The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
Contemporary Middle Grade
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The Mother-Daughter Book Club (#1) by Heather Vogel Frederick
4 STARS, Contemporary Middle Grade, My format: hard cover library discard (I got the whole series for free!)
Goodreads Synopsis | Buy on BookShop | Buy ebook on Kobo
Megan (a fashionista), Cassidy (a hockey player), Emma (has already read the book), and Jess (the farmer’s daughter) are brought together for a mom-imposed book club and discussion of Little Women.
Personal Review:
What a pleasant surprise! I'm so glad I enjoyed this book because I would love for my daughters to read this so we can share the experience of following this Mother-Daughter Book Club.
I thought the relationships were very appropriate for a young middle grade book (the characters are 6th graders). The parents of each of the 4 girls were mature and well-represented, even when they weren't making what I would consider the best decisions. I really enjoyed the unique personalities of each of the girls and the different struggles they had and the growth of each of them.
I also liked how the moms grew individually and as friends. I was surprised that I liked all of them by the end of the book because I wasn't so sure for a while if I would like reading about them the whole time. I thought it was great how each girl developed their own personal interests in the book and how the moms came together to support each of them.
There are some typical middle school drama scenes involving bullies and boys, but they weren't overdone and felt pretty realistic. I'd be fine with my 7- and 9-year-old daughters reading this book.
The atmosphere of this book started to remind me of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. If the series stