Mom and Me Book Club

It started in Barnes and Noble.  As many good things do.

We were there in search of Pencil Things That Are, Like, Black And Have Little Jewels On The Top Instead Of Erasers.  It was love at first sight when McKenzie spotted one of her classmates using one... a love so strong it shoved the shy right out of her and pushed her forward to learn more about them.  "I got them at Barnes and Noble," her classmate said.  It was the first thing McKenzie told me when she got off the bus, and the last thing she mentioned that night.  "I'll even spend my own money on them, Mom." 
"Well, let's see how you feel about it after school tomorrow and if you're still sure, then maybe we can head down there."  She went to sleep a happy girl that night and assured me the next afternoon that her desire to have them was still just as strong.  So after dinner, we popped open her piggy bank and she and I hopped in the car to venture out in search of the coveted pencils. 

Thankfully, the second person we talked to knew exactly where to find Pencil Things That Are, Like, Black And have Little Jewels On The Top Instead Of Erasers.  McKenzie jumped with excitement when she saw that the pack of eight pencils was six (!) dollars.
"I have even more than that, Mom!" 
"You sure you want to spend that much for a pack of pencils?"
"Yeah!"  Her eyes sparkled and I realized that, to her, those pencils were priceless.  She would have given her whole piggy bank for them.
"Awesome!  Let's get them then!"  That was me, being supportive, swallowing the money lesson that so desperately wanted to come out, and then trying to hide the groan inside me.  I totally gave myself a pat on the back for that one. 

But wait, how did I get here?  This post is not about pencils.  This post is about what happened after we found the pencils.  My eyes were mindlessly scanning the books on the shelves as we walked down the aisle in the children's section (they're all so crisp, you know.  New.  Clean.  Bright.  Colorful.  Beautiful. Organized.  Fun to look at.  My books at home don't look like that, so it's nice to see the organization somewhere) when my eyes brushed over a bright pink cover with the title Mom and Me.  I don't know what else was on the cover, and I have no idea what the book is about, but the title stuck like a dart somewhere in the back of my brain, and over the next half hour an idea crystallized: the Mom and Me Book Club was formed.  (I later learned that this is a very unoriginal idea... but I'm slow like that sometimes.) 

We left Barnes and Noble carrying eight pencils and our first book club book - Anne of Green Gables.  I sent her to bed that night after scribbling the words Mom and Me Book Club in a little square on the calendar a month away; the book was snugly tucked under her arm as she bounced into her room. A few minutes later, she came out with a question about the definition of a word.  And a few minutes after that, she came out asking me to clarify a sentence that wasn't making sense to her.  In reading that sentence to her I realized that the descriptions L.M. Montgomery uses are beautiful and long, often including a couple of different ideas enclosed together in commas and making the sentences stretch on a while, like this one, which, as you can imagine, make it a bit difficult to follow all the way to the end when, even if you're a good reader, you've only been reading for three years. 

So plans were changed and, over the next four weeks, we devoured this book together. We laughed, cried, read, talked, and snuggled through all 38 chapters of beautiful descriptions and delightful story lines.  We finished the final chapters just an hour before the big night was scheduled to start.  Then, we dressed in our fancy clothes, curled our hair, picked out jewelry and glossed our lips before making our way down to Francesca's Dessert Cafe for some steamed milk, amazing chocolate decadence, and great conversation. 



If it weren't for the wiggling in her seat with excitement all night and asking for more decadence 17 times, I would have thought McKenzie an adult that night.  She asked questions that made me think, and her responses to my questions were well thought out and unnervingly mature.  I learned so much about her school life and how it compares to and contrasts with Anne's life.  We laughed at each other as we looked around the room and took turns describing what we saw in the way Anne might have said it - superbly optimistic, flowery, imaginative.  We talked about friend troubles, about self confidence issues that are coming to light in some of those friends, about peer pressure, shyness, and being kind to everyone.  And when I say we talked, I mean we talked.  How interesting to hear her perspective on things.  How humbling to realize that I'm actually learning from her and thinking about her words in the same way I do my best friend's.  She is a remarkable example to me.  One of her biggest strengths is in being comfortable with who she is and genuinely not caring what others think of her.  I am learning so much from her in this regard.  But my eyes are prickling with the threat of tears in even thinking about how precious her example is to me, and I don't feel like digging into that tonight, so I'll leave it for another post and just say that I am such a lucky mom.

I really did have more fun than my face in this picture might suggest.  It may look to you like I'm about to fall asleep, or die of boredom with a fake grin on my face... but the fake grin is really coming from my concern with McKenzie's somewhat lazy grip on my camera.  Or maybe I'm trying to steer clear from my 'horrifying' smile.  One of the two.

Our version of the book came with discussion questions printed in the back, and we read and analyzed each one... some discussions lasting 20 minutes, others 20 seconds.  Her depth surprised me; her questions stumped me; her insights filled me.

Does anyone have any good suggestions about what book to read next?  I don't have a very good literary knowledge - but I'm looking for books that are interesting, and that teach good morals.  Books that are a bit 'heavier' than light novels, but not so heavy as to go right over our heads or delve into more adult content. I'm afraid I've set the bar too high starting off with Anne of Green Gables!

I hope to find enough good books to fill years and years of the Mom and Me Book Club... 'cause I just can't get enough of this girl!