Thursday, June 17, 2021

June Grades 5 & 6 Book Club: Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor

 


For June's Book Club, we read the book Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor by Ally Carter. Nicole, Natalie, and Julianna were present. We discussed the following: 

1. How do April, Violet, and Tim arrive at Winterborne House? Who are the other children already in residence at Winterborne House?

2. Who are Ms. Nelson and Smithers, and how are they connected to Winterborne House?

3. Who are the Winterbournes? Who is Gabriel? 

4. What role does Uncle Evert play in the story? 

5. How does April find Gabriel Winterborne? How would you describe their relationship? 

6. What do the contents of Ms. Nelson's notebook reveal?

7. With all its twists and turns, it is sometimes unclear who to trust in this novel. Who are the protagonists? Who are the antagonists? Who were you rooting for?

8. What is the tone of the narrative? 

9. What is the significance of the key April wears around her neck? 

10. How does the novel end? Will you read book 2?



Rating: on a scale of 1—5 (1 is the lowest; 5 is the highest), what do you rate this book?  

—10 out of 5! 
—4.5
—2.5


For July's Book Club, we will be reading:





Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

"Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar. Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn't until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger." — summary

We will be meeting on Wednesday, July 21 at 3:30 PM. Book Club will be held outside on the Swinburne Street side. In the case of inclement weather, Book Club will move indoors. Participants will be notified by noon, the day of, if the location changes. 

To register, visit the circulation desk or email Miss Colleen at jamlibyouth@gmail.com 

Be sure to stop by the library to pick up your copy!

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

July Grades 5 & 6 Book Club Suggestions


Winner of the 2018 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk

"Twelve-year-old Crow has lived her entire life on a tiny, isolated piece of the starkly beautiful Elizabeth Islands in Massachusetts. Abandoned and set adrift in a small boat when she was just hours old, Crow's only companions are Osh, the man who rescued and raised her, and Miss Maggie, their fierce and affectionate neighbor across the sandbar. Crow has always been curious about the world around her, but it isn't until the night a mysterious fire appears across the water that the unspoken question of her own history forms in her heart. Soon, an unstoppable chain of events is triggered, leading Crow down a path of discovery and danger." —Summary





Spindlefish and Stars by Christiane H. Andrews

"Clothilde has lived her whole life in the shadows with her (sometimes) thieving and (always) ailing father. But when he fails to meet her one morning, sending her instead, a mysterious ticket of half-passage, Clo finds herself journeying across the sea to reunite with him. The ticket, however, leaves her on a sunless island inhabited only by creaking fishermen, a rumpled old woman, a piggish cat, and a moon-cheeked boy named Cary.

Clo is quickly locked away and made to spend her days in unnerving chores with the island's extraordinary fish, while the old woman sits nearby weaving an endless gray tapestry. Frustrated and aching with the loss of her father, Clo must unravel the mysteries of the island and all that's hidden in the vast tapestry's threads -- secrets both exquisite and terrible. And she must decide how much of herself to give up in order to save those she thought she'd lost forever." —Summary






"Twelve-year-old Myrtle Hardcastle has a passion for justice and a Highly Unconventional obsession with criminal science. Armed with her father's law books and her mum's microscope, Myrtle studies toxicology, keeps abreast of the latest developments in crime scene analysis, and Observes her neighbors in the quiet village of Swinburne, England.

When her next-door neighbor, a wealthy spinster and eccentric breeder of rare flowers, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtle seizes her chance. With her unflappable governess, Miss Ada Judson, by her side, Myrtle takes it upon herself to prove Miss Wodehouse was murdered and find the killer, even if nobody else believes her—not even her father, the town prosecutor." —Summary




June Grades 5 & 6 Book Club: Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor

  For June's Book Club, we read the book  Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor   by Ally Carter.  Nicole, Natalie, and Julianna were...