If your mother-daughter book club doesn’t meet in the summer, this may be a good time for you to pick up a classic, either to read on your own or for a book club meeting scheduled for the fall. For most clubs, this is the one time of year you can devote to reading longer novels, and there may even be more time for moms and daughters to read a book together. This can be an advantage since many classics were written long ago and may not be as easy for young readers to grasp. Most titles will be readily available on the shelves of your library, where you’ll find yourself anyway if you’ve signed up for a summer reading program.

Here are some thoughts for classics in different age groups:

Younger readers
Caddie Woodlawn–Carol Ryrie Brink
Charlotte’s Web–E. B. White
Little House on the Prairie–Laura Ingalls Wilder
Matilda–Roald Dahl
Mrs. Piggle Wiggle–Betty MacDonald
The Boxcar Children–Edith Nesbitt
The Indian in the Cupboard–Lynne Reid Banks
The Secret Garden–Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Trumpet of the Swan–E. B. White
The Wizard of Oz–L. Frank Baum

Middle Readers
A Wrinkle in Time–Madeleine L’Engle
Anne of Green Gables–L. M Montgomery
Little Women–Louisa May Alcott
Peter Pan–J. M. Barrie
The Call of the Wild–Jack London
The Hobbit–J. R. R. Tolkein
The Jungle Book–Rudyard Kipling
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe–C. S. Lewis
To Kill a Mockingbird–Harper Lee
Treasure Island–Robert Louis Stevenson

Older Readers
A Tale of Two Cities–Charles Dickens
David Copperfield–Charles Dickens
Dracula–Bram Stoker
Huckleberry Finn–Mark Twain
Jane Eyre–Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice–Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility–Jane Austen
The Count of Monte Cristo–Alexandre Dumas
The Hunchback of Notre Dame–Victor Hugo
Wuthering Heights–Emily Bronte

The second edition of the Mother-daughter book club newsletter will be on the way in just a few days. There’s still time to sign up and receive the latest issue.

This month I’ll be featuring a review of Frank Cottrell Boyce’s new book Cosmic, and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. There’s also an interview with Heather Vogel Frederick, author of The Mother-Daughter Book Club, and a profile a the book club I’m in with my youngest daughter, Catherine.

Just click here to register.

Have you ever wished you could write a letter to yourself when you were younger to give yourself hope or encouragement to get through a difficult time? That’s what the 35 women did who appear in If I’d Know Then, Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves.

Readers will recognize many of the writers as well as receive introductions to remarkable women they may not have heard of before. The letters are all heartfelt, with the authors talking directly to the young girls they once were. It’s a wonderful reminder that no matter how famous or wealthy or popular someone is, we all share many of the same insecurities, doubts, fears and self-imposed limitations.

This book is part of the What I Know Now series, and I think it’s a great addition for younger readers. I was particularly struck by the story of  Mindy Lam, who was labeled an unlucky child when she was born in China and treated harshly during her childhood. She overcame incredible hurdles to come this country, learn to speak English and find a way to support herself before stumbling upon an idea for creating jewelry that has made her successful beyond her imagining. All the stories are inspiring.

Moms in a mother-daughter book club can write letters to their younger selves as a meeting activity to inspire discussion. And girls could also think about issues they’re dealing with now that they may see differently in a few years.

I believe girls in 8th grade and up would enjoy reading If I’d Known Then.

Be sure you have plenty of time when you pick up The Curse of Addy McMahon by Katie Davis—you might not be able to stop turning pages to see what happens next. On the other hand, Davis’s clever use of graphic illustrations interspersed in the narrative provide clean breaks if you just have to put the book down now and then.

Mother-daughter book clubs with girls in 6th to 9th grade will find a lot to like here. Addy is convinced she suffers from a family curse, rendered against her great-grandad in Ireland by fairies. And she’s got mounting evidence to suggest she might be right. Her mom’s boyfriend is moving into the guest room “temporarily,” her worst enemy saw her shopping for a training bra, and her best friend, Jackie, is mad at her because she accidentally emailed a copy of a nasty fake interview with Jackie that got all around school.

But Addy does have a lot going for her. She helped create a school newspaper and she’s on the editorial staff. She interviews interesting people and creates graphic drawings to illustrate the stories she writes. People love her interviews, and they let her know it.  I found myself wishing I had experienced that kind of good luck when I was in middle school.

The illustrations punctuating the narrative should make The Curse of Addy McMahon attractive to reluctant readers as well as those who devour books. The presentation is unconventional, and so is some of the narrative. It was quite interesting to read Addy’s thoughts about her father, who died from cancer he got from smoking. And the subject of parents entering the dating/relationship world after the death of a spouse is also very thoughtfully written.

Here’s an activity idea to go with the book: have girls and moms both draw their own autobiograstrips like Addy’s. Share them at a meeting and see what discussion ensues.

There’s a lot to like in Donna Gephart’s first book, as if being 12-3/4 isn’t bad enough, my mother is running for president. Vanessa Rothrock is nearly 13 and already used to the limelight because she’s the Florida governor’s daughter. But when her mother decides to run for president, and it looks like she stands a good chance of winning, Vanessa’s life intensifies. Gephart gives us a good glimpse into the family life of a presidential candidate—hint: there’s not much family time—while also capturing pre-teen angst quite well

Vanessa’s concerns will have moms remembering their own middle school years while being reminded of what their daughters of the same age may be going through. Girls will be able to identify with many of the same issues Vanessa experiences, and maybe learn a few things from her mistakes.

