Customer Reviews

Dear Pen Pal (Mother-Daughter Book Club (Hardback))

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

How many books portray moms AND tweens in a realistic enlightening way? Not many. In much of the juvenile fiction I've read, the parents are either stereotypical no-fun nags, or super-human, or not well-developed.

The Mother-Daughter Bookclub series allows moms to see their daughters in a new light -- and vice-versa, I hope. I love that the moms are going through their own issues and struggles as well. For example, in DEAR PEN PAL, one mom is trying to become "A whole new me," and another mom is dealing with her disapproving mother looking over her shoulder since she's moved in for a time.

The tweens are really growing up. They are in 8th grade now, and Jess goes off to boarding school (but is still near-by).

The book they read is Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster, which parallels Jess's situation nicely. My daughter and I both read Daddy Long Legs and loved it. I thank Heather Vogel Frederick for introducing it to us. I think that this book focuses more on the girls than the book themes, and for that reason, you don't miss much if you aren't familiar with it. In fact, Frederick takes pains not to reveal the surprise ending of Daddy Long Legs so that if girls choose to read it after, it won't be spoiled.

Another fantastic addition to this series.

I just love this series! Its a great Middle School book and a great one for both mother and daughter to enjoy together!. My daughter and I both read them and then discussd the book and the relationships. I love the first two books and this one too! I look forward more in this series, or at least from this writer!

Our favorite parts of the books is how they interweaved a classic book. The first book made us want to read Little Women as soon as we finished!

Cassidy, Emma, Megan, and Jess are back, and going into 8th grade. The book club has some changes in store this year, and individual members struggle a bit with change. Becca is back, and much improved. There's a new "mean girl" involved with the group, a secret, a first kiss, and a long distance trip or two. The girls are reading "Daddy Long Legs" in this book, along with a sequel. The books are less intertwined with the overall plot, though there is a certain connection, it is far less intrinsic than in the previous "Club" books. This book doesn't seem as unique as the others in the series, as the scenes near the book's end are fairly predictable and wrap up a little too tidily. Still, it's a fun book and quite enjoyable for girls and moms alike. I am very much looking to what I assume will be a 4th and final book in the series, so there will be one for each of the four original book club members.

I just have read the first book in the series and this one, and feel it is an interesting premise. I fully support all efforts to encourage kids to read, especially the classics. I think though that they didn't spend alot of time actually talking about the books and I think that would have been interesting, from adult/child POV, with the different time periods, etc. I liked how it showed the range of emotions between parents and children, and how parents have to let their kids be who they are, and how it is so difficult and painful and confusing to grow up. The book showed the best of who everyone could be, as well as the worst.

It is kind of a little thing but I didn't like how Jess had to keep making it up to Savannah for the cheese incident, when she didn't start it. I felt like Megan, at first, Becca and Savannah all got away with doing whatever they wanted to do way too much of the time. The books should not teach that if you are wealthy or popular, you WILL get away with being hateful.

The other thing that I though was not a positive message at all was the fact that in the space of only a couple of years, Cassidy's father had died, they had moved across the country, Cassidy's mother remarried and has a new baby. Then, since Cassidy isn't turning cartwheels around the room, the mother only wants to punish her and take her to a shrink! I do not like selfish clueless mothers, and Cassidy's took the cake. She didn't in this book seem to care in any way how Cassidy felt about all the huge changes that had taken place in a very short time. I think parents need to be much more sensitive to their children's needs in those situations, and not just their own.

BEST BOOKS EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A good part is when megen make the skirt for summer. i also like the part when they do ranch idol.

my favorite person is jess but all the people are great.i think i would be most like emma because i have glasses and love to read.

i have a friend named emma and she has glasses and loves to read but she doesnt like her glasses so she never weaars them but she is awesome anyway.

ILovr to read

Dear Pen Pal is a story teenage girls can truly relate to in many ways. They are not normally in the same predicament, but can be reminded of a time when they felt the same way as one of the charaters. In one of the books, Cassidy Sloane's mother and Stanley Kinkaid are getting married. Cassidy doesn't want them to, because she still misses her dad. He died a year ago, and Cassidy feels like her mother is forgetting about him. Most people are not usually in that exact situation, but they can relate to the change.

The people in the book also read real books, so if what they are reading sounds interesting, you can also read that book. In Dear Pen Pal, they read two books, Daddy-Long-Legs and the sequel, Just Patty. So if you need things to read, then you would have three right there!

Another great thing about this book is that it makes you laugh out loud. It is a story about teenagers, and they can also be hilarious at unexpected moments.

You also get to know all of the characters and read the story from their different points of view. It lets you know how everyone feels about something, like about what book they are reading, events that are happening, or what their friends are like.

Dear Pen Pal will keep you glued to it for hours on end, enjoying the story all the while.

This series was so great so ar that i am already ready for the fourth one! Two thumbs up :)

Our favorite book club girls are growing up! This year they're in eighth grade. I love how they age with each book. I'm curious to see if the series' themes will change from MG to YA as the girls enter high school. As of now, they're still in that in-between stage. A little more confident and mature than as sixth graders, but without some of the problems that they will likely encounter in high school.

The Mother Daughter Book Club selection for eighth grade is Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. As with the second book, I am disappointed that it doesn't talk more about the book club selection. It has fabulous tidbits about the author presented in worksheet format and incorporate plot-points of the novel, but you don't really learn much about the book. Luckily, I have read Daddy Long Legs so I understood what they were talking about. Otherwise, I'd be more confused than anything else.

Of course, the book club selection really is just a side-plot. I love this series because of the four girls and their mothers. I should say five girls, because Becca and Mrs. Chadwick are now firmly entrenched in the book club. I was disappointed that we never heard Becca's point of view, since I've grown to like her. I hope she will became a central character in later books.

Each girl faces challenges this year. Cassidy, never one for change, is horrified that her mother is having a baby. Jess is now attending a local boarding school on scholarship. She has to deal with a mean-girl roommate and discover how low she is willing to stoop in response. Megan is thrilled that her grandmother is visiting long-term; she is a kindred spirit. But it also presents a need to understand and re-evaluate her relationship with her mother. Emma, who is the most "blah" character - a low-self-esteem bookworm (very much like myself at that age) - is ironically the first girl to have serious boy issues. This year is a challenge for Emma to find her own voice. Becca is still Becca but getting nicer. We don't notice her growth as much since she's always seen through other characters' eyes.

The Mother Daughter Book Club has something for everyone. Each character, whether adult or child, is so different that every reader can find someone like herself. The plot does get resolved a bit too conveniently to be believable, but realism isn't why I enjoy this series. It's just good fun.

this series just keeps getting better. i would have never expected this from the book with the pink cover i found on the bogo shelf at the book fair. in every book i get more and move impressed. this is a great read!

Another well done entry in the Mother-Daughter Book Club series. This time around, the girls are reading Jean Webster's saccharine and kind of gross Daddy Long Legs, but luckily the plot of the new book didn't mirror the plot of the classic as tightly as previous ones have, and the characters continue to develop. A bit of a suspension of disbelief at the end, but enjoyable nontheless. For my sins, the next book, coming out in August, is, inevitably, based on Pride and Prejudice. Pies and Prejudice, it will be called. Honestly, people, other women than Jane Austen have written books. It's true- they're out there.