I’ve written a post called Ten Book Club Favorites for Ramblings of a Texas Housewife. All of the books on the list have been favorites of one of my groups over the years, and they’re divided into age groups, starting with books recommended for 9 to 10 years olds and going up to books for ages 14+. I hope you find something to like when you check out the list.
David Greenburg is 11 years old and about to start middle school. He’s not too worried until his older cousin Jack tells him about the horrors he may face, including a toilet-bowl swirlie on his birthday. David has other worries on his mind too: his mom left the family to live on a farm in Maine that has no electricity or phone service, his best friend Elliott no longer speaks to him, and his older sister Lindsay is hostile a lot of the time. The only good thing he has going is his grandmother, Bubbe, the TalkTime videos he records and posts on YouTube, and his pet hamster.
Things start to look up when he meets Sophie on his first day of school. Sophie is just starting public school after being taught at home by her mom, and she loves David’s videos. When she spreads the word about TalkTime through her homeschool network, David’s videos suddenly become way more popular than he is, leading to consequences both good and bad.
How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart is a funny and poignant look at a trying time of life for most adolescents. The comforts of elementary school are gone, some kids are maturing way faster than others, teachers are stricter, and new friendships are forming while old ones may be falling away. Bullies may be more of a problem. Gephart does a great job of showing how conflicted David feels about so much going on around him.
Mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12 will find a lot to talk about here—friendships, family relationships, relating to parents after divorce, pets, YouTube, and both the rewards and pitfalls of growing up. You may also want to serve Bubbe’s Jewish Apple Cake (recipe included at the back of the book) when you get together to talk about this book.
I laughed a lot and cried a little while reading How to Survive Middle School, and I highly recommend it. You may also want to check out the YouTube video of HammyTime.
The author provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Horrid Henry is at it again, although this time he’s really trying to make us laugh. Horrid Henry’s Joke Book, which is written by Francesca Simon and illustrated by Tony Ross is the latest in the series of stories about this rascally little boy who’s always trying to get away with something.
These jokes are exactly the kind that my daughter would have appreciated when she was seven to 10 years old. I know she would have told this knock-knock joke over and over again and expected her dad and I to laugh each time:
“Knock. Knock.
Who’s there?
Cows go.
Cows go who?
No they don’t, they go moo.”
The jokes are silly and often play on words, which is what many young readers adore as they are just learning the ins and outs of language. And because it is a Horrid Henry book, the jokes are grouped into categories that match Henry’s style. For instance, you’ll find Mummy’s Curse Jokes, Gross-Out Jokes, Scary Sitter Jokes, Underpants Jokes, and more. And of course, there’s a section for Perfect Peter’s Favorite Jokes, which Henry begs everyone not to read. Despite the banner that says, “Warning: Too rude for parents!” on the front cover, moms and dads should have fun reading these with their early readers.
If your group is like most others, you tend to have a set schedule of meeting once a month or so at someone’s home for snacks or a meal and book discussion. As a rule, this is a great way to make sure that everyone can easily mark a date on a calendar and plan to be at each event. But if you’ve been meeting for a while, you may also find yourself a bit bored with the routine. What you may need to liven things up is a field trip.
Field trips are mostly associated with students, and if you have kids you may have even volunteered at your child’s outings a time or two. While a field trip for your book club most likely won’t involve taking a ride on a noisy, bumpy bus, it can accomplish for your group what it’s meant to accomplish for students: enhanced learning in an environment outside the classroom, or in this case outside your home.
What kind of outing could you go on with your book club? The possibilities are truly endless. You can start by looking for any kind of tie in to the book you are reading. You can also do just the opposite: find something your group may have fun doing, and look for a book that offers a tie in. Here are a few ideas for places to look for these tie ins:
Is there a new release movie coming up you think your group would enjoy seeing? If the movie is adapted from a novel, you can read the book first, see the movie, then go for dinner or dessert and coffee after to discuss what you read and how it differed from what you saw.
Is there a restaurant in your area that matches the theme of a book you’re reading? Many ethnic restaurants feature waiters in traditional clothing, photos of the homeland on the wall, and ethnic music, as well as food that gives you a taste of what’s on the menu for characters in a book.
