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mother-daughter book club

The mother-daughter book club discusses “A Snicker of Magic”

A Snicker of MagicMidnight Gulch used to be a magical place, a town where people could sing up thunderstorms and dance up sunflowers. Twelve-year-old Felicity, a “word collector,” wants to stay in Midnight Gulch more than anything, but first she’ll need to figure out how to bring back the magic, breaking the spell that’s been cast over the town — and her mother’s broken heart.

Last night our mother-daughter book club met for lasagna, salad, brownies and a discussion of Natalie Lloyd’s “A Snicker of Magic.” It only took three book talks for the other members to recognize that I am, to put it kindly, a curmudgeon. Several of them predicted that the author’s prevalent use of “What the hayseed” would annoy me. They were right. I did find that and a few other frequently occurring cutesy phrases and motifs pretty grating.

I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t in love with Midnight Gulch.

“A Snicker of Magic” was not met with universal acclaim by the members of the Witty Kitty Book Club. The girls and the moms agreed that it took awhile for the story to get started. We all had to push ourselves through the first several chapters before it finally grabbed our attention.

Even thought most of them felt lukewarm about the book, the girls did a great job answering the discussion questions. Here are a few of the topics we discussed:

Felicity says that her mother’s storytelling voice is “like something between a summer breeze and a lullaby” (p. 2). How can someone’s voice help him or her tell a good story?
The girls agreed that a storyteller’s voice can help set the mood of a story and draw the listener in. One girl added that it could “give the story character.”

The people of Midnight Gulch possess different types of magic. What kind of magic would you want to have? Why?
Summer: “To be able to fly.”
Scarlet: “To be able to turn any person into anything. I want to be a cat. It would be interesting to see things from another perspective.”
Story: “To talk to animals and to fly.”
Grace: “To be able to talk to plants or to fly.”
Liliana: “The power to turn invisible so I could sneak poundcake.”
Koda: “Magic that can heal nature. I would fix global warming.” She also said she’d like to be able to turn into an animal, specifically so she could find out what it would be like to be a cat, then a bear and then a seahorse.

Words are very important to Felicity. What are your three favorite words?
Summer: “Awesome, super, extraordinary.”
Scarlet: “Hope, family, courage.”
Story: “Nature, animals, peace.”
Grace: “Joy, friends, nature.”
Liliana: “Money.” (Our Poppy was trying her hand at being the class clown at this month’s meeting, to her mother’s dismay and chagrin.)
Koda: “Pickle, meow, family.”

Felicity loves to collects words about people. Choose three words that best describe you.
Summer: “Athletic.”
Scarlet: “Artistic, energetic, daring.”
Story: “Nature, peace, animal-lover.”
Grace: “Creative, fun, nature.”
Liliana: “Fun, crazy, huggable.”
Koda: “Creative, unique, smart.”

The highest rating “A Snicker of Magic” received was an 8.5, and the lowest was a 4. On average, the Witty Kitty Book Club gave it 7 kitty paws.

Once again, this group of girls impressed me with their attention to detail and the thought they put into their answers. Even though they didn’t all enjoy it, they all finished the book and came to the meeting ready to talk. I’m already looking forward to next month’s meeting!

Previous mother-daughter book club selections

  • “Hope Was Here”
  • “Serafina and the Black Cloak”
    • mother-daughter book club, Reading

    The mother-daughter book club discusses “Hope Was Here”

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    January’s mother-daughter book club selection was “Hope Was Here” by Joan Bauer. We thought it would be fun for the girls if we went out again, so we met at a local pizza place for our discussion. The calzone Poppy and I shared was delicious, but the restaurant was a little too noisy for a good discussion. We’ll probably be meeting at home from here on out.

