I think we had a great meeting last week.   We met to discuss the book Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls Bk. 2:  The New Girl.  It started out with a difficult wordsearch.  I'm impressed that the girls finished it so quickly.  We had lemonde, mini cupcakes and cookies as a treat, but don't worry, as per Allie's rules, there was nothing red. 

We started the discussion by talking about our favorite characters from and parts of the book.  Most everyone liked Allie the best, but Sophie was also on the list.  One of the girls liked the part when Rosemary was stuffing the boys heads in the chairs.  My personal favorite part of the book was when Allie got the courage up to ask Rosemary to come to her house for lunch.  I liked that Allie was trying to be friends with Rosemary instead of being mean back to her.

We talked about whther or not it would have been cheating for Allie to purposely spell a word wrong during the spelling bee.  Most of the girls said it would be, but one of them brought up an interesting point.  She said that by spelling a word wrong it would give someone else the opportunity to win.  It would make the other person happy.  I guess it all depends on why Allie wanted to drop out of the spelling bee.  In the book it says that she didn't like the pressure from her classmates and was scared what would happen if she was one of the last ones then got one wrong.  I think she was scared of Rosemary, mostly.  She would have been giving up the spelling bee because she was scared, not because she wanted to help someone else. 

Another thing we talked about was how Allie handled the bullie.  We talked about the different people who gave her advice and what they said.  Her dad taught her how to fight, but her grandma told her to not fight back and to tell her mother. Uncle Jay told her to "psych" Rosemary out.  It was the janitor who gave her the best advice.  He said Rosemary was feeling left out and that all she wanted was to be included.  That's when Allie invited her over for lunch.  I loved that the girls in the group caught on to the fact that the best way to handle someone like Rosemary is just to be nice to them. 

After the discussion had wound down I presented the book options for next month.  I wanted to pick books that went along with the summer reading theme of "One World, Many Stories."  I had a hard time decided what books to share, so I brought three instead of the usual two.  Here are the books I presented.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park:  In 12th-century Korea, the village of Ch'ulp'o is famous for its pottery. The orphan Tree-ear spends his days foraging for food. Because of his wanderings, Tree-ear is familiar with all of the potters in the village, but he is especially drawn to Min. When he drops a piece Min has made, Tree-ear begins to work for him to pay off his debt, but stays on after the debt is paid. Sent to the royal court to show the king's emissary some new pottery, Tree-ear makes a long journey filled with disaster and learns what it means to have true courage.

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne:  In this all-time favorite, Phileas Fogg and his manservant set out to win a wager by travelling around the world in 80 days. They embark on a fantastic, action-packed journey into a world filled with danger and beauty, from India to the American frontier.

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements:  It isn’t that Abby Carson can’t do her schoolwork. She just doesn’t like doing it. And consequently, Abby will have to repeat sixth grade—unless she meets some specific conditions, including taking on an extra credit project: find a pen pal in a distant country. But when Abby’s first letter arrives at a small school in Afghanistan, complications arise.


And the winner is....Extra Credit by Andrew Clements.

Our next meeting will be July 22, 2011 at 3:00 pm in Community Room A.

Stay tuned next week for more about our new book.

Two for One

As you may or may not know, I didn't go to work last week.  Don't worry, I did get permission before driving to Colorado to visit one of my sisters and her family.  It just meant that I didn't get the opportunity to update my blog.  As a result, you get the equivalent of two posts today.  You'll see a brief bio about Jane Austen, that's the Super Woman I picked for this month's spotlight, and a set of discussion questions to get you thinking about the book before the meeting.  So, here it goes.

Jane Austen:

On December 16, 1775, George and Cassandra Austen welcomed a new baby girl into their family. She was the seventh of what would be eight children and the second daughter. Her parents named her Jane.

Jane Austen spent a happy childhood at the rectory at Steventon. At the age of ten, she was sent to boarding school for about two years, after which, she continued her education at home. She wrote her first novel, Love and Friendship, when she was about 14. She had a close family and she enjoyed reading her writing to her family, but was shy about letting others read it.

