Book Club #1

Some of my students will be reading four books as part of a book club for second semester, and they just finished their first cycle. One group read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, while another read Miracle on 49th Street by Mike Lupica. Both were hits, and it is always so fun to see excitement build as students discussed their books.

I had not read The Lightning Thief, so I read it along with my students. I, like my students, was hooked from the beginning with the witty warning that if the situations discussed seemed too much like my own life, I should shut the book and stop reading. At each of the four meetings the students always laughed about one section or another. I had many comments from both boys and girls that they loved that it was not too "girly". Although there was one student who had excellent predictions throughout the whole book, except one... Early on she said, "I wonder if Percy has a crush on anyone?" As you can imagine, in her final reflection on the book she thought it was great, but she would have loved it even more if there was a bit of romance. I could not help laughing out loud as I read her reflection. (She reminds me so much of myself as a reader, and I expect she will be a huge chick lit fan when she grows up.) Despite the lack of romance, she is already reading book #2 on her own. Today when I went out to get my students from their lunch break, she was reading it while walking to get in line. She is definitely hooked. The rest can't wait until I get book #2 with my next Scholastic order. I just got #3, but I suggested the others wait to read #2 first.

The other half of the ten students participating in book clubs were swept up into Molly's world in The Miracle on 49th Street. I read this book as a read aloud last year to students in my 6th grade reading intervention class. Both years the students got wrapped up in the book and were instantly reminded of the movie The Game Plan. My current students found a lot to love about Lupica's book, from Molly's sarcasm, to loving Sam, to the allusions to soccer and David Beckham (yes, the last one was a very minor part of the book, but it was enough to get one of my big soccer fans excited).

It was so fulfilling to see that all of the students genuinely enjoyed their books. For the next round they are split into three groups reading The Mother-Daughter Book Club, Heat, and Touching Spirit Bear.