Book Review: Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko

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Moose Flanagan left his home, his school and his baseball team behind when his dad was hired as a guard on Alcatraz Island in 1935, prompting a move for the whole family. Moose’s older sister, Natalie, is severely autistic, and his dad took the job to put them all closer to a program that claims to be able to “cure” her. Now Moose is working to make new friends, including the warden’s daughter who has a knack for getting into trouble, and find his place in his family while coming to terms with his sister’s illness.

Al Capone Does My Shirts takes us through the difficulty of being 12 and trying to fit into a new life while giving us a great glimpse of Alcatraz in the 1930s when infamous criminals like Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly were residents on “The Rock.” Moose’s authentic voice is delightful to follow as he weaves his story and comes to terms with his new situation.

Book Review: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck

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Here’s my review of A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck.

While this is a sequel to A Long Way from Chicago, it can easily be read and enjoyed on its own. Richard Peck writes the adventures of Mary Alice, spending a year away from her home in depression-era Chicago at her grandmother’s house in the country. While grandma is gruff and no-nonsense, she soon enlists Mary Alice in her schemes to influence neighbors—some who are friends, some who are enemies. This hilarious book is great to read aloud, and will leave both moms and daughters in stitches.

And here’s a review from reader Mia W. from Pragmatic Mom.com.

I have just discovered this Newbery Award-winning author and I have to say he’s an amazing story teller. A Year Down Yonder is the Newbery Award winning book, and it’s the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago. While this book is set in a small country bumpkin town during the Great Depression, it’s a hilarious story about fifteen-year-old Mary Alice who is sent to live with her Grandma for a year during the Great Depression while her parents get situated. Grandma Dowdel is a force to be reckoned with; her resourcefulness is matched by her heart of gold and Mary Alice’s year is filled with enough drama to fill a newspaper.

A Long Way from Chicago is from Mary Alice’s older brother’s perspective during their eight summers at  Grandma Dowel’s farm and the antics they got into. It also gives a gentle history on how the Great Depression impacted their community.

Great Book/Movie Combinations for Mother-Daughter Book Clubs

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Reading a book then watching the movie as a group is a great way to talk about key elements of a story. You can talk about the differences between the two, and whether the message of the book matches that of the movie. Moms and daughters can talk about whether they liked the book or movie better and say why. Comparing and contrasting two forms of the same story can also highlight the major themes. Here’s a list of books that can tie-in with a movie night.

The Book: Boy/Going Solo by Roald Dahl

Several movies have tie-ins: Mathilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Witches
All of these movies are good companions to these either Boy or Going Solo because discussion can center around themes from Roald Dahl’s life that are repeated in his books and the movies about them.

Ella Enchanted cover imageThe Book: Ella Enchanted

Anne Hathaway is quite fetching as Ella, but there were major changes made to the story when it was adapted to the movie. Do those changes enhance the story?

 

Hoot cover imageThe Book: Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Discussion on environmental activism and the role kids play in that.

 

 

 

 

The Book: In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

This story about sisters resisting a Latin American dictator should be interesting for older girls to talk about.

 

 

The Book: Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Watching the movie after reading the book should be especially interesting as Boyce wrote the screen play as well as the book. Talk about why you think he made the changes he did.

 

The Princess Diaries cover imageThe Book: The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Lots of differences to discuss between this book and the movie.

 

 

 

The Book: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Your biggest challenge may be deciding which version of the movie to watch.

 

 

The Secret Life of Bees cover imageThe Book: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

This movie stays pretty true to the book except in one key issue.

 

 

The Book: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Schools are starting to incorporate The Lightning Thief into studies of ancient Greece because of the Greek Mythology. Plus it’s fun to read.

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Play a Game to Get Everybody Talking at Your Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting

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Not all girls or even moms feel comfortable sharing their personal views in a group setting. If you find that the same members contribute to the discussion at each meeting, you may need to implement activities that encourage all members to express their opinions without shining the spotlight on them in embarrassing ways. A few suggestions:

Round-robin questions. Have the hostesses develop one or two questions in advance that everyone needs to answer such as, “talk about a memorable scene from the book and tell us why it made an impression on you,” or “which character was your favorite and why.” Start with the meeting hostess and go around in a circle answering the question.

Questions in a hat. Again, the hostesses can develop a list of questions or everyone in the group can bring one to share. Write them all on separate sheets of paper and put them in a bowl or hat. One by one daughters and their moms pull a question and answer it before passing the hat to the next person in the circle.
One thing you liked/One thing you didn’t like. Each person starts off discussing one thing she liked and one thing she didn’t like. The ice-breaker may be enough to encourage reticent participants to keep going.

Game Show. Use the rules of your favorite game show, like Jeopardy or Deal or No Deal to pit moms and daughters against each other with information from the book. Discussion can follow after you’ve brought out some important facts from the book.

Is there a discussion opener that worked particularly well for your group? Send it in to [email protected] for posting here.

Serve Picnic Fare at Your Next Book Club Meeting

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When the weather allows, everyone in your book club may appreciate the chance to get outside when you gather to have a meal and talk about your book. Especially is the characters in the book go on picnics, as they do in Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. And if the weather’s not great? You may just decide to move that picnic indoors.