She loved dancing and taking walks in the country. When she was 25, her family moved to Bath, but she didn’t like it. She preferred country life and missed her friends. When her father died in 1805, she was able to get a short novel called Lady Susan published. Jane, her mother and her sister, moved around quite a bit before settling at Chawton, her brother Edward’s estate. It was while living here, that she was finally able to publish some of her novels. These included Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma.

It was 1817 when, after being sick for over a year, Jane Austen died. She was buried in Winchester Cathedral. After her death, that her brother Henry arranged for the publication of Persuasion and Northanger Abby.

Jane Austen is one of the most beloved British authors of all time. Since their first publication, her books have never been out of print and numerous prequels, sequels and movie adaptations have been based on her works.

She is a Super Woman!


And the discussion questions for Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls Book 2 The New Girl:

Did you like the book? Why or why not?

Who was your favorite character?

What was your favorite part?

What did you think of Allie’s rules? Are there any you don’t agree with?

Have you ever had to be the new girl in school? How did you feel? What did you do to try to make friends?

Allie is embarrassed to take her brother to school when he is dressed as a pirate. Have your friends or
relatives ever embarrassed you? How?

Allie's mom and grandmother have a hard time getting along with one another.  Do you ever fight with anyone in your family?
Allie was getting advice from everyone about how to handle the bully. Do you think she handled the situation well? Whose advice would you have followed?

The janitor at the school said Rosemary just feels left out. Have you ever felt left out of something? Have you ever tried to include someone who is being left out?



Remember, these questions are just to get the discussion going.  If you have something else you'd like to talk about, feel free to bring it up in the meeting.

See you Friday at 3:00 pm.

Gloria

Allie Finkle's Rules For Girls Book 2: The New Girl

Here is a little information about our first book club book!

Allie is very excited for her first day of school at Pine Heights Elementary. She is going to be in the same class as her new friends Erica, Caroline, and Sophie, and she loves her new teacher, pretty and stylish Mrs. Hunter. Plus, she’s getting a new kitten – the first pick of showcat Lady Serena Archibald’s litter!

There is only one problem in Allie’s perfect new life: one of the girls in Allie’s new class, Rosemary, doesn’t like her. In fact, Rosemary says she’s going to beat Allie up after school!

Everyone has an opinion on how Allie should handle the situation: Erica thinks she should tell Mrs. Hunter. Caroline thinks Allie should handle it with nonviolent conflict resolution. Dad teaches Allie how to fight, while Uncle Jay says you have to psych out your opponent. How can Allie tell who’s right?





A Bit About The Author
                                                                                                            

Meg Cabot is the author of more than 50 books for both adults and teens. Her books have sold over 15 million copies worldwide, many of which have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. The most notable of these is The Princess Diaries series, which is currently being published in over 38 countries and was made into two hit movies by Disney. In addition, Meg wrote the All American Girl, Mediator, and 1-800-Where-R-You series (on which the television series, Missing, was based). She is now writing a new middle grade series called Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls, as well as an edgy new young adult series, Airhead.

Meg was born on February 1, 1967, during the Chinese astrological year of the Fire Horse, a notoriously unlucky sign. Fortunately she grew up in Bloomington, Indiana, where few people were aware of the stigma of being a fire horse — at least until Meg became a teenager, when she flunked freshman Algebra twice, then decided to cut her own bangs. After six years as an undergrad at Indiana University, Meg moved to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator, at which she failed miserably, forcing her to turn to her favorite hobby — writing novels — for emotional succor. She worked various jobs to pay the rent, including a decade-long stint as the assistant manager of a 700-bed freshmen dormitory at NYU, a position she still occasionally misses.

Meg currently divides her time between Key West, Indiana, and New York City with a primary cat (one-eyed Henrietta), various backup cats, and her husband, who doesn't know he married a fire horse. Please don't tell him.

     The information on this page was taken from alliefinkle.scholastic.com