Welcome September! 🚌
Up next for October is The Gales of November, by John Bacon. We have several copies, but just in case you don't need a copy and you haven't already let me know, would you please leave me a quick note in the comments below so we can keep the call list updated? Thank you for your help!
Without further ado....
Michael is an atheist. So as he walks through the doors at St. Clare’s—a strict Catholic school—sporting a plaid tie, things can’t get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. When a girl challenges their teacher in class, Michael thinks he might have found one, and a fellow nonbeliever at that. Only this girl, Lucy, is not just Catholic . . . she wants to be a priest.
But Lucy introduces Michael to other St. Clare’s outcasts, and he officially joins Heretics Anonymous. After an incident in theology class, Michael encourages the Heretics to go from secret society to rebels intent on exposing the school’s hypocrisies. When Michael takes one mission too far—putting the other Heretics at risk—he must decide whether to fight for his own freedom, or rely on faith, whatever that means, in God, his friends, or himself.
This one was largely a hit! We liked Henry's writing, we mostly found her characters and the plot believable. We liked this group of outcasts and enjoyed the laugh out loud parts. This book couldn't help but bring about personal discussions for the group about our own high school years and friendships~ and those of our children and grandchildren~ and compare our experiences to the book.
On the very slight other hand, a select few could agree with all those positives, but also felt a few things weren't quite right. For example, there was a noticeable build up in the book, but what Michael actually did just didn't seem that bad in the end... certainly not bad enough to warrant his friend's reactions. And then the tidy, hallmark style ending where everybody is friends again just doesn't work... for a select few of us. This point was countered with mentions of teenagers sometimes being very hot and cold, and that's fair, but for all of the teenagers in the group to be these hot and cold types, for no real heinous act, was just a little too much.
All that aside, I think we could also all agree it was a welcome reprieve from the heaviness of the previous month's selection, "When it All Burns"~ thank goodness for a good mix of books on the docket!
Give us your thoughts below! 👇
Did you enjoy Heretics Anonymous? Fans of the book also enjoyed, American Panda, by Gloria Chao, The Serpent King, by Jeff Zentner, and Let's Call it a Doomsday, by Katie Henry. All of these titles are available within the Viking Library System~ reserve your copy today!
The votes are in!
Would we recommend this to a friend to read? Yes
Would we
recommend this to another book club for discussion? Yes
Rate the book 1-5 stars, with 1 being the lowest rating: 4 stars
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