Behind every writer stands a huge supporting cast. Heartfelt thanks are owed to Alexandra Cooper at Simon & Schuster for embracing these books with wholehearted enthusiasm; to my fabulous agent, Barry Goldblatt, for his guidance and wisdom; and to Susan Hill Long for friendship, literary feedback, and encouragement. Many thanks, too, to the Quigley family, who once again kept me from skating onto thin ice with hockey terminology. And what would I do without my sisters Lisa and Stefanie, and my friends Patty and Jane and Sarah and Tricia, all of whom keep me laughing? Most of all, however, thanks and love are due to my husband, Steve, who is and always will be my Gilbert Blythe.
—H. V. F.
Portland, Oregon, 2008
Much Ado About Anne—Book Club Activities
See if you can name which character said these quotes! Answers at bottom.
1. “I didn’t have a clue how much I would absolutely love Anne of Green Gables. There are parts of it that I read over and over again. Anne Shirley feels the same way I do about everything, especially nature. She notices things—sunsets, trees, flowers, all of it. Just like I do. If she were real, the two of us would definitely be kindred spirits.”
2. “None of them really understands how I feel about fashion. They never notice what I’m wearing, never say anything about my earrings or shoes or makeup, and they’d rather do just about anything else than hang out at the mall. Is it wrong to want to have friends who like the same things I do? Even if that means Becca Chadwick?”
3. “Our mother-daughter book club is special. It’s one of the few places where I can completely be myself, and not worry that anybody’s going to tease me about writing poetry or about the way I look or make fun of my clothes, which sometimes are hand-me-downs. Now that Becca’s there, everything’s changed.”
4. “I just don’t get this whole crush thing. My mother says don’t worry, one of these days love will hit me over the head like a baseball bat, but that doesn’t sound like much fun. I’ve been hit in the head with a baseball bat before—accidentally, of course, during practice—and it hurts like heck.”
Quotables: Answers
1. Jess 2. Megan 3. Emma 4. Cassidy
Much Ado About Anne—Book Club Activities
Guess Who?:
Can you guess which character is being described?
Have each member take turns describing a character in the book using only adjectives. Say a word, and if no one guesses it, say another word. Keep doing this until someone guesses the character. Try not to go above five adjectives . . . you’ll need really good ones to do this! Whoever guesses correctly describes next.
Lights, Camera, Action!:
You be the director!
Give everyone a piece of paper and something to write with. Together, come up with a list of characters from the book—you don’t have to use them all, any number between eight and twelve will work fine. Then, give everyone ten to fifteen minutes to come up with a cast list for the book if it were to be turned into a movie. Which celebrities would you select to play each part? Why? Have everyone share thir cast with the group, saying who they picked and why.
Much Ado About Anne
FUN FACTS ABOUT THE AUTHOR
• Heather was born in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
• She spent most of her childhood holed up in the library or in her bedroom reading.
• Heather’s father was an elementary schoolteacher and principal, and every night before bed he would read to her and her two younger sisters.
• Heather always loved to write, and she wrote lots of stories growing up—including a whole novel during rest hours at summer camp one year.
• Heather and her family moved to a three-hundred-year-old cottage in England the summer after she turned eleven.
• In college, Heather majored in English literature and German. On a whim, she signed up for a children’s literature course during her senior year and decided she would one day write books for young people.
• Heather spent a year at the University of Cologne, Germany, as a Ful-bright scholar.
• After college, Heather became a journalist. She worked in the newsroom at the Christian Science Monitor, writing and editing feature stories, and eventually became the children’s book review editor.
• Heather is married to her college sweetheart. They have two sons.
• After her sons were born, Heather launched a freelance career. She has written for The New York Times, Family Life, Child, and Publishers Weekly (where she held the position of contributing editor for many years).
• Heather and her family currently reside in a cozy little house in the Pacific Northwest in Oregon. She loves her house and thinks it is the perfect place for a writer to live.
Tasty Book Club Treats!
Use these recipes to make delicious snacks to serve at your next meeting! Or distribute the recipes and have each club member make a different snack for each meeting.
**Girls, remember to ask an adult for help when preparing these recipes, especially if you need to use the oven!**
Sweet Smoothies
PREP TIME: Under 10 minutes
Chocolate Banana Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
3 bananas
3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
3 cups milk
3 cups crushed ice
DIRECTIONS
In a blender, combine bananas, chocolate syrup, milk, and ice. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.
YIELDS: 3 smoothies
Sweet Fruit Smoothie
INGREDIENTS
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 8-ounce container strawberry yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 medium ripe banana, sliced
1 cup fresh strawberries, cut in halves
1 cup crushed ice
DIRECTIONS
In batches, process the milk, yogurt, lemon juice and fruit in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add ice; cover and process until smooth. Pour into glasses; serve immediately.
YIELDS: 5 smoothies
Tasty Book Club Treats!