Are there stage productions you would like to see that are based on a novel? Some of my favorite stage adaptations of books have been Huckleberry Finn, The Secret Garden and Peter Pan. Your local theater groups usually post what’s coming up for a whole season, so you can choose a play and plan ahead to read the book.
Is your local art museum featuring a special or regular exhibit that ties into the theme of a book you’d like to read? What other museums are in your area? In my hometown of Portland, for instance, I can find museums dedicated to advertising, Japanese and Chinese immigrants to the area, sports, architecture, art and more. There’s even a 24 hour Church of Elvis!
Can you travel to a nearby historical site? Look for Civil War battlefields, pioneer homesteads, homes of famous authors and so much more.
One of my favorite field trips I went on with my book club came when we read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, which focuses on eating locally. Our book club members organized a wine tasting day with a pot-luck lunch focused on ingredients we bought at a local farmers market. We talked to the winegrowers, sipped a bit of their wine and ate incredible food. Over lunch we talked about the book and what we had learned about eating locally as well as ideas we had for changing our food habits going forward. The pictures from that day show all of us with big smiles. The event was such a hit we knew that we’d be looking at other opportunities to take our group on the road at least once a year.
With just a little thought and creativity you’re bound to come up with lots of ideas with appeal to your book club members. Then you can file them away and pull out one or two each year for your group to focus on. Not only will you be keeping boredom at bay, you’ll be creating special memories that you will remember for a long time to come.
Today is Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) day, a wonderful time dedicated to the joy of reading. When my daughters were young, they had D.E.A.R. time every day in elementary school. In middle school this time was known as SSR or Silent Sustained Reading. Not nearly as fun as D.E.A.R. right? D.E.A.R. makes me think of how precious books are, and how much fun it is to get comfortable with a book and read. SSR almost sounds like a chore. Yet, the end result is the same, which is 30 minutes of uninterrupted reading time. Reading for 30 minutes each day may sound like a luxury, but it’s especially important for children who are developing literacy skills that will serve them throughout their lifetimes.
Later today I’ll be dropping everything to read with my daughter, Catherine, who is 15 and a sophomore in high school. We still read out loud together, particularly our current mother-daughter book club selection. Today we’ll be continuing with A Taste for Rabbit by Linda Zuckerman. I also plan to start a new book to review for this website called Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent. It’s great having an excuse to read. To look for more reasons, including the fact that today is Beverly Cleary’s birthday, check out the Drop Everything and Read website. There you’ll find reading lists for books good for families with children 4 and under, 5 to 7, 8 to 11 and 12 and up.
Ramona and Beezus
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love to eat muffins, scones, breakfast breads, biscuits and almost anything else that can come out an oven. The trouble is that I don’t move very fast when I drag myself out of bed every morning. So it can be difficult to satisfy my craving for baked goods when I’m moving at a snail’s pace to get through my shower, make my daughter’s school lunch and put breakfast on the table for all of us. Fortunately, I’ve figured out that I can do all the prep for my favorite breakfast treats the night before, so all I have to do in the morning is a few simple steps before sliding something into the oven.
Tonight I’ll be putting together most of the ingredients for Chocolate Chip Scones, one of my family’s favorites. I can’t claim that these delicious wedges are very healthy, but I do serve fruit with them to give a little balance to this meal. Everyone in my family loves them, and the best part is that the recipe makes enough scones for two breakfasts. Which means no cooking the morning after I bake these. Of course, they’re good any time. I’ve also served these Chocolate Chip Scones to members of my mother-daughter book club when we read I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, which is set in England.
Here’s the recipe. Originally, it came from my friend Ellen.
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 1 Tblsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8 Tblsp. butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup milk or milk + yogurt combo
- 2/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with knives or dough blender. Add brown sugar, chocolate chips and mix. Add liquid, stir with a fork until soft dough forms. Knead lightly, then divide into two balls.
Roll out balls on a cookie sheet or baking stone. (I simply flatten mine into a circle.) Cut into 4 or 6 wedges. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool.
