Hello July!🧨
We welcomed some new faces when we gathered at Paul Miller Park to discuss Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine. Susan has also reserved the large shelter (by the bathrooms) for our August 12th meeting, where we're slated to discuss Blood Sugar, by Sascha Rothchild. We will keep our eyes on the weather and send out a reminder email to everyone as the date gets closer~ if the weather doesn't cooperate, we'll plan to meet in the meeting room at the library.
Speaking of Blood Sugar, we have very limited copies, with a handful more on the way from MN Link, but if you don't need a copy of this title, would you please
take a minute to leave a comment down below to let me know? It helps us
maximize our efficiency! Thanks!
Without further ado!
In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or
white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s
the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now
Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it,
but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how.
When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she
needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is
black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.
This book was a hit with almost everyone who attended. We really liked the writing and the way Caitlin's thoughts depicted. We adored Caitlin and the way she came at the world, some of us saying we'd like to be her friend. We liked Caitlin's father and had great empathy for how he managed the unimaginable losses they have both had to endure. We also really liked Caitlin's school counselor, how she interacted with Caitlin and how she calmly phrased key concepts in a way that seemed to reach her. There were parts where we laughed out loud, and parts that tugged on our heart strings~ we liked moving through the story.
What little con's we could scrape together were that we didn't really like the ending. We weren't able to follow how Caitlin and her father were ok with donating Devon's chest to the school~ especially with a loud, in-the-spotlight kind of reaction from the audience that we thought for sure would be all wrong for Caitlin. We rather felt that they would both, but Caitlin especially, would want to keep the chest, it having so much significant sentimental value.
One of us found the book mostly sad, and wondered if integrating Caitlin in the mainstream of public education was the right thing, given the bullying she experienced. It lead to great discussion about personal experiences with the autism spectrum (did you know we don't use the term "Asperger's" anymore?), special needs children in the public school setting and the real world.
Do you have anything to add? Leave it in the comments below! 👇
Did you really enjoy Mockingbird? Fans of the book also enjoyed, Rules, by Cynthia Lord, Counting by 7's, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, and Fish in a Tree, by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 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
