Much Ado about Anne

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.

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

Well done Ms Frederick. I can't get enough of these books. Friendships, book clubs, oh my! In this book, the girls and their mothers are reading Anne of Green Gables. I liked the ideas of what they did during their book clubs. They also ban together when they need it most and grow up a bit. When Jess and her parents might lose Half Moon Farm, everyone pitches in -- the girls come up with a splendid idea and don't tell their parents until it is almost the day of the event. Will it work? Or will Jess and her family have to move somewhere else and lose everything they love about the farm? The girls are noticing boys a bit more, will one or more find a little teenage love? Read this wonderful addition to the first and find out! Although, I was trying to notice if you would HAVE to read the first one before this one, but I think not. Although it does help. ENJOY and then go out and start your OWN club!!

When I was in those tween years, this is the book I would have loved to have read. Even with not being familiar with the original "Mother-Daughter Book Club" book, I quickly fell in love with this sunny little gem that is reminiscent of "The Babysitters Club" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"--were it written to tweens. This is delicious chicklit for the younger ladies. The story tells the year of a group of friends--all different save for their friendship and their membership in a book club with their daughters. Chapters switch between girls' perspectives to tell their dramas, feelings, and adventures. Before you role your eyes, it's less cheesy and more poignant than one might think, batteling crushes, clique fights, lost homes, and mourning--not to mention the insights into the Anne Shirley books. Frederick's love of literature is clear here--and as a book lover myself I can't help but appreciate it. Her writing is fresh, lively, and pleasantly simple as it concerns itself more with the girls than every detail--and yet the New England setting is still marvelously vivid. I would definitely recommend this to that early teens, late elementary-early middle school crowd, but this 24 year-old was able to appreciate it as well!