Florence in the 1400s was a world center for painting and culture. But the guild tightly controlled who could be licensed as a master painter, and girls and women were not allowed on their list. Still, fourteen-year-old Emilia Serafini lives for her art, and she’s desperate to find a way out of the marriage her father has planned for her. So she turns for guidance to a book her mother gives her that has been handed down through generations in her family:  Manual to the Science of Alchemy.

But the book’s advice is not always easy to interpret, and sometimes Emilia doesn’t want to follow the advice she reads there. When she finds herself involved with a wealthy but unscrupulous businessman who covets the book, Emilia must call on all the magic she can muster from its pages to help her create the future she longs for.

In Nonna’s Book of Mysteries, author Mary Osborne paints a fascinating picture of Renaissance Italy and its thirst for beauty and knowledge. She includes enough historical details to bring the time period to life, but not so much that it overwhelms Emilia’s story. And Emilia is a great character who is rooted in her era with all the dreams of a girl far ahead of her time. Headstrong and determined, she also learns a lot about patience and tapping into wisdom passed down through the ages.

I also enjoyed reading about creating icons and frescoes and getting a taste for what life was like in a master artist’s studio of the period. Nonna’s Book of Mysteries is historical fiction at its best. I recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

This week I’m giving away a copy of Just Between Us: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal for Girls and Their Moms by  Meredith and Sofie Jacobs. Comment here by midnight (PDT), Friday, August 20 for your chance to win a copy. (Giveaway closed. Congratulations to Linda for winning her copy.) Here’s my review:

I strongly believe mother-daughter book clubs are a great way to get moms and daughters talking about all kinds of topics. This includes sharing fun stories as well as having conversations about topics that may be awkward if they were brought up out of the blue, but are easier broach when talking about something you read.

Now comes a new tool for the two generations to communicate about many different issues. It’s called Just Between Us: a No-stress, No-rules Journal for Girls and Their Moms by mother-daughter team Meredith and Sofie Jacobs. I’ve seen more one-sided journals that grandparents or parents fill out to help their children find out more about their lives growing up, but this is the first time I’ve seen an interactive journal for two.

Some pages are labeled for the mother to fill in, like the one with the questions, “What I wanted to be when I grew up” and “What really happened when I grew up and why.” The daughter’s corresponding page asks for her to write about three things she might want to be when she grows up and why.

The topics cover so much—school, family, careers, personal likes and dislikes—and there are also plenty of pages where either or both journalers can write about whatever they’d like to talk about. Just Between Us could be fun as an activity for the moms and daughters on their own, or as part of a book group. As part of book group, you may want to define in advance which pages you’ll share in a meeting. That way everyone will know that some pages may contain public thoughts while others will be kept private. I recommend Just Between Us for girls aged nine and up and their moms.

When fifteen-year-old Jazz Gardner discovers she’s going to spend the summer in India with her family she is not happy about it at all. She has a thriving business in San Francisco with her best friend Steve, and she can’t imagine leaving either one for three months. She’s certain one of the other girls from school will make a move while she’s gone and claim Steve’s heart before she even tells him how much he means to her.

When she arrives in the town where her mother was born and adopted from the orphanage, she’s determined not to get involved in helping out in any way. All she wants to do is pass the time while she counts the days until she goes home. But her encounters with the people, and a little bit of monsoon madness, just may convince her she’s got something to contribute after all.

Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins is a great book for mother-daughter book clubs. Jazz is an independent girl whose parents are very much involved in her life. She constantly compares herself to her mother, and often feels she’s lacking. This book can generate great discussions on finding and believing in your own strengths, working to help others, trusting people and having the courage to say what you’re feeling. Perkins has an excellent mother-daughter book club discussion guide at her website, www.mitaliperkins.com. Here’s just one of the questions that may provoke great discussion:

“What’s the most risky thing you’ve tried when it comes to helping someone else? Did it work?” I highly recommend Monsoon Summer for book clubs with girls aged 10 and up.

Blue Plate Special by Michelle D. Kwasney is at its heart a story of mothers and daughters. In this case, there are three generations of mothers and daughters who all make mistakes but ultimately struggle to do the best they can.

Each of the storytellers, Madeline, Desiree and Ariel has a distinct voice. Madeline is super-responsible, and she takes care of her alcoholic mother. But she’s extremely overweight, and she fights to stay above water in a vast sea of loneliness. Desiree is happy with her school and social life, but at home her mother is too depressed to pay much attention to her. Desiree can’t rely on her mother to protect her. Ariel’s got a good relationship with her mother, but she’s in danger of falling under the control of a boy who wants to monopolize every minute of her time for himself.

