Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

The Locale: Inkary & Mala’s Home

The Book: Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she’s written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?

The Fun: The girls visited, played on computers, and watched the movie, Harriet the Spy, produced by Nickelodeon in 1990s, starring Rosie O’Donnell as Ole Golly. While the girls watched the movie, moms caught up and discussed the book, including how little Harriet’s parents participated in her life.

The Food: Various ethnic dishes from Sri Lanka, ice cream, cheese puffs, and pound cake

The Vote: Smith offered up great choices - The Bad Beginning--The first book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket--The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, and lastly, The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. The girls put their heads down, so that one didn’t influence others, and voted. The top two choices were The Bad Beginning and The Egypt Game. The Bad Beginning won. It was decided that we would take the summer off and meet in their home on August 28th.

The Challenge: After the vote was decided, knowing that the books were quick reads and that several of the girls had read one or several of the series, Smith and Elizabeth decided to offer the girls a challenge. Starting with Book 1, The Bad Beginning, read or reread the entire series, Books 1 - 13. The girl or girls who gets the farthest wins.

Up Next: The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. Meeting on June 5th at Kate and Brenda’s house.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi

The Locale: Megan & Dawn’s Home

The Book: A Newbery Honor book. On a long, grueling journey from England to Rhode Island in 1802, a 12 year old changes from a prim and proper girl to a swashbuckling mate of a mutinous crew and is accused of murder by the captain. Awash with shipboard activity, intense feelings, and a keen sense of time and place, the story is a throwback to good old-fashioned adventure yarns on the high seas.

The Fun: Dawn and Megan hosted their meeting outside on their front porch, celebrating a BEAUTIFUL spring day! The girls had fun playing in the front yard.

The Food: Cool dishes that kept with the theme of the book.

• Zachariah's Senegalese Peanut Stew 
• Pirate Fingers (a.k.a. pigs in a blanket) 
• Clam chowder with oyster crackers 
• Crab rolls (crab salad on Hawaiian Rolls) 
• Watermelon 
• Captain Jaggery's Tea Time desserts 
• Double Chocolate Cake 
• Key Lime Pie 

The Vote: We mixed things up a bit by casting votes Survivor style. Girls secretly wrote they votes down on paper. The votes were tallied, and the book with the most votes, won. Up for votes, offered by Kate, were Escaping the Giant Wave by Peg Kehret, Emmy and the Incrediable Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonell, and The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. The Frog Princess won.

Up Next: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh on May 8th at Inkary & Mala’s home.

Ida B by Katherine Hannigan

The Locale: Odessa & AiYing’s home

The Book: As an only child, Ida B has had plenty of time to indulge her creative bent. She makes miniature rafts, to which she attaches notes with questions such as, "What is life like in Canada?" Acres of apple trees are her friends, and she enjoys long conversations with Beulah, Pastel, Henry VIII, and other trees. She lives life to the fullest, firmly believing there is never enough time for fun. When her mother develops cancer, her parents sell part of the orchard and send Ida B to public school rather than homeschooling her. The changes leave her feeling fiercely angry and betrayed. With the help of a wise and caring fourth-grade teacher and the enduring love of Mama and Daddy, the girl slowly begins to heal. Ida B is a true character in every sense of the word. Through a masterful use of voice, Hannigan's first-person narration captures an unforgettable heroine with intelligence, spirit, and a unique imagination. The rural but otherwise undefined setting works well in taking a backseat to the characterization. With just the right amount of tension in the plot, a spot-on grasp of human emotions, and Ida B's delightful turns of phrase.

The Fun: Since the author used a lot of similes in her book, the girls broke into groups and did a worksheet. They went out to the porch and planted apple trees, and then had a great discussion of the book, including how much they liked the book, Ida B’s inappropriate behavior at times, how funny she could be, what it would be like to be home schooled--and which girls in the group would like to be home schooled.

The Food: Cream puffs, Chocolate Cake, Strawberries, Watermelon, and more

The Vote: In order to avoid influencing others with their votes, the girls decided to cast their votes with their heads down. Up for vote, presented by Inkary, was Lily B. on the Brink of Cool by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, No Dogs Allowed by Bill Wallace, and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. Harriet the Spy won. Meeting to be held on May 8th at Inkary & Mala’s house.

Up Next: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi at Megan & Dawn’s house on March 20th.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater

The Locale: Cassie & Susan’s Home

The Book: More than 60 years have not dated this wonderfully absurd tale--it still makes kids (and parents) laugh out loud. Poor Mr. Popper isn't exactly unhappy; he just wishes he had seen something of the world before meeting Mrs. Popper and settling down. Most of all, he wishes he had seen the Poles, and spends his spare time between house-painting jobs reading all about polar explorations. Admiral Drake, in response to Mr. Popper's fan letter, sends him a penguin; life at 432 Proudfoot Avenue is never the same again. From one penguin living in the icebox, the Popper family grows to include 12 penguins, all of whom must be fed. Thus is born "Popper's Performing Penguins, First Time on Any Stage, Direct from the South Pole

The Fun: The girls made penguin charm pins and bracelets. Learning the meaning of new vocabulary, words pulled from the book and looked. Then Cassie shared a related picture book, 365 Penguins, by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet, which all the girls took turns reading.

The Food: Shrimp and Gold Fish--just like what the penguins loved to eat, but of course our shrimp was in a cocktail and the gold fish were crackers. Desert was an ice cream cake shaped like an a ice berg. Yummy!

The Vote: Megan’s three books were The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas, The Monster Ring by Bruce Covelle, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Charlotte Doyle won. Runner up was The Monster Ring.

Up Next: Ida B by Katherine Hannigan, hosted at Odessa & AiYing’s house on February 6th.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

The Locale: Emma & Diana’s Home

The Book: Not exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery. 
The Fun: Meeting at Emma’s was great fun! The girls paired off for interviews--One of the girls pretended to be the author while the other was the interviewer. At the end, the girls performed their interviews for their group. After that the girls discussed their favorite pictures in the book, and there were LOTS! Olivia’s mom brought a movie screen and projector and we got to view several You-Tube videos that Emma’s mom found, all which related to our book.

The Videos: 

• An Interview with the Author
• A Today Show Interview with the Author from Al Roker's Book Club for Kids
• Demonstration of the Franklin Institute Automaton
• The movie A Trip to the Moon by Georges Melies  
• A Train Arrives at the Station - very short - not by Melies but mentioned in the book as causing a riot when shown, as folks had never seen anything like it and thought the train was really headed toward them.

The Food: Yummy eats included cream puffs, brie cheese, chicken salad, and strawberries.

The Vote: Presented by Odessa - Blister by Susan Shreve, Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery, Ida B . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan. Ida B wins!

Up Next: Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater at Cassie’s house on November 7th.