I found it a good reminder of how kids can be so ego-centric in middle school. Everything is seen through the lens of “what does it mean to me.” For Vanessa, it doesn’t matter that her mom will make history by becoming the first female president of our country if she’s not home to watch her daughter compete in the regional spelling bee.

It’s also a good reminder that kids often don’t tell their parents about important things that are worrying them. Instead they try to solve them on their own. When Vanessa receives letters threatening to kill her mom if she doesn’t drop out of the race, she thinks it’s better to secretly try to get her mom to drop out instead of telling someone with the ability to help.

This is also a very interesting book to read in an election year when a woman came close to being nominated as a major-political-party presidential candidate. And I loved the reasons Vanessa’s mom wrote to her telling why she wants to be president. The list could spark a whole separate conversation with members of a mother-daughter book club about things that are important for our country.

I recommend this book for readers in 4th - 6th grade.

My mother-daughter book club with Madeleine met last week to discuss This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff. This was our first memoir, and it’s unfortunate that it came so close to the end of school that many of the girls were too stressed studying for finals to read much of it. The moms and two of the girls had read it, and we had an interesting discussion.

The story begins when 10-year-old Toby is driving with his mother from Florida to Utah to escape his mother’s abusive boyfriend. They eventually keep moving on to Seattle and finally to a small town north of there. The moms were a bit frustrated that we didn’t know more about Toby’s life before then: we find out his mother is divorced and an older brother lives with the father, but we never learn more than that about his earlier life.

The memoir takes place starting in the mid-1950s, and it’s surprising to read about neglect and abuse in an era that often evokes thoughts of “Happy Days.” The moms wanted to see more redemption in the story. Toby changes his name to Jack, gets into trouble out of boredom and lack of supervision, and generally seems to be on a course that will limit a successful future. We know he comes out well on the other side, because we know he’s an accomplished writer, but we don’t get to see that in This Boy’s Life. The girls were more accepting of those limitations and read the story for what it was. A snapshot of Toby’s life from the time  he left Florida until the time he left high school. Through the years he learns to survive. The author wastes no emotional energy on his younger self, giving it to the reader straight through the boy’s actions and letting us draw our own conclusions about his emotional state.

All in all, it was a good book to discuss, and it was interesting for us to read a memoir with an author writing about the same age our daughters are now. Recommended for 11th grade and up.

When I interviewed author Christina Hamlett recently (read interview), she then turned the tables and interviewed me about mother-daughter book clubs for American Chronicle. How interesting it was to be on the other side of the pen. Here’s a link for you to read Christina’s interview. Check it out!

Recently I received an email from Caryn, whose mother-daughter book club has been meeting for a few years. Her group of 7 mother/daughter pairs has just started a blog about their experience, and they’ve posted a list of the books they’ve read on it. Caryn’s group is from Portola Hills in California, and their girls are 11 and 12 years old. Here’s her note with the link:

I happened upon your site searching for mother-daughter book club
blogs since we just launched our own blog this past week. I invite
you to visit our blog at http://phmdbc.blogspot.com/. We are still
building it, but we have posted a list of all the books we have read
so far, and we would recommend them all to you as they all gave much to
discuss (a few are already on your lists). We started our club in
2005 when the girls were in 3rd grade. We have read some great books
and have had a lot of fun along the way. We are beginning to feel a
transition toward more mature themes as the girls are more and more
interested in some of the “teen lit” books, but we still want to
protect them from some of the more trashy novels so I am so happy to
find your site and read your reviews.

I’ve been reading a book by Sara Roahen called Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table. It’s full of stories of food from New Orleans—things like gumbo, sno-balls, muffalettas, and so much more.

I love the way Roahen weaves the history of New Orleans into the culinary tales, and also how she updates readers on what happened to some of the city’s favorite restaurants and their owners in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Even as a native Louisianian (from Baton Rouge) I’ve learned a lot reading Gumbo Tales. And it really makes my mouth water for some good old New Orleans food. Since I’m not going to get it any time soon, I guess I’ll have to break out the cookbook and get to work. This is a great book for anyone interested in New Orleans and its culinary delights.

Yesterday I went with my daughter Catherine’s class on a field trip to the Portland Beavers baseball game. It was a cool, (58 degrees!) cloudy day in Portland, which the teachers were thankful for since they didn’t have to worry about too much 8th grade skin being bared. But we sat in our seats an hour before the game started, and I found myself sitting alone with 8th graders who definitely didn’t include me in the conversation.

I kicked myself for not bringing my book to help me pass the time. Then I would have been entertained even if I did look like a social pariah reading in a sea of people. I enviously noticed that a chaperone with another school group had remembered to bring her knitting.

The book I’m reading is geared exactly to those 8th graders all around me. It’s part of the What I Know Now series, and it’s called If I’d Known Then—Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves.

I’m about half-way through and I really like it a lot. The women writing to their younger selves offer advice they wish they would have been able to get to help them through tough times when they were growing up. It’s very interesting to read about the challenges that these women—many of them well known—faced and came through successfully. It helps younger girls to see that even when someone is popular and seems to lead a charmed life, she is often riddled with self doubt and insecurity.

I’ll do a full review on it once I’m finished. And the baseball game? The Beavers won 16 to 9 against the Tucson Sidewinders. So even though we had to leave early, at least I got to enjoy the game playing out on the field.