Each story is told from the point of view of the girls when they were 16, and seeing the continuity between generations is both painful and hopeful. Can these women and girls escape their pasts and their present circumstances and find a way to be stronger and support each other?

Blue Plate Special should provide great discussions for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and older. Issues to talk about include finding a feeling of self-worth, what is the difference between being loved and being controlled by someone, and overcoming obstacles to provide a safe, loving environment for your children. This book gets stronger as it goes along. The stories are very simple, but very powerful, I highly recommend it.

Check the author’s website, http://www.michelledkwasney.com/, to read the first three chapters, which introduce each of the three characters, or listen to an audio excerpt. The downloadable discussion guide also has great questions, including this one that would be interesting in a mother-daughter book club:

“It’s hard for us to imagine what our mothers and grandmothers were like as teenagers. If you had the chance to travel back in time and meet your mom or grandma when they were your age, would you do it? What questions would you ask them?”

Tonia is single-minded in her desire to escape the hard life and insecurity on a kibbutz in Israel for the easy life she imagines waits for her in the United States. She even keeps a magazine photo of her ideal American home tacked up to her wall to remind herself of her dream.

Tonia’s parents had left their native Poland for Palestine in 1934 with their own dream of building a Jewish homeland. For years the family lived in cramped quarters with relatives while the dad, Joseph, worked to build a place they could all live together. Tonia’s brother and sister shared their parents’ dream, even as Tonia rejected it. But dark-eyed, dark-skinned Amos Amrani just may change Tonia’s mind about where she belongs.

The Lonely Tree by Yael Politis is a sweeping tale set against the Jewsish settlement of Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state. The settlers experience deprivation, are subject to attack, and find out about loved ones left behind to perish during the Holocaust.

Tonia is stubborn like her father, and she often butts heads with him. But only she can decide if she truly wants to follow her own ideal of a safe life in America or fight for the Israeli state her parents and so many of her friends believe in. This book is a great one for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 15 and older to choose, particularly if they are interested in historical fiction and more specifically the history of the modern state of Israel.

Discussion topics include developing a cultural identity, living with the threat of attack, finding out what’s most important in your life, and moral obligations to the ones we love.

Evie spends a lot of her time alone, and for the most part she likes it that way. She’s worlds apart from her mother, who seems obsessed with looking perfect all the time. At lunch in school she sits with a group she calls The Whisperers, because they talk quietly to one another. But at least they accept her presence at their table, and they like to hear stories about Jonah. Jonah combs the woods behind a high-end neighborhood every week to rid it of dead animals while Evie delivers newspapers there. She longs for him to notice her.

Then comes the Sunday that Jonah finds the body of Evie’s one-time friend as he makes his regular rounds. Evie can’t get the murder out of her mind, and she finds herself lying to make her relationship with the dead girl, Elizabeth, closer than it was. She’s drawn into a friendship with Elizabeth’s dad and her real best friend, Hadley.

The girls work to solve the crime together, but actions quickly escalate out of their control.

The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams grabs you and pulls you into the story with the first words and doesn’t turn you loose until the last sentence. It highlights real dangers when teens take risks, and also shows how they can sometimes fall into magical thinking that heightens and exaggerates their fears.

There are many issues for moms and daughters to talk about: making decisions about who to trust, keeping lines of communication open between moms and teen daughters, teens trying out new experiences just to see what they are like, and more. The Space Between Trees is wonderfully creepy, and I recommend reading it in the light of day or you may just find yourself jumping at every little sound in the dark. I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.

Harry is a fox who lives in Foxboro during a time of deprivation. Winter has been harsh, and food is scarce. His brother, Isaac, leads the government, and while the two haven’t gotten along since childhood, Isaac is entrusting Harry with the task of finding an old fortress reputedly full of rabbits.

Quentin is a rabbit who lives in the fortress. Strange disappearances have been occurring in his world, and his government is enacting strict laws to enforce security. When he runs into a childhood nemesis who is now his superior on guard duty, Quentin knows he must find a way to escape.

Harry and Quentin are both animals working to solve a mystery and fight for their survival. Each much discover what he believes in and define why he believes himself to be moral.

