Title: The Mother-Daughter Book ClubAuthor: Heather Vogel Frederick
Pages: 288
Published by: Aladdin, 2008 (paperback edition)
Genre: Realistic fiction
Recommended to: Middle grade girls
Cover: A! So cute!
Overall Score/Grade: A
Four unlikely friends named Cassidy (the athletic one), Emma (the shy, bookish one), Megan (the popular, fashion-crazy one), and Jess (the quiet, brainy one) are brought together when their mothers decide to form a mother-daughter book club. As they read Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women together, the girls become closer friends. Through the drama of middle school, from stolen journals to bullies, from friendship issues to crushes, the girls will experience it all. And when times are rough, they'll ultimately ask: What would Jo March do? Luckily, they've got each other...
I just loved Ms. Frederick's novel. I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance when I saw it at Barnes & Noble one day. Now it's probably one of my favorites. What made it so special was how realistic and different the main characters were: I felt like I could relate to all of them. I loved how Ms. Frederick came up with such a unique plot, something I've never read about before. There's not much to say about The Mother Daughter Book Club without being overly gushy about it, so I'll just end by saying that it's a five star read, perfect for summer on the beach or winter in your favorite arm chair with a cup of tea and a blanket!
2 comments:
Hello fellow bookworms!
First of all, many thanks for the lovely comments about my book. That is music to an author's ears, as i'm sure you can imagine. : )
You asked how I came to write this book, and which character I was most like, and whether there will be a sequel. First of all, the answer to the third question is YES! A sequel is on its way, and will arrive on library and bookstore shelves this next September. The title is "Chapter Two," and although I don't want to give too much away, I can assure you that our four heroines will find themselves in plenty of hot water when Becca Chadwick joins their book club! (Also, a sneak peak at what they'll be reading together: L. M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" series.)
The idea for the book was actually sparked by my editor, who thought it would be a fun idea to write a book about a mother-daughter book club, and thought of me to write it, because I grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote "Little Women." The story grew from there. I had a lot of fun dreaming up the characters, and slipping bits of my own childhood and life into their story -- the sleigh ride, the wrong dress at the dance (my mother thought my middle school dance was a formal, and got me a long dress and took me to get my hair all poufed up, so imagine my embarrassment when I got to the dance and everybody else was wearing mini-skirts), the six foot tall inflatable Godzilla that was put in the bathroom in the middle of the night... I lead an exciting life, as you can see ha ha!
Oh, and the chickens. Like Jess, I have chickens. We call them the "Dixie Chicks" -- Dixie, Trixie, and Pixie. : ) But the character I'm probably most like is Emma. Like her, I was (and still am) a bookworm. And like her, I was on the plump side when I was growing up and got teased about it.
I love to write -- I think it's the best job in the whole world. And I love it when readers enjoy the books that I write. That makes all the hard work (and even though it's incredibly fun, writing is hard work) worthwhile.
Happy New Year, bookworms!
Heather Frederick
Loving the cover of this one! Sounds cute.
Thanks.
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