Baked S’mores
PREP TIME: 10 minutes; COOK TIME: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup white sugar
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
3 cups miniature marshmallows
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, and graham cracker crumbs until well coated. Press half of crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Top with the chocolate chips, then the marshmallows. Sprinkle the remaining graham cracker mixture over the marshmallows and press down with a spatula.
3. Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, until marshmallows are melted. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
YIELDS: 24 squares
Peanut Butter Fudge
PREP TIME: 5 minutes; COOK TIME: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 cup marshmallow cream
2 cups white sugar
DIRECTIONS
1. Mix together the peanut butter and marshmallow cream in a bowl; set aside. Lightly grease a square glass dish with butter.
2. Stir together the sugar and milk in a saucepan over medium-high heat; stirring occasionally, bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat. Stir in the peanut butter mixture and the vanilla; pour into the prepared dish and allow to cool to room temperature before serving (cooling can take up to 2 hours, so make sure enough time is allotted).
YIELDS: 12 fudge squares
Tasty Book Club Treats!
Fruit Pizza
PREP TIME: 10 minutes; COOK TIME: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 18-ounce package refrigerated sugar cookie doug
h
1 7-ounce jar marshmallow creme
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened Assorted fruit
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. On an ungreased medium-size baking sheet, smooth the refrigerated sugar cookie dough into a single layer approximately 1/4 inch thick. Bake in the preheated oven 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned and center is no longer doughy.
3. In a medium bowl, blend the marshmallow creme and cream cheese. Spread the mixture over the baked crust. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
4. Arrange assorted fruit on top of marshmallow/cream cheese mixture. Serve.
YIELDS: 16 slices
Wonderful Stories That Mothers and Daughters Can Enjoy Together!
Whether you’re a member of a book club or just want to have some extra mother-daughter bonding time, these titles will surely do the trick!
WILLA BY HEART • By Coleen Murtagh Paratore
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-4076-0; ISBN-10: 1-4169-4076-6
There’s a new girl in town and it seems like she’s taking everything Willa wants—including her boyfriend! On top of everything else, Willa has been asked to plan two weddings. Can she handle it all?
THE UNDERNEATH • By Kathi Appelt
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-5058-5; ISBN-10: 1-4169-5058-3
An abandoned calico cat about to have kittens befriends a lonely hound dog. They are an unlikely pair, about to become an unlikely family. When the kittens are born, one kitten’s curiosity sets off a chain of events that portrays the true power of love.
I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME • By Lisa Schroeder
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-5520-7; ISBN-10: 1-4169-5520-8
Fifteen-year-old Ava is heartbroken when her boyfriend, Jackson, dies. But Jackson’s spirit is unwilling to let go and has rooted itself in Ava’s home. At first she is thrilled—until she realizes having a ghost for a boyfriend isn’t easy or fulfilling. Will she be able to move on even though Jackson has not?
THE TRUTH ABOUT MY BAT MITZVAH • By Nora Raleigh Baskin
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-3558-2; ISBN-10: 1-4169-3558-4
With a Jewish mom and a non-Jewish dad, Caroline isn’t sure what she is. When her nana dies and leaves her a Star of David necklace, Caroline must learn a vital lesson about fitting in and finding an identity.
THREE LITTLE WORDS • By Ashley Rhodes-Courter
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-4806-3; ISBN-10: 1-4169-4806-6
Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes. She was juggled between fourty-four different caseworkers, all while dealing with painful memories of being taken from her home and physical abuse from a foster family. With three little words, Ashley discovers the power to break free from her past and embark on a new future.
Wonderful Stories That Mothers and Daughters Can Enjoy Together!
Mother-daughter book club classics
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES
By Lucy Maud Montgomery
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-84622-9; ISBN-10: 0-689-84622-3
When Anne Shirley arrives at Green Gables farm on Prince Edward Island, she surprises everyone: first of all, she is a girl. Marilla Cuthbert and her brother, Matthew, had specifically asked for an orphan boy. She has bright red hair that won’t manage and a mouth that won’t shut. Nothing will ever be the same at Green Gables!
ANNE OF AVONLEA
By Lucy Maud Montgomery
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-0328-4; ISBN-10: 1-4169-0328-3
L.M. Montgomery published Anne of Green Gables, her first novel about Anne Shirley, in 1908, and went on to write seven more books about the impulsive, romantic dreamer with a redheaded temper. In this second story, Anne is nearly grown and is a teacher in the village school. The stories of Anne’s antics have delighted readers for nearly a century and are sure to remain classics.
Here’s an excerpt from
Dear Pen Pal,
the next chapter in
The Mother-Daughter Book Club
Available September 2009
from SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
Jess
“When you get accustomed to people or places or ways of living, and then have them suddenly snatched away, it does leave an awfully empty, gnawing sort of sensation.”
—Daddy-Long-Legs
Dear Miss Delaney . . .
