Customer Reviews

Much Ado About Anne (Mother Daughter Book Club)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Much Ado About Anne (The Mother-Daughter Book Club)
This well written book is a delight. The protagonists learn about literature, life, and love and so do we. The story is told in the first person by four young women. You can follow who's speaking by the chapter headings, and, if you like a challenge, by listening for their different voices. The setting is modern New England.

I particularly like this book because it presents the kind of challenges that ordinary people face, and shows how the girls and their community meet those challenges. Difficult situations are not minimized, but nothing is overdrawn. Nothing blows up. No one gets killed.

An added attraction is the information offered about Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, and the author of those books, Lucy Maude Montgomery. The "learning" is not thrust on anyone, neither the girls in the book, nor the reader.

This is a very good book.

"Much Ado About Anne" by Heather Vogel Frederick

If I had had a daughter, this would have been a series that I would have really encouraged her to read. Not only would she have gotten a taste for what it's like to be in someone else's shoes, she would have come to understand what loss means. Loss of a parent, a home and even the loss of self. She would learn what its like to selflessly help someone else and to not always think of yourself first. She would also see what it's like to gain confidence, trust, and maturity.

Perhaps Emma, Jess, Megan and Cassidy aren't facing what every 13 year old faces, but I think that more teens than not, know what it's like to worry over losing their home, gaining a new step-parent, being bullied in school and even making career choices.

I really loved this book and will make a point now of reading the first in the series: The Mother-Daughter Books Club. I will also be picking up Lucy Maud Montgomery's series and read something that I missed while growing up.

"Much Ado About Anne" is a well-written, charmingly original best-friends story that weaves the saga of a group of 7th grade girls from Concord, Mass., with the classic novel "Anne of Green Gables". The girls and their mothers are reading "Gables" this year as part of the Mother-Daughter Book Club. As they get into various scrapes and schemes, it becomes apparent that teenage girls are still teenage girls, even 100 years after L.M. Montgomery's novel was published. There will always be short tempers, snotty rivals, and hair-brained shenanigans (and the mothers aren't exempt from this, either!)

You don't have to have read "Anne Of Green Gables" to enjoy and understand "Much Ado About Anne," but if you have read it, you'll get an extra layer of amusement out of this story.

One complaint that knocked off a star in my rating: The four main characters take turns telling the story; the perspective switches with each chapter. This got a little confusing in "Anne". I know that this whole "rotating viewpoints" device is nothing new in literature, but I had a difficult time with it in this novel (as well as its predecessor, which I read before reading this one.) The only indication we get of who's narrating the chapter is their scrawly-print name on the first page. Despite the girls' differences in personality, they have no noticeable differences in their "voices," or way of storytelling. You don't have one girl with a sarcastic sense of humor or one who always uses big words or one who's crisp and blunt. They all sound the same.

Otherwise, Frederick is an adept storyteller who has a way of including snarky phrases that caused me to laugh out loud quite a few times. The pace of the story is slow at times, but it gets where it's going eventually, and the ending is satisfying. Preteens should eat this right up.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club continues in its second year, this time reading ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.

The mothers decided to invite one more pair to the monthly meetings: Becca Chadwick and her mother. Jess, Emma, and Cassidy are horrified to share their meetings with the class mean girl. Megan, Becca's former friend, doesn't mind the intrusion so much. In fact, as the days go by, Megan realizes that Becca understands her in ways that her friends can not.

While Becca continues snide comments, specifically towards Emma, she's driving a wedge between the friends. Jess, Cassidy, and Emma can't understand why Megan's spending time with Becca and her minions again. When a huge misunderstanding occurs, it looks like Megan might follow Becca and drop out of the book club all together.

When tragedy looms before them, can the girls put aside their differences to come together and save something important to them all?

MUCH ADO ABOUT ANNE intertwines the magic of friendship from ANNE OF GREEN GABLES to present day Concord, weaving between sharp words, high emotions, revenge, forgiveness, and happiness.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

My neighbor, who's almost 12,and somewhat ahead for her age, is an avid reader. We both thought it would be fun to write a review together, and so, almost five months ago, she picked this book from a small list, saying it sounded good.

Normally, once she picks up a book, she pretty much won't put it down until she's done. Not so with this one. She started strong, but after a few weeks, when I asked if she was ready to write a review with me, she admitted sheepishly that she hadn't finished it. I asked her if she didn't like it. "It's okay" she said.

About every two weeks since, I've asked her if she's finished the book. "No, I promise I will" is always her answer. I've said that if she didn't like it, it's okay to tell me, but she always says it's "okay."

In my world, if I've started a book of fiction that's just okay, and still not done with it in five months, I give up. I think she has, but she doesn't want to let me down. I finally let her off the hook.

She still doesn't want to say she didn't like it, maybe because she thinks of it as a gift. But she did admit to losing interest. At first, she did enjoy it, but she didn't care enough about either the story or the characters to keep on reading. Other books called out to her to read them.

So, though not very explanatory, the bottom line of my 12-year-old neighbor's review is this; "It's okay."

