The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

The Locale: Smith and Elizabeth’s Home

The Book: Take three little orphaned children, one nasty distant relative, a huge inherence fortune and the mind of a great author and what do you get? Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events first book called The Bad Beginning.
Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are very unlucky children, and they are not typical kids. Violet, the oldest, loves to invent new things and always has her favorite ribbon tied up in her hair. Klaus, loves to read and has a very good memory, too. The youngest out of all, Sunny, loves to chew on things with her very two sharp teeth.

OMG! Ms. Hetrick is Count Olaf in Disguise!

The siblings are walking down the Briny Beach when they are approached by Mr. Poe, the man in charge of their parent’s fortune, who has very unfortunate news. The children’s parents have died in a fire, and they must go live with Count Olaf, an uncle the Baudelaires have never heard of. With Count Olaf as their new guardian, the children go through some misfortunate events, a series of unfortunate events that continue for thirteen books. Pick up The Bad Beginning if you dare.

It's Aunt Josephine!  Use good grammar!

The Fun: Despite the warning of dreadful food and drink, moms and daughters did NOT choose to attend a happier event Saturday meeting, appearing instead in costume, dressed as a character from book series.

Sweet Baby Sunny.  Watch your fingers!

• Smith as a white powdered faced lady, friend of Olaf 
• Elizabeth and TJ as Justice Strauss 
• Olivia as Aunt Josephine 
• Perri as Violet 
• Megan & Emma as a happier Violet, before the loss of her parents 
• Cassie as Violet in a scene from The Bad Beginning, bloody and injured from trying to save Sunny 
• Susan (Cassie’s Mom) as the evil Count Olaf 
• And Kate as Sunny, gnawing on a wooden spoon. 

The miserable meeting began with a competition between girls, a contest to see who read the most of the books in the series over the summer. There was a terrible tie between Kate and Perri, who had each read eight books and received a book store gift certificate as their reward.

Next the girls put their brains together to solve a group computer game of Hangman, guessing characters from the book.

Deep and dreadful discussions occurred as the girls answered questions posed by Elizabeth and the other Moms. Noting that our girls have been reading and meeting for a whole year, Brenda asked the girls to name what has been their favorite thing about being in book club and which book has been their favorite. While the favorite books varied, and many girls had a tough time picking one, some of the favorite things about being in book club were:

• Spending time with mom 
• Discussing the book with friends 
• Reading the books 
• Seeing friends once a month 
• Making new friends 
• Being with best friends 

The Food:

• Roast Beef Sandwiches - Count Olaf was expecting for Roast Beef for dinner but the Baudelaires whipped up and served pasta with Puttanesca Sauce instead. 
• Fruit with Brie Cheese 
• Potato Salad 
• Oatmeal Cookies - Instead of the dreadful oatmeal the Baudelaires had to eat daily at Count Olaf’s 
• Aqueous Martinis - Water with olives, the drinks served to the Baudelaires by Esme and Jerome Squalor in the sixth book, The Ersatz Elevator

The Vote: Perri's presented her three books.

• The BFG by Roald Dahl. 
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling 
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney 

After a count with heads down, The BFG and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Rodrick Rules ties. At the suggestion of Brenda, the mom’s vote to break the tie, and The BFG wins. We will meet at Perri’s on October 30th, the day before Halloween.

Up Next: We meet next at Olivia and Susan’s home, on September 25th, to discuss The Magician’s Nephew, the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia Series, although not the first book written in the series, by C.S. Lewis.

The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker

  

The Locale: Kate & Brenda’s Home 

The Book: This debut novel follows the adventures of 14-year-old Princess Emeralda and the talking frog she meets one day in a swamp. The frog begs her to give him a kiss so that he will turn back into Prince Eadric, his identity before an evil witch turned him into an amphibian. When the young royal obliges, she, too, is transformed into a frog, and the two leap off in search of the spell-casting witch to ask her to reverse her handiwork. Describing the duo's futile quest in laborious detail, the author pads her tale with some curiously drab characters, including another witch (who hopes to use Emeralda and Eadric in a spell she's concocting) and a bat and snake who reside in her cottage. The tale occasionally offers peppy dialogue and some comical scenes-particularly as the newly transformed Emeralda adjusts to catching flies with her tongue.

The Fun: What a fun day, and what a fun way to end our meetings for the school year! Brenda & Kate outdid themselves, starting with the creative titles for the delicious refreshments (see below). After the initial “hello’s” and munching, for the first activity, the girls broke up into three groups and were given the task of creating their own magical spell.

• Group One:  Kate, Perri, & Megan 
• Group Two:  Inkary & Emma 
• Group Three:  Olivia & Cassie 

The spell rules - the spells had to have a minimum of four lines and rhyme. After creating their spells, the girls had to read their spells for the entire group which had to guess what the spells did. The spells were FAB-A-MUNDO! Very creative and thoughtful.

Group 1
A Spell to Stop Poachers
Poachers Big; Poachers Small
Poachers Short; Poachers Tall
Come Together All of Y’all
Stop Drinking Root Beer
and Definitely Stop Killing Deer

Group 2 

A Spell to Make a Shelter 

With this Spell I Say in Delight 

Make a Shelter to Stay in Tonight 

Don’t Make it too Cold 

Don’t Make it too Hot 

But Make Sure I Like it a lot!

Group 3

 A Hair Detangler Spell
Shampoo, Condition, and Take it Out!My Knot is Very Big & Stout
Using Dragon’s Breath & Oil of Seal
Make this Knot so small
That I cannot Feel!

The Fun Continued: After sharing their spells, the girls played a bean bag tossing game, bouncing frog bean bags off a mini frog trampoline onto pads numbered 1-6. Staying in their teams, if their frog bean bags landed on a numbered lily pad, the teams answered questions about the book and earn points. After five rounds--the girl’s REALLY enjoyed this competition--team 1 had earned about 20 points and won the competition.

The girls then had a mini-discussion about the book. Most of the girls loved it; the mom’s--not so much. But it was decided for most young ladies, this would be the perfect beach read.

The festivities ended with Toilet Paper Brides. The girls broke up into two groups, dressed their model in a haute couture designed from toilet paper, which of course, was modeled for the moms. I’m sure Brenda & Kate had fun cleaning up that mess!

The Food: Kate and Brenda got VERY creative with their food and dish titles. We ate Magic Wand Sandwiches (egg, pimento, and PBJ on star shaped bread), Dragon’s Breath Punch, Swampy Dirt Dessert, and Princess Emeralda Cake. Yum, Yum!

The Vote: Starting at the beginning of our rotation, and starting off our second year together, Olivia presented the following books:

• The Magician’s Nephew, the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia Series, by C.S. Lewis 
• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen 
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart 

To Vote, the girls closed their eyes and/or put their heads down. As I called out the girl’s name, each girl raised her hand, indicating their choice by holding up one, two, or three fingers. After the first round, there was a tie between The Magician’s Nephew and The Mysterious Benedict Society. Megan, who cast the only vote for Hoot got to break the tie by changing her vote to the The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis. The meeting at Olivia and Susan’s is planned for September 25th.

Up Next: The Bad Beginning--The first book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket at Smith & Elizabeth’s house on August 28th. And don’t forget the challenge to read as many of the entire series, starting with number one, as possible.

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.