwarfism who’ve joined the production’s motley crew of Munchkins–and with her deeply artistic neighbor, Mrs. Chang, Julia’s own sense of self as an artist grows. Soon, she doesn’t want to fade into the background–and it’s a good thing, because her director has more big plans for Julia! Bubbling over with humor and tenderness, this is an irresistible story of self-discovery and of the role models who forever change us.
November 28, 2017: Blooming by Kimberly Willis Holt
With unwavering emotion and masterful storytelling, National Book Award-winning author Kimberly Willis Holt explores themes of loss, family, love, and the importance of finding a place to call home.
Stevie’s life seems safe and full of love until the day tragedy strikes. Stevie is sent to live with her estranged grandfather Winston at his rundown motel. Though the colorful tenants who inhabit the motel are quickly charmed by Stevie, she struggles to connect with her grandfather. What dark secret is he keeping from her? It will take another difficult departure before Winston realizes just how strongly Stevie has taken root at the motel–and in his heart.
A Christy Ottaviano Book
January 23, 2018: Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline
This young readers’ edition of Christina Baker Kline’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel Orphan Train follows a young foster girl who forms an unlikely bond with a ninety-one-year-old woman. Adapted and condensed for a young audience, Orphan Train Girl includes an author’s note and archival photos from the orphan train era. This book is especially perfect for mother/daughter reading groups.
Molly Ayer has been in foster care since she was eight years old. Most of the time, Molly knows it’s her attitude that’s the problem, but after being shipped from one family to another, she’s had her fair share of adults treating her like an inconvenience. So when Molly’s forced to help an elderly woman clean out her attic for community service, Molly is wary. Just another adult to treat her like a troublemaker.
But from the very moment they meet, Molly realizes that Vivian, a well-off ninety-one-year-old, isn’t like any of the adults she’s encountered before. Vivian asks Molly questions about her life and actually listens when Molly responds. Molly soon sees they have more in common than she thought. Vivian was once an orphan, too–an Irish immigrant to New York City who was put on a train to the Midwest with hundreds of other children–and she can understand, better than anyone else, the emotional binds that have been making Molly’s life so hard. Together, they not only clear boxes of past mementos from Vivian’s attic, but forge a path of friendship, forgiveness, and new beginnings for their future.
February 27, 2018: Masterminds by Gordon Korman
The first book in the action-packed series from New York Times bestselling author Gordon Korman is perfect for young fans of James Patterson and John Grisham.
Eli Frieden lives in the most perfect town in the world: Serenity, New Mexico. Honesty and integrity are valued above all else. The thirty kids who live there never lie–they know it’s a short leap from that to the awful problems of other, less fortunate places.
Eli has never left Serenity . . . why would he ever want to? Then one day, he bikes to the edge of the city limits and something so crazy and unexpected happens, it changes everything. Eli convinces his friends to help him investigate further, and soon it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems in Serenity. The clues mount to reveal a shocking discovery, connecting their ideal crime-free community to some of the greatest criminal masterminds ever known.
The kids realize they can trust no one–least of all their own parents.
March 27, 2018: A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielson
From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west.
With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family divided overnight. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can’t help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.
But one day, while on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Then, when she receives a mysterious drawing, Gerta puts two and two together and concludes that her father wants Gerta and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?
April 24, 2018: Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk
Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow’s only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar.
Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn’t until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger.
Vivid and heart-wrenching, Lauren Wolk’s Beyond the Bright Sea is a gorgeously crafted and tensely paced tale that explores questions of identity, belonging, and the true meaning of family.
May 22, 2018: Pie by Sarah Weeks
From the award-winning author of So B. It , a story about family, friendship, and…pie! When Alice’s aunt Polly passes away, she takes with her the secret to her world-famous pie-crust recipe. Or does she? In her will, Polly leaves the recipe to her extraordinarily surly cat, Lardo…and then leaves Lardo in the care of Alice.Suddenly Alice is thrust into the center of a piestorm, with everyone in town trying to be the next pie-contest winner…including Alice’s mother. The whole community is going pie-crazy…and it’s up to Alice to discover the ingredients that really matter. Like family. And friendship. And enjoying what you do.