Mothers organize book club for daughters

By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer

The club, shown meeting at the Hawai‘i Kai home of Dede Guss (sitting next to the candles), consists of eight youngsters and their mothers. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

And they've got homework.

For the past two years, this tight circle of friends have gotten together as an informal book club, organized by their moms.

Some hated reading when the group began; others couldn't put books down. But they all enjoy coming together once a month for a few hours to share what they've learned, listen to other opinions and, of course, be girls, giggling and munching on the snacks their mothers provide.

"I like the book club because we get together with our friends," said Jamie McClafferty, a fifth-grader at Punahou School, "and it pushes me to read more."

Every month brings a different book in a different genre at a different home.

The girls, who all attended Holy Nativity School in 'Aina Haina, are now at different schools. The monthly book club is a way for them, and their moms, to keep in touch.

"I like the social aspect of it," said Dede Guss, Raquel's mom and host of this month's meeting. "We all have busy lives with our children. It's nice to sit down for a few hours and socialize."

A requirement to remain in the club is that both daughters and mothers have to read the selected book. It forces them to make time for reading - and for each other.

"We are all quite busy, and are very active in our children's schools and the community," said Michele McClafferty, Jamie's mom and a homemaker in Hawai'i Kai. "The book club takes commitment, but the rewards are immeasurable."

Reading isn't a chore anymore; it's something fun they can do as a family, knowing that the reward is the monthly get-together.

The mothers have seen improvement in their daughters' reading comprehension and confidence levels, practicing speaking to a group and sharing their thoughts and opinions.

The book club "has helped me a lot," said Raquel Guss, a fearless sixth-grader at La Pietra Hawai'i School for Girls. "Before, I didn't like reading. I felt it was something forced upon me. I felt if I didn't like it, I didn't have to do it."

Now she reads at least a book a month, volunteering to answer questions and share her opinions, both in the book club and in the classroom, with confidence.

"Raquel's hardest area was reading," said Guss, who started the book club two years ago. "And this gives them a chance to socialize, too."

The books are chosen from Shireen Dodson's "100 Books for Girls to Grow On." So far, the girls have read a diversity of titles, including "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," by C.S. Lewis, "Running Out of Time," by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and "The View from Saturday," by E.L. Konigsburg.

This month they read "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," by Elizabeth George Speare, a Newbery Medal Book winner about a headstrong girl named Kit Tyler who braved the consequences of befriending a woman thought to be a witch in colonial America.

Comfortably cozy in Guss' airy living room in Hawai'i Kai one recent Sunday, the girls, squeezed next to their moms, took turns sharing their thoughts about the book. The soft light from candles, a gentle breeze and lots of big, soft pillows created the perfect ambiance.

Anna Resich, Ali's mom and a book club veteran, opened the afternoon meeting with a question: "What did you like best about the book?"

Hands immediately flew upward.

"My favorite part is when they all get married in the end," Raquel answered.

Added Allison Yoshida, a sixth-grader at Holy Nativity School: "My favorite part was when Kit taught Mercy how to write."

The discussion went around the circle, every mom nodding with approval after each answer.

As part of their "homework," the girls come up with questions they want to ask each other relating to the book. Oftentimes the questions themselves start provocative conversations.

Allison stood up and asked: "When Mercy and Judith were sick, what did it mean to bleed them?"

Ali raised her hand, answering it meant taking some blood out of the body to get the disease out. Her mother explained the procedure further, inducing looks of disgust.

"Just be careful you don't bleed them too much," Resich said, with a laugh.

But a confused Min Jung Wisniewski, Emily's mom, offered her cultural perspective. In Korea, she said, children would cut themselves open and "feed" their blood to their sick parents.

"That's disgusting," one girl muttered.

In addition to coming up with questions, each girl has to find at least three words they didn't understand in the book. They share the vocabulary words, read the definitions and point out where in the book they were used.

At the meetings, there's hardly a lull in the discussion or scarcity of answers. All the girls get involved.

But they are not just reading to log a page count or rush through

a book report for school. They're learning how to make connections and find meanings in what they've read. About marriage, about cultures, about decisions, about morals.

"We're really grateful to be invited to join in," said Wisniewski,

a homemaker from Wai'alae Iki. "Emily didn't like to read, but once she starts, she's hooked. Without the book club, I don't think she would read."

But the connections these girls make extend beyond learning morals of stories and analyzing characters. They are making connections with each other.

It's this sharing aspect of the book club that has been the most rewarding for both the girls and their mothers.

"What I really enjoy most is being able to read with her," said Luann Yoshida, Allison's mom and a homemaker in Hawai'i Kai. "It's something we can share together. No matter how busy we are, we have to make that time. It's very special."

Thinking about starting your own mother-daughter book club?

Here's a list of books to help you get started:

• "The Mother-Daughter Book Club: How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh and Learn Through Their Love of Reading" by Shireen Dodson and Teresa Barker (HarperCollins, 1997)
• "100 Books for Girls to Grow On" by Shireen Dodson (Harper Perennial, 1998)
• "Great Books for Girls: More Than 600 Books to Inspire Today's Girls and Tomorrow's Women" by Kathleen Odean (Ballantine Books, 1997)
• "Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14" by Erica Bauermeister and Holly Smith (Penguin USA, 1997)
• "500 Great Books by Women: A Reader's Guide" by Erica Bauermeister, Jesse Larsen and Holly Smith (Penguin USA, 1994)
• "Growing a Girl: Seven Strategies for Raising a Strong, Spirited Daughter" by Barbara MacKoff (Bantam Dell, 1996)

Catherine E. Toth may be reached at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8533.