Karen’s Picnic Fixings

Provide the following for mix and match according to taste:

  • Tomatoes
  • Lettuce
  • Cucumbers
  • Sweet pickles, dill pickles
  • Olive assortment
  • Guacamole
  • Fresh carrots, broccoli, cauliflower with veggie dip
  • Sauteed sweet red, green and yellow peppers
  • Sauteed mushrooms
  • Sliced cheese assortment
  • Mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup
  • Wheat bread, sourdough, rye, tortillas

You can grill sandwiches if you’re serving your picnic where there’s access to a grill. Serve with ice cream sundaes or banana splits for dessert.

Chicken Enchilada Recipe to Serve at Your Next Book Club Meeting

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Reading The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer put everyone in our mother-daughter book club in the mood for good Mexican food. Here’s a recipe for chicken enchiladas that you can serve when you’re considering a Mexican-themed dinner for your book club discussion.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Prep and bake time: 1 hour

  • 1/2  pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 4  cups torn fresh spinach or 1/2 of one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
  • 1  8-ounce carton light dairy sour cream
  • 1/4  cup plain fat-free yogurt
  • 2  tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/4  teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4  teaspoon salt
  • 1/2  cup fat-free milk
  • 1  4-ounce can diced green chili peppers, drained
  • 6   7-inch flour tortillas
  • 1/3  cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (1-1/2 ounces)
  • Chopped tomato or salsa (optional)
  • 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions (optional)

In a 3-quart saucepan place chicken in enough water to cover. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken from saucepan. When cool enough to handle, use a fork to shred chicken into bite-size pieces. (You should have about 1-1/2 cups.) Set aside.

If using fresh spinach, place spinach in a steamer basket over boiling water. Reduce heat. Steam, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. (Or, cook in a small amount of boiling water, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes.) Drain well.

In a large bowl combine chicken, spinach, and green onions; set aside. In a bowl combine sour cream, yogurt, flour, cumin, and salt. Stir in milk and chili peppers. Divide sauce in half. Set one portion aside.

For filling, combine one portion of the sauce and the chicken-spinach mixture. Divide the filling among the tortillas. Roll up tortillas. Place, seam side down, in an ungreased 2-quart rectangular baking dish.

Spoon reserved portion of sauce over tortillas. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven about 25 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with cheese; let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter. To serve, if desired, garnish with chopped tomato or salsa and additional green onion. Makes 6 enchiladas.

Chinese Dumpling Recipe Great for Book Clubs Reading About China

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When our mother-daughter book club got together to read Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang, Show-Ling—who is from Taiwan—made Chinese dumplings for our dinner. They were so great everyone asked for the recipe and Show-Ling was willing to share. You can use this recipe to serve at any book club meeting where you discuss a book set in China.

  • 1 pound ground pork (you can use ground beef, chicken, or turkey)
  • 1/3-1/2 small bag of prewashed baby spinach (you can substitute with other vegetables of your liking)
  • 3-4 heads of green onions (scallions)
  • one small piece of ginger root
  • cilantro (for sauce)
  • garlic (for sauce)
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon
  • vegetable oil, 2-3 tablespoons
  • 1-2 packages of dumpling wraps (make sure that you DON’T get the thick style kind)

To make:
Chop ginger, green onion, and spinach in a food processor.

Combine with ground meat in a big bowl. Add vegetable oil, salt, pepper, sesame oil, mix well with a spatula. Place some stuffing in the middle of the wrap (make sure to thaw out the wraps ahead of time, microwave is NOT recommended), make sure you don’t over-stuff it. Apply water to the edge of the wrap and seal the edge by folding one side over the other. It’s important to make sure that the seal is tight. Have a pot of boiling water ready.

Put the dumplings in one by one (you might need to do it in batches). Gently stir once to make sure that the dumplings are not stuck to the bottom of the pot. If you do it too hard you’ll break the dumplings. Add one cup of cold water after the dumplings have boiled and repeat three times. After you take the dumplings out, rinse them quickly with cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other. You can probably also coat them with some olive oil to prevent sticking.

Sauce: Chop a few heads of garlic and some cilantro, mix with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a bit of water. If you want, you can also add vinegar, chili sauce.

This amount is enough to serve 2 adults and 3 kids age 10.

Peanut Butter Soup Recipe Great to Serve at Book Club Meetings

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When my daughter and I read Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech, we all knew what would be on the menu for dinner that night. We didn’t know what kind of soup would be served, but we were all craving soup. Here’s an easy recipe that Granny Torrelli would be proud of.

Cindy’s Peanut Butter Soup

  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 1 13-3/4-ounce can chicken broth
  • 4 cups water
  • 2 large yams, peeled and cubed
  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups cooked chicken pieces
  • 1/2 cup crushed peanuts

In a large soup pot, sauté the onions and garlic in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, water and yams. Cook over medium-low heat for 25 minutes or until the yams are soft. Stir in the peanut butter, cayenne pepper and salt. Let cool for 30 minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender or food processor, then pour it back into the saucepan and warm. Sprinkle the soup with the cooked chicken and crushed peanuts. Serves 6 to 8 and is easy to double.

Serve with crunchy French bread and salad.

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