I enjoyed this book immensely, so much so that I ordered its sequel – in HARDCOVER! If you knew me, you’d know that I never ever order a book in hardcover. I can wait for a lot of things but for the sequel to this book, I just couldn’t wait.Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I enjoyed this book because it's about a book club. But, you're wrong! I actually didn't want to like this book BECAUSE it's about a book club. I think CookieBooky book clubs are the best and didn't know how one could hold a candle to our meetings. But I can tell you that I wouldn't mind bringing cookies and a game to one or two of this group's meetings.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club is the story of four girls from Concord, Massachusetts - Emma Hawthorne, Jess Delaney, Cassidy Sloane and Megan Wong. Three of their mothers are all in yoga class together and they decide to form a mother-daughter book club much to the chagrin of their daughters.
Actually, Emma Hawthorne, the daughter of the town librarian Phoebe Hawthorne doesn’t mind the idea of a book club too much, though. She is a bookworm and loves to read just like her parents. In fact she and her brother Darcy got their names from their parents love of all things Jane Austen. This family loves books so much that they have bookshelves in their dining room! Emma is sweet and kind-hearted, she has a slight weight problem and this makes her the target of jokes by the Fab Four – Becca Chadwick and friends.
Jess Delaney is Emma’s best friend. She lives at Half Moon Farm with her father and twin brothers. She is also sometimes the target of the Fab Four’s snide remarks (“Goat Girl”). Jess is a shy girl but she is beautiful like her mother and she can sing. Jess’s mother doesn’t live with the family because she is pursuing her dream of being an actress. Jess misses her mother and worries that their family is broken forever. It is difficult for Jess to attend the mother-daughter book club meetings without her mother but Mrs. Hawthorne has made her an honorary member. Because of her singing voice, Jess is encouraged to try out for the school play despite her shyness.
Cassidy Sloane is new to Concord, Massachusetts. Her ex-model mother, Clementine, moved the family from California back to Massachusetts after Cassidy’s father died in a car accident. Mrs. Sloane thought it would be best to live near her parents. Cassidy is sad for the loss of her father and having to move to a new town. She is a tomboy and loves to play sports. She is not into ‘girly’ things and is not a big fan of reading. She’s not happy with being in the book club and she’s especially not happy when she finds out they don’t allow girls on the ice hockey team.
Megan Wong was good friends with Emma Hawthorne in elementary school. They played Barbies together often. After Mr. Wong invented some popular computer gadget and made millions, Megan moved to a better part of town and started hanging out with Becca Chadwick. Yes, she is one of the dreaded Fab Four. Megan doesn’t want to be in the book club because she is not really friends with Emma anymore and she spends a good deal of their club time texting Becca Chadwick. Megan’s mom wants her to be a world-famous scientist working to save the earth but Megan’s dream is to be a fashion designer.
Mrs. Hawthorne has chosen the book Little Women for them to read for the year. The author makes very interesting analogies between what happened in Little Women and the distinctive personalities of the March girls in comparison with the four girls of this story. I enjoyed the comparisons as well as the way the story proceeded - each chapter from the standpoint of one of the four girls. The book shows how the group grows and how the girls learn and change as well. It was a very interesting book!
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