Tonight, as I mentioned on Friday, was our monthly book club meeting.   This month we read Cat Patrick’s debut novel Forgotten, which centers around a 16 year old girl who suffers from short term memory loss.   The book got very mixed reviews in our group, with 4 in favor and 3 against.   I liked it, generally speaking, though I thought it had some holes and problems in the narrative that would have bothered me had I decided to give more attention to them.   The girls didn’t much enjoy the love story in the book and there was some giggling over the passage where it is intimated that the couple has sex at some point in the future.   Which seems an appropriate response,  since our club members are 11 and 12 years old.  They were much more enamored of the ‘mystery’ part of the story involving a remembered funeral and a missing – thought to be dead – brother.   45 minutes was all it took to cover everything anyone thought was important.   We spent almost 90 on Life As We Knew It last month…

I can honestly say that I am enjoying this book club far, far more than I expected I would.   The five girls participating are fantastic and not afraid to disagree or point out the flaws in someone else’s argument, but it’s all done in the spirit of fun.    Tonight it was just me and one other parent – usually there are three of us, and the girls are just as interested to hear our point of view and sometimes argue it with us as they are with each other.  It’s a great atmosphere.

This week I presented the girls with specially made Shirtbags, at Maya’s request.  They match and the girls all liked them and then, because this is that kind of group, they found a unique way to carry them….

From left: Maya, Lexi, Roni, Maya Spo and Greta

Next month we tackle Frankenstein!  I read it for the first time in college, but I think our group can handle it.