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More Great Pairings for a Parent/Child Summer Book Club
It’s the 20th anniversary of Barnes & Noble’s Summer Reading Program, and we’re celebrating it in style! Each summer Barnes & Noble gives young readers the opportunity to earn a free book by reading three books and completing a journal about the books they’ve read. It’s a great way to encourage kids to make reading a priority during the summer months, and this year we’re making things even more fun and exciting with the introduction of a Summer Reading Triathlon! For more details, visit BN.com/SummerReading.
With summer break fast approaching (you have booked the kids’ summer camps, right?! Yeah, me neither), there are bound to be some rainy, and lazy, days full of reading. Here are some book club selections for middle grade novels along with an adult pick in the same genre, theme, period, or subject matter. Keep minds active and the conversation flowing during the dog days of summer and let the reading and discussions ensue. Because a family that reads together, stays together (and stays at least temporarily quiet together!).
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History in the Making
Middle Grade Pick: The War that Saved my Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
A disabled child, Ada has never left her home or her abusive mother until she sneaks out with her older brother at the height of the war. A woman in London takes them in and Ada learns to persevere, trust, and become a hero of her own.
Parent Pick: Life After Life, by Kate Atkinson
Starting in 1910, much of this book takes place in London during the bombings of WWII. In the opening pages, Ursula Todd is born and proceeds to die, and then comes back to life, repeatedly. Each time she lives her life over, her trajectory is slightly different and she begins to use her power for change. Her many different lives are tightly woven in a complex, yet thought-provoking novel.
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Lost and Found
Middle Grade Pick: Counting by 7’s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Willow Chance is an adopted tween with genius smarts. Obsessed with counting by 7’s, nature, and weird medical conditions, she lives an odd, but comfortable life. Her quirky world is ordered just so, until her parents die in a car crash. Orphaned once again, Willow must reconcile with the “new normal” of her life and turn tragedy into triumph.
Parent Pick: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
Dealing with absent and deceased parents, new adoptive families, and a secret that keeps him on the run, this Pulitzer prize winning novel follows Theo Decker through his teenage years and into adulthood. Obsessed with a small painting, Theo’s life will take you on an epic journey that spans both tragedy and triumph. Bonus: Read Perfect, by Rachel Joyce.
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Adventure Awaits
Middle Grade Pick: Small as an Elephant, by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
11-year old Jack wakes one morning in Acadia National Forest to find his mother has disappeared. Having dealt with his mother’s mental illness for many years, this is not Jack’s first time facing this sort of difficult problem. Rather than turn to the authorities, Jack sets off on a solo adventure to find his mother and make his way from Maine back to his home near Boston, Massachusetts. Traveling with a small plastic elephant to keep him company, every step he takes is filled with determination and loyalty.
Parent Pick: Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple
Written as an epistolary novel, this book follows the disappearance of fiercely intelligent Bernadette Fox. After a series of mishaps, Ms. Fox disappears and Mr. Fox seems surprisingly unflappable, so their daughter Bee sets out to find where her mother has gone. With a somewhat satirical take on modern-day Seattle, this novel displays the love a daughter has for her mother and the lengths to which she will go to find her.
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Do You See What I See?
Middle Grade Pick: A Mango-Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass
Born with synesthesia, Mia Winchell can see sounds, smell colors, and taste shapes. Keeping her ability a secret, 13-year old Mia must come to terms with the reality of her condition and admit to her parents and friends what is happening to her. With a confusing world colliding with a confusing time of life, Mia must navigate her rare and beautiful existence. Interweaving the typical ups and downs of teenage life with information on this rare, but real, condition keeps the plot moving along.
Parent Pick: The Look of Love, by Sarah Jio
Jane Williams was born with the ability to see true love and charged with the task of identifying six different types of love before her 30th birthday, or risk never loving at all. Having never been in love herself and thinking her gift was just vision problems, Jane sets out on a one-year quest and discovers that not all love is created equal.
Musical Geeks Unite!
Middle Grade Pick: Jack and Louisa: Act 1, by Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Kate Wetherhead
Jack Goodrich is already a former Broadway star at the young age of 12. Forced to leave New York City behind after his voice changes, Jack settles into Ohio with his family. His new neighbor, a self-proclaimed “musical theater nerd”, wants Jack to perform in the upcoming town musical. After a bumpy start to their friendship, Louisa opens Jack’s eyes to life beyond Manhattan.
Parent Pick: Fosse, by Sam Wasson
Nurse your Broadway fantasies in this biography as it delves into the life of Bob Fosse. Influencing generations of Broadway and Hollywood actors, Fosse was a force in both his personal and professional life. From tilted hats and splayed fingers onstage, to close and conflicted relationships offstage, this book examines the drive behind the man and what propelled his colorful life.
What book pairings would you suggest for an adult/kid book club?