Wednesday, January 20, 2021

January Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Thing About Jellyfish


For January's Book Club, we read the book The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin. Cooper, Julianna, Natalie, Nicole, and Rileigh were present. This is what we discussed, with discussion prompts from the publisher!


Suzy acknowledges that before the Worst Thing, she used to chatter, what Suzy calls constant-talking. Why do you think she does this? Have you ever been in a situation where you chattered? If so, why do you think you did? 


Do you think Suzy’s reason for not-talking is exactly what she says it is? Are there other reasons she might have stopped talking? Has there ever been a time when you felt you couldn’t speak, or when you refused to talk? What was the result of not-talking? 


Do you think Suzy is a good friend to Franny? Is Franny a good friend to Suzy? What makes someone a good friend? What makes someone a bad one? 


Is there a difference between teasing and bullying? Where do you think people should draw the line? Do you think Suzy was bullied? Was Franny? 


Why does Suzy do the Worst Thing? Do you think her actions are justified? Why or why not? 


Mrs. Turton says that sometimes we learn more from our failures than our successes. What were Suzy’s failures? What did she learn from them? Have you ever learned from a failure? If so, when? Even though Suzy didn’t make it to Australia, do you think she experienced other successes by the end of the novel? 


Franny’s mother tells Suzy that one of the things Franny always admired about Suzy was that she “never cared what anyone else thought.” Is this observation true? Why or why not? Do you find this quality admirable in others? Do you think you have this quality? 


Suzy’s mother tells her that “sometimes things just happen,” and that they don’t always make sense to us. Do you believe things in your life happen by chance, or by fate? 


What do you think jellyfish represent in this book? Why do you think the author found jellyfish to be such a strongly symbolic creature that connects to Suzy’s story? 


Rank this book from 1-5.

-One 3
-Two 3 1/2
-One 4


Our next Book Club will be held on Wednesday, February 17 at 3:30 p.m. We will be meeting via Zoom. We will be reading The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. 

"Five years. That's how long Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have lived on the road in an old school bus, criss-crossing the nation. It's also how long ago Coyote lost her mom and two sisters in a car crash. Coyote hasn't been home in all that time, but when she learns that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished---the very same park where she, her mom, and her sisters buried a treasured memory box---she devises an elaborate plan to get her dad to drive 3,600 miles back to Washington state in four days...without him realizing it. Along the way, they'll pick up a strange crew of misfit travelers. Lester has a lady love to meet. Salvador and his mom are looking to start over. Val needs a safe place to be herself. And then there's Gladys... Over the course of thousands of miles, Coyote will learn that going home can sometimes be the hardest journey of all...but that with friends by her side, she just might be able to turn her "once upon a time" into a "happily ever after.""

Please be sure to register for book club via email (jamlibkids@gmail.com) or call 423-7280. Miss Lisa will get a copy of the book to you. You also need to register so that Miss Lisa can send you the Zoom link and password the day of Book Club!


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