Response from Hillary!

Remember our post way back in November 2016?

Well... this just came in the mail!

Moms Meeting

In preparation for the December Book Throwdown (our annual choosing of books for the next year), the moms met to whittle the books down to 18 books.

We each brought with us a huge stack of books, talked about the themes from Her Next Chapter, and then stacked the books in different categories.  We came up with a great stack of books that cover different cultures, different issues middle schoolers face, different time periods, and more.

We also really want to jump into some of the stuff our daughters will start wading into in middle school--
so we decided we would ALSO read one chapter of Mayim Bialik's Girling Up from
January-June--- this way we'll finish it right before they enter middle school.  Our hope is that in exploring these topics together in the safety of our book club, the girls will know they have 3 adults they can trust and 2 other peers who are getting the same information they can talk with about stuff that comes up for them-- or just ask questions!



So!  We have 18 books... 7 of them will be voted out in December... which 11 will make our 2018 books?  Check back in December to find out!

2018 Throwdown books (only 11 will make it!):

Midwife’s Apprentice

Lions of Little Park

Counting on Grace

Walk Two Moons

Kira Kira

Power of Lucky

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

The War that Saved My Life

My Mixed Up Berry Blue Summer

Breadcrumbs by Ursu

Three Times Lucky

Brown Girl Dreaming

Sylvia & Aki

Operation Redwood

Finding Mighty

Story Thieves

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret

Posted (by John Anderson)

The Great Wall of Lucy Wu

Pages read: 312
Rating: 9 out of 10

Today I finished a book called "The Great Wall of Lucy Wu". It was an awesome book. the main reason why I give it a 9 out of 10 star rating is because some things (and by "things" I mean food) in the book is/are gross. Anyway, the book is about a Chinese American girl named Lucy Wu who has a sister (Regina) and a brother (Kenny), and when her sister finally moves out of her room forever because of college, Lucy is sooo exited that she is finally going to get her room to herself forever. But, when a Chinese relative named Yi Po comes to see her sister's family, Lucy is NOT happy. Not only does her room disappear, but her entire year collapses. Lucy encounters many things, including decisions between basketball and Chinese school, a little piece of Regina, and especially Sloane Conners. Lucy's year is ruined. Or is it? Read this totally AWESOME book to find out what happens to Lucy's year, and Lucy.🏀

Inkheart

Our most recent book that we read was called "Inkheart." It was about a book about a father and a daughter (Meggie and Mo) who travel around binding books.  But one night when a mysterious stranger comes to visit, Meggie isn't so sure that they're safe. When she consults Mo about the visit, he won't answer. Mo has the ability to read things in and out of books. The problem is he can't read them in/out again. Does Meggie have the ability too? Will she be able to find her long lost mother? Read Inkheart and you'll find out. It's a nice and thick book so if you have a vacation bring that with you. I hope you enjoy Inkheart as much as I did.

Fun with Grandma!

The great depression sends Mary Alice to Southern Illinois, a place very different from her home in Chicago. It takes Mary Alice forever to get used to her grandma’s town and even the ways of grandma herself! Grandma always gets her way. From bending rules, to breaking laws, Grandma gets what she likes, usually to the benefit of her fellow townspeople. A Year Down Yonder is a humorous story about an ordinary girl in an unfamiliar town, getting to know her amazing grandma. 

During book club, we discussed what it would be like to be an outsider, and if there was ever a time when we had felt like one. I’m sure Mary Alice would have been happy to know that she is not the only one who has felt like an outsider! All in all, A Year Down Yonder is a pretty good book. It is an easy read that will bring you laughter.

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Daughters Interview the Dads!

We decided to take all we've learned in book club and use it to interview our dads!

We went out to lunch and asked them a few questions including:

1.  Were you just as excited to find out you were having a daughter as finding out you were having a son?

2.  (Based on The Penderwicks) Do you think you could suddenly raise 4 daughters alone?

3.  Based on Hairspray, Tracy is kicked off of being in the daily show just because of how she looks.  What do you think of this?

4.  (Based on Hannah Divided) Would you send your daughter away to school alone?

We learned that men can also care about females and think that they can do whatever they put their mind to, but we did already know that our dads were on our side.

One thing that surprised me is that both dads said they hoped for a daughter, actually.

Keeper

In our Mother Daughter Book Club we just read a book called Keeper. It is about a girl named Keeper who is very questioning about her past, because she wasn't born a human, she was born a mermaid. Her mother, Meggie Marie, wasn't very loving to Keeper, and almost hurt her and made her very scared. But, Signe, who really truly took care of Keeper and loved her, told Meggie Marie she had to leave Keeper...Forever. So from then on, Signe raised Keeper, from 3-10. One day when Keeper was 10, she thought she had ruined everything, especially for Signe. That night, she made a plan to go out to sea on a little boat and tell Meggie Marie everything, and she brings a few wishing charms with her. Out of 100, I thought the book was 50/100, because it was mostly Keeper sitting in the boat. All the people in our book club also thought that it was pretty much a 50/100. The actual story was good, but the book...not so much. We all thought that the characters were pretty interesting. Overall, the book was okay. Keep reading and you'll see what we read next!