I modify this a bit when I prep it the night before. I add the brown sugar when I combine the dry ingredients. I measure the milk and set it in the fridge next to the block of butter I’m going to use. I put my baking stone on the cook top. Next to the baking stone goes the bowl with my dry ingredients (covered with a towel), the measured chocolate chips, and knives for cutting in the butter. In the morning it’s easy to cut in the butter, stir in the chocolate chips, add the milk, shape the scones and pop them in the oven. As an added benefit, the smell of baking scones helps wake everyone up.
Imagine a prison that encompasses a whole world of fantastical people and creatures inside its walls: cities, metal forests, deep caves, and sanctuaries in the sky. That is Incarceron. Built to be the perfect prison after a time of unrest in the greater world around it, Incarceron was also meant to be a utopian place where the first prisoners could rehabilitate, and those who were born there afterward could live in peace. Once it was created the doors were sealed completely; no one was able to either arrive or escape.
Yet, Finn the Starseer believes he was not born inside. He has visions, possibly vague memories of birthday cakes and lakes and starry skies. He’s also heard the legend of Sapphique, a wise man from long ago whom the stories say found a way out. Now Finn has found a crystal key with the emblem of a crowned eagle on it, an eagle that matches the tattoo on his wrist. He’s sure the key can lead him out of Incarceron and help him find the truth about his past. A group of friends embarks along with him on the quest, desperate to also find a way out of the prison that has become more of a Hell than a Utopia.
Claudia is the Warden of Incarceron’s daughter. Engaged to the crown prince, she has been raised to be part of the court since the time she was born. But she wants no part of the intrigue and plots common at court. As her wedding approaches, she becomes desperate to find a way out of her prescribed life. When she discovers her father’s crystal key, she finds herself able to communicate with Finn. Together they try to solve the mystery of Finn’s identity and get him out of prison, which may also help Claudia change her fate.
Incarceron is Catherine Fisher’s highly imaginative fantasy novel about life in a future time where the technology exists to create a prison of Incarceron’s magnitude. Richly imagined details bring the grimy, bleak reality of prison to life.
A quote at the beginning helps to define reality for many of the characters: “Only the man who has known freedom can define his prison.” Everyone is seeking freedom of some kind, but they don’t always know what getting it will mean, and how freedom will change their lives. I was totally drawn into the dark dangers of the prison world. I could feel the eye of Incarceron as it searched its depths, always watching those who lived within. Claudia also faces dangers, but hers are more camouflaged, and less easy to identify.
I found myself wanting to race through the book to find out what happens at the end, and yet longing to linger over the details and savor this other world so vividly realized. Incarceron provides that kind of delicious balance that will have you impatiently waiting for the sequel, Sapphique, set to be released at the end of 2010.
Just in time for National Poetry Month, beloved children’s poet Kenn Nesbitt has a new collection of poems called The Tighty Whitey Spider and More Wacky Animal Poems I Totally Made Up. Perfect to read out loud with your son or daughter, these poems will have you both giggling about the silly antics Nesbitt’s animals get up to.
I couldn’t resist such playful titles as “My Kitten Won’t Stop Talking,” “My Chicken’s on the Internet” and “Beavers in the Bathroom.” Nesbitt often ends each poem with a play on words that’s sure to appeal to younger readers. Ethan Long’s illustrations are fun to look at, too. The expressions on his animal faces match the action in each poem perfectly. I particularly liked his smug-looking flying pigs and grim-faced goldfish in a military-style tank.
Readers can also download companion audio tracks of Nesbitt reading quite a few of the poems himself. It’s quite a treat to listen to Nesbitt read while you follow along with the words and illustrations in the book. Instructions for downloading the tracks, which can be played in iTunes, Windows Media Player, Quick Time, and any other player that supports mp3 files, are included at the beginning of The Tighty Whitey Spider.
You can also check out Nesbitt’s great poetry website, http://www.poetry4kids.com. And Nesbitt’s collection called My Hippo Has the Hiccups is available for a free download or viewing online with audio tracks.
The Tighty Whitey Spider is exactly the kind of book my daughter would have loved when she was in elementary school. I can’t think of a better way to help younger children develop an early appreciation for poetry than reading Nesbitt’s poems.
