Tally Town Bookworms: May 2013

The Locale: Odessa & Ai Ying's

When You Reach Me

Rebecca Stead

The Book - Courtesy of the Creamer Literary Corner:

May's Mother-Daughter Book Club book was a short, but somewhat deep novel about friendship and support set in 1970s New York City. While her mother is prepping to be a contestant on The $20,000 Pyramid, Miranda begins receiving a series of mysterious notes. While she doesn't immediately make sense of them, they are clues that her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, may not be entirely far-fetched. She meets a series of friends, all the while trying to figure out why one friend has left her. the story comes together in the end, and Stead closes it up with a super happy ending.

That's all I'm giving away! One of Megan's book club selections was A Wrinkle in Time, and without reading it, this book would have been a little obscure. Overall, we really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it to middle schoolers looking for something a little deeper.

The Fun: Odessa leads the discussion, taking charge of all activities, asking who like the book and who got confused with the time travel. In keeping with the tone of the book, the girls are asked to write letters to their future selves, noting a "Do Not Open Until..." date.

Since the book takes place in the 70s and include much reference to a game show in that period...that most of the moms watched as girls, we watch an old episode of $20,000 Pyramid. Thanks, YouTube! And then...we get to play. Odessa really out did herself by creating a game using PowerPoint. Every mom/daughter team gets to take a shot. Super fun!

We also said goodbye to good friends, Smith & Elizabeth, who attended their last meeting, moving to Austin, Texas. So sad to see them go but so excited for the new adventure that awaits them.