A Taste for Rabbit by Linda Zuckerman has many moral issues to ponder. What are you willing to do if you’re hungry or need to feed a family? When is it okay to kill other animals for food? How can you determine who to trust? Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up should find a lot to talk about.

How I Made It to Eighteen by Tracy White says it’s “mostly a true story” about the experiences of Stacy Black and her journey from a breakdown through therapy and institutionalization and to the other side. It’s a powerful story in a simple presentation.

With words and through graphic images, we meet Stacy’s friends, and we get to read their perspectives on her personality and her actions. We see notes about Stacy from the records at Golden Meadows hospital. And we hear the words of Stacy herself. The different perspectives combine to paint a picture of a girl who wasn’t sure of who she was or how she could escape her problems with depression and bulimia. And we see that many of Stacy’s friends and also suffered from similar problems.

Although the topic is dark, the book is hopeful because you know Stacy makes it in the end. Her journey is an important component in how she eventually emerges from treatment and carries on with her life. I found How I Made It to Eighteen both fascinating and informative, and I believe it could open up interesting conversations between mothers and their daughters aged 14 and up.

Will Grayson #1 believes in two rules: 1. Don’t care too much. 2. Shut up. He’s pretty sure if he follows those he can make it through high school. But he’s not always good at following them. The last time he violated his rules was to defend his best friend Tiny Cooper, who is gay, in a signed letter for the school newspaper. Now he doesn’t have any friends but Tiny, who’s trying to set Will up with Jane. But to accept would violate Will’s rule #1.

Will Grayson #2 says he is trying to get through high school without killing himself or everyone around him. He takes medication for depression, and he hangs out with a girl named Maura, mostly because he doesn’t have other friends. He’s gay, but he hasn’t told anyone yet but his online friend, Isaac.

When Will Grayson meets Will Grayson one unlikely night in Chicago, both their worlds begin to change in unexpected ways.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson is written by John Green and David Levithan, two young adult authors known for edgy teen literature. Their joint work is told in alternating chapters, with each Will Grayson penned by a different writer. In less skilled hands the result could be disjointed, but Green and Levithan each create a Will Grayson that is complex and conflicted. In his own way, each Will is isolated and lonely, unsure of his own sexuality and what he’s willing to risk to be friends with someone. In his own way, each keeps his head down until something moves him out of his comfort zone and makes him unhappy with the status quo he has established.

There are big questions for teens involved, and mother-daughter book clubs who take on this book must know what they’re getting into: questions of sexuality, sexual identify, friendship and self-acceptance. There’s plenty of profanity to go around. But it’s refreshing to see an honest look at what it means for a teen to be gay and the challenges a friend of a gay teen faces while supporting his friend. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is also funny, and it will be hard for readers not to fall in love with Tiny Cooper. In fact, at one point Will Grayson #1 says he’s tired of playing a bit part in Tiny Cooper’s life. In some ways, both Wills are playing a bit part in Tiny Cooper’s book. Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 15 and up should find this book opens up a conversation about lots of issues that may otherwise not come up on their own. I highly recommend it.

Every summer of her life Belly (short for Isabel) has gone to the same summer home with her mom, her brother, her mom’s best friend and the friend’s two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. She’s the youngest of the children, and she always felt let out of activities the boys arranged. Now, she’s about to turn 16, and everything is changing. Boys, including Conrad and Jeremiah, are starting to think of her as something other than a pesky little sister or just a friend. Belly needs to decide if her childhood crush on Conrad still has a hold over her, or if she’s free to explore the attention she’s getting from others.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han will make you want to grab a beach towel, sunscreen, lemonade and head out to a sandy spot where you can read without being interrupted for a while. Belly has the kind of summers that seem dream like, where moms and kids head to the beach house for three months while the dads drop in on occasional weekends. Even so, all is not perfect: Belly’s parents are divorced, her mom’s friend Susannah has battled breast cancer, and the kids are growing up, changing the dynamic of all their relationships.

Belly’s struggle with many teen issues seems very real. She wants to appear cool and older than she is by drinking alcohol at a party, but she doesn’t really want to drink either. She wants her boyfriend to kiss her, but she doesn’t know what she’ll do if he tries to go further.  She feels a nearly constant conflict between wanting to grow up and be a little reckless, and wanting to stay in her comfort zone and do what she knows is safe. These are great issues for moms and daughters to talk about. I recommend The Summer I Turned Pretty for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 14 and up.