STARTING JUNE 5: NEVERMOOR BY JESSICA TOWSEND

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Reading is considered to be one of the best ways to help your student succeed in school. Through reading, they learn comprehension, critical thinking skills, and a better understanding of our world. When parents ask me what they can do to help their students do better in school, my first response is always to encourage their students to read more. This book club is a fun way to get students to read more with a variety of fun and age-appropriate books. The course will be done in an ongoing manner so that students can join in and read the books they are interested in, and can skip the books they don't want to read. 

For each class, I will lead a discussion of a book where students get to share their thoughts on the chapters we read that week. We will be focusing on the plot, pace, character development, setting, and overall thoughts of the book. Each week we will read about 1/3 of the novel so as to give us enough time to read and discuss the books. If you miss one of the classes no worries, as each class will only cover the stated chapters. Some of the smaller books we may cover in fewer classes. 

This is how the classes will be structured:
Each class will start with the teacher providing background information on the author, setting, and time period to provide context for the discussion of the book.
Then the class will answer discussion questions led by the teacher.
Each class will conclude with a variety of activities and games to help the students comprehension of the book.

Reading Schedule:
Week of:
April 3- A Wrinkle in Time Chapters 1-4
April 10- A Wrinkle in Time Chapters 5-8
April 17- A Wrinkle in Time Chapters 9-12
April 24- The Lightning  Thief by Rick Riordan Chapters 1-7
May 1- The Lightning Thief Chapters 8-15
May 8- The Lightning Thief Chapters 16-22
May 15-The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Chapters 1-15
May 22- The War that Saved My Life Chapters 16-30
May 29- The War that Saved My Life Chapters 31-46
June 5- Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend Chapters 1-7
June 12- Nevermoor Chapters 8-14
June 19- Nevermoor Chapters 15-21
June 26- Nevermoor Chapters 22-26



Book Summaries:
THE LIGHTNING THIEF BY RICK RIORDAN  (ages 10+) 
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus's master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus's stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

THE WAR THAT SAVED MY LIFE BY KIMBERLY BRUBAKER BRADLEY (Ages 9+)
Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him.
 
So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?
 
This masterful work of historical fiction is equal parts adventure and a moving tale of family and identity—a classic in the making.

NEVERMOOR BY JESSICA TOWNSEND (ages 9+)
A cursed girl escapes death and finds herself in a magical world - but is then tested beyond her wildest imagination

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she's blamed for all local misfortunes, from hailstorms to heart attacks--and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday.

But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It's then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city's most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart - an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests - or she'll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.