Last week, I held information meetings for three Book Clubs, the Boys’ Book Club, for boys in Grade 4, 5 and 6, the Girls’ Book Club, for girls in Grades 4, 5 and 6, and the Intermediate Book Club, for students in Grades 7 and 8.
The boys met at lunch on Monday. There was little advance notice and only 5 boys showed up, though I did speak later to a couple of boys who hadn’t been able to get to the meeting. I am hoping that more boys will show up, since we had between 20 and 25 members last year. We are going to start the year with Cornelia Funke’s The Thief Lord, a mysterious tale about two brothers, Prospero and Bo, on the run from a weathly and unpleasant aunt who wants to adopt the younger child and put his older brother in a boarding school.
On Tuesday, I held the first meeting of the Girls’ Book Club and 46 girls came, all eager to begin reading at once! Fortunately, given the large numbers, a couple of Grade 7 and 8 girls came out to help. On the recommendation of one of my most trusty library assistants, the Girls’ Book Club is going to read Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke, in anticipation of the movie’s release this January. I have read this book twice, and loved it. It is the story of a young girl, Meggie, and her bookbinder father, Mo, who share a remarkable and dangerous gift, one that makes them the focus of an evil villain’s nefarious plans.
The Intermediate Book Club came on Thursday, fourteen girls and boys who love reading and who, among them, have a wide and deep knowledge of Canadian and international fiction for adolescents. In turn, sort of, students talked about books they have read recently, presented titles for the Book Club’s consideration, and argued, argued, argued. I think perhaps a talking stick might lend some order to the proceedings, but I don’t want to stifle their discussions or their ideas! I have no idea what we are going to read, but went out and bought a copy of The Amulet of Samarkand after hearing one member talk about it! I have set up a wiki so that these students will have an online forum to share their thoughts about the books they are reading. I look forward to reading their reflections.
I look forward to another interesting year of reading and talking with readers!
FernFolio Editor
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Book Clubs – A New Year Begins!
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