The Mother-Daughter Book Club
Four sixth-graders sign up for a book club, in which they'll read Little Women with their moms. In alternating chapters, each of the four girls describes a meeting. There is aspiring poet Emma, whose librarian mother started the group; Jess, Emma's best friend, who lives on an organic farm; hockey-playing Cassidy, daughter of a former supermodel; and popular Megan. Despite their initial resistance to the club, the girls experience joys and sorrows and develop a closer bond, just like the characters that they grow to love. Plenty of detail and musing about Little Women will entice readers to pick up the book if they have not yet read it, but familiarity with Alcott's classic isn't required to enjoy this story. The girls' relationships and feelings are complex; unfortunately, their typecast mothers are much less so, and a fairy-tale ending caps the story. Still, readers will be easily pulled along to find out how the four girls resolve their differences. A book discussion guide is included. Booth, Heather--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.