I loved this book my mom and I are in a Mother daughter Book Club and this is our system: We started our first meeting at my friend's and the starter of the book clubs house my freind and I playe for a couple hours. Then one mother would pick a book for the mothers to read during the month and that mother's daughter would pick a book for the kids to read during the month. For our next meeting the person who picked the book would host. this has gone on for a few onthes and it just so happens that the first book that we read was Anne Of Green Gables. the first book was somthing I found at a book store thought looked cool but did not end up reading until one day when I was complaining to my mom how I had nothing to read. I was not in a preticuraly good mood, but was bored so begrudgeingly agreed.I LOVED it and when I figured out there was second one I needed . It was in hard cover but totaly worth it . the book we read being Anne Of Green Gables made it even more wonderful.this is a great book for any one to start a bookcub or is alredy in one.

This book is about a group a friends who are in 7th Grade and are part of a Mother-Daughter Book Club, where they read Classic books with their mothers and do activities together. Overall the book is an easy read, has many interesting characters and plot developments, and is educational.

This is the second book in this series by Heather Vogel Frederick, the first book is entitled "The Mother-Daughter Book Club"The Mother-Daughter Book Club. In the first book they read Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women." In this book they read "Anne of Green Gables" and "Anne of Avonlea." Through out the book you learn quotes from the novels they read and you learn a lot about the author L.M. Montgomery, which is a wonderful way to introduce classic literature. I learned a lot too, I have never read "Anne of Green Gables" but it sounds like something I would enjoy a lot, so I will probably give it a try.

They style of the book is similar to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series in that each girl is unique, has different interest, and has a personality that many young girls can connect and identify with. Also the chapters are labeled with the girls' name who is "the main character" of this chapter, so the point-of-view changes with each chapter, also like Ann Brashares Traveling pants books.

The four girls (main characters) are:
Emma: slightly overweight, shy, loves to read, parents are big readers and Jane Austen fans.
Jess: very smart, loves animals, parents own a farm where she has a lot of chores.
Cassidy: athletic, loves hockey, stubborn, lost her father two years ago and doesn't want her mom (a former model) to date.
Megan: girly, into fashion, friends with the popular crowd, has a mom who is very into saving the earth.

Besides the four girls and their mom's, the book has many other supporting characters. (Maybe a little to many, as I had a hard time keeping them straight! Especially when their names were similar like Stuart Chadwick and Stanley Kincaid). However, these supporting character help make the story interesting especially when antagonist like Becca Chadwick and her mom join the book club and cause a lot of disruptions!

Overall I would recommend this book to young readers because it is a fun, interesting tale of four girls who many can identify with and will be a stepping stone for them to read classical literature. I am sure many girls after reading this book will be inspired to read "Anne of Green Gables."Anne of Green Gables

Heather Vogel Frederick's second book in the Mother-Daughter Book Club series is a charming story of a group of tween girls (ages 12 & 13) living in Concord, Massachusetts. They're all best friends and, along with their Moms, part of a book club. The club's selection for this year is Lucy Maud Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" and that book provides something of a theme to the story.

"Much Ado About Anne" is written in the style of a classic young adult novel, but with a contemporary feel to it. The girls are nicely developed in easily recognizable types -- the tomboy, the brain, the fashion plate, etc. -- and are all quite likable. The story, told in each chapter through a different girl's point-of-view, nicely captures each girl's voice. The plot, partly involving the girls' efforts to save one of the family's farm, is entertaining and, if not exactly relatable to most young readers, is easy to sympathize with.

The book also serves as something of a reading guide to "Anne of Green Gables," providing background material on the author and book, along with questions for discussion and thought regarding that classic novel. For readers who have not yet experienced L.M. Montgomery's classic, this book will motivate many of them to give it a try.

Obviously the target audience for this book is young girls (and perhaps their mothers as well), but young boys interested in learning a little more about the opposite sex might just find it entertaining as well -- provided they remove the book jacket first.

The second in a series, this book about a Mother & Daughter book club offers a great read for preteens and the adults who love them. This year the girls and their mothers are reading Anne of Green Gables as they face personal challenges. They discover once again (after last year's reading of Little Women) that classic literature has relevancy in their lives.

This book, however, is far from didactic about reading the classics. It's more reminiscent of a younger Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants in tone and presentation. Chapters alternate between viewpoints, offering readers a chance to choose their favorite characters. This time around, the girls also have to learn how to expand their circle and deal with snobbery from a new member to the book club. There are other issues, such as family financial woes, sibling woes and even a few crushes, so there's something here for everyone. A fun book to inspire starting a book club of your own, whether it's mother/daughter or not.

This is the story of young girls and their mothers who have banded together to form a book club. Each year they chose a book to read and discuss it. The girls have formed a tightly knit group, as have the mothers, who share problems and joys with one another. When snooty Becca Chadwick and her mother join the club the fun begins. Becca considers herself too good to even associate with most the girls, but more problems arise when one of the girls' family might lose their farm. Problems arise, solutions must be found, and often near disaster can bring out the best in people and who lends a helping hand may well surprise you.

I found this book to be very good at holding my attention. The characters definitely weave their way into your heart and they are delightful in their young whimsical ways. It is a work that shows the battles young girls have with their emotions, both with family, school, and friends. It also shows the unity that friendship can bring and leaves you feeling good inside after the read.
I feel this is a great book for young girls and would be an asset to anyone's reading library.