    Here’s a synopsis of the “Hope Was Here”:

    hopewashereWhen Hope and her aunt move to small-town Wisconsin to take over the local diner, Hope’s not sure what to expect. But what they find is that the owner, G.T., isn’t quite ready to give up yet — in fact, he’s decided to run for mayor against a corrupt candidate. And as Hope starts to make her place at the diner, she also finds herself caught up in G.T.’s campaign — particularly his visions for the future. After all, as G.T. points out, everyone can use a little hope to help get through the tough times … even Hope herself.

    The main character, Hope, doesn’t like the name her mother gave her at birth, so she renamed herself. One of the things we asked the girls to ruminate on as they read the story was what name they would rename themselves if given the opportunity. I will henceforth use the names they chose (for the most part) in my book club posts. They chose:

  • Summer, “because it’s lively.”
  • Scarlet, “I just really like it.”
  • Story.
  • Grace.
  • Wolfelia, “because it has ‘wolf’ in it and wolves represent family and loyalty.”
  • Liliana, whom you know as Poppy.
  • And one girl said she wouldn’t change her name. She likes the name she has because it isn’t a common name for a girl. For book club purposes, we’ll call her Syd.

    • The girls agreed that Hope didn’t miss out on much by being raised by her aunt rather than by her mother, because her mother “could be a little wild” and “didn’t have any motherly feelings.” They identified the book’s main themes as: love, home, family and food.

    The moms thought the political aspect of the plot was too detailed and bogged the story down, and one mom found the main characters’ Save The World mentality a bit tiresome. The girls’ opinions were mixed. The lowest rating was Grace’s five kitty paws out of 10, and the highest rating was Wolfelia’s nine-paw rating. On average, the kids gave “Hope Was Here” seven paws.

    7paws

    Previous mother-daughter book club selections

  • “Serafina and the Black Cloak”

    • mother-daughter book club, Reading, reviews

    Some 10-year-olds and their moms discuss “Serafina and the Black Cloak”

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    Last month we had some friends over to discuss our burgeoning book club. The girls agreed on a name for the club — the Witty Kitties — and the moms tossed around a few ideas for our inaugural book. We decided on Robert Beatty’s “Serafina and the Black Cloak,” because the author is local and the girls have all visited the Biltmore Estate, where the novel takes place.

    Here’s the dust-jacket synopsis:

    Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There’s plenty to explore in Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt’s vast and oppulent home, but she must take care to never be seen. "Serafina and the Black Cloak"None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember. She has learned to prowl through the darkened corridors at night, to sneak and hide, using the mansion’s hidden doors and secret passageways.

    But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows the clues to follow. A terrifying man in a black cloak stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity before all of the children vanish one by one.Serafina’s hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear, where she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must not only face her darkest enemy, but delve into the strange mystery of her own identity.

    The “mother” contingent of our mother-daughter book club had given the girls a list of questions from the author’s “Serafina” discussion guide to consider while they read the book. The girls all diligently recorded their thoughts in their book club notebooks, which they brought with them to our meeting this week.

    I was impressed with the consideration each of the girls put into the questions and with their insights about the story. They went pretty deep into some of the questions, particularly the one about whether or not it would be right to use the Black Cloak. I can’t really share their ideas about that without getting into major spoiler territory, but I can tell you the majority of them thought it would be a bad idea. My child said it might be justifiable if you really wanted a cupcake and had no other way to get one. I hope she was being facetious.

    Regarding the less-revealing questions on their list, they found Serafina to be clever, brave and caring, and they agreed that the overall themes of the book were loyalty, family, trust and the internal struggle we all face between the darkness and the light. They all thought the Big Twist about the young heroine was “so, so cool,” and they can’t wait to learn more about her in the next installment of the series.

    Poppy didn’t love the scary parts of “Serafina,” but she liked the book despite that. The other three girls in attendance loved it without reserve. Overall, the girls rated it 9 out of 10 kitty paws.

    The book club girls award this title 9 kitty paws.

    You can read the first chapter of “Serafina and the Black Cloak” at Robert-Beatty.com.