“What’s this?” I ask, picking up the letter that’s lying in the middle of my plate and scooching my chair closer to the table.
“I guess you’ll have to read it and find out, won’t you?” my mother replies. There’s a funny tone in her voice and she’s smiling across the table at my dad. One of those mysterious we know something you don’t kind of smiles.
Frowning, I start to read:
“Dear Miss Delaney,
Congratulations! We’re delighted to inform you that you have been nominated for a Colonial Academy Founder’s Award. Created in honor of Harriett Witherspoon, the illustrious educator and suffragette who established our school, this award for academic excellence is offered each year to an outstanding local eighth-grade girl. It is indeed an honor to be nominated for this scholarship, and we hope you will accept it. Once again, congratulations—we look forward to welcoming you to our school!”
I toss the letter aside and start assembling my burger. “I don’t want to go to Colonial Academy,” I tell my parents matter-of-factly. “Pass the ketchup please, Dylan.”
My little brother removes one sticky paw from the ear of corn he’s busy gnawing and shoves the bottle over to me. I pick it up gingerly, trying to avoid the buttery smears where his fingers touched it. Out of the corner of my eye I see my parents exchange a glance.
“Honey, are you sure you understand?” says my mother. “They’re offering you a full scholarship!”
“So?”
“Shouldn’t you at least think it over?”
“I did,” I reply, slapping the top of the bun onto my burger. “I don’t want to go.”
My mother glances over at my dad again, her brow puckering with concern.
I sigh. “Look,” I tell them. “I want to stay at Walden Middle School with my friends. I don’t want to go to some dumb boarding school with a bunch of snobby rich kids.”
Dylan and Ryan start to snicker.
“Hush!” My mother frowns at them, then turns her attention to me again. “Sweetheart, they’re not snobby rich kids.” She pauses. “Well, some of them are rich, that’s true, but underneath they’re just normal girls like you.”
My mouth, which is open to take a bite of hamburger, gapes at her instead. “Normal? Mom, gimme a break! Have you been downtown and seen those kids? Some of them have chauffeurs! Their parents are movie stars and politicians and stuff like that.”
“Moooovie stars!” chorus the twins.
“Boys!” my mother scolds again. “Jess, I think you’re exaggerating just a tiny bit, don’t you? There are plenty of wealthy people who are perfectly nice and normal. Just look at the Wongs. You’d never know they were—”
“Bazillionaires?” my dad suggests.
“Michael! I’m trying to make a point here, and you’re not helping.”
“Sorry,” my dad says cheerfully.
“At any rate,” my mother continues, “I think you’re being too hasty about this decision, Jess. It’s an amazing opportunity. Besides, you already spend part of your day away from Walden—I don’t see how going to Colonial Academy would be all that different.”
“True,” says my father. “It’s not like it’s in China—it’s right here in town.”
Great. Now he’s ganging up on me too. How can I make them understand why I don’t want to leave Walden Middle School? Especially after it’s taken me so long to fit in. Sure, they’re right, I’ll be taking math and science classes at Alcott High again this year, but that’s hardly the same as being away from my friends all day every day. What would I do without Emma and Cassidy and Megan? Where would I sit at lunch? And
how could I leave Half Moon Farm, the one place on earth I feel completely happy and safe? I like sleeping in my own bed, in my own room. I don’t want to have to sleep in a dormitory, and share a room with some girl I don’t even know.
I set my hamburger down on my plate. My stomach is starting to tie itself in knots. “I just don’t want to go,” I say flatly.
My parents are silent. The only sound in the room is coming from my brothers, who are chomping loudly on their corn. I look out the window and spot a familiar figure on a bike, riding past our farm-stand. It’s Kevin Mullins. He’s been doing this all summer. He’ll ride by, and if he spots me in the front yard he makes a beeline in my direction, telling me he was “just in the neighborhood.” Which is a big lie, because he lives way up on Ripley Hill Road and my house isn’t on the way to anything.
“This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” my father says. “Surely there must be some nice girls who go to Colonial Academy.”
Nice? I think of the squadrons of students parading around downtown in their designer clothes, bragging to one another about their vacations to places like Nantucket and Palm Beach and Switzerland. The girls from Colonial Academy are like a whole fleet of Becca Chadwicks, only worse. At least Becca never called us “townies.” I shake my head again.
But my mother isn’t taking no for an answer. “Your father’s right,” she says. “You already know some of the students there. Lots of people here in town send their daughters to Colonial once they get to middle school and high school. There’s Nicole Patterson, and that Bartlett boy’s older sister—what’s her name?”
“Lauren,” I mutter.
“That’s the one. And how about Ellery Watson? You used to play with her sometimes back in elementary school.”
I can tell by the looks on their faces that my parents are really excited about this stupid Founder’s Award, but accepting it is absolutely, positively out of the question. Goat Girl at a private school? I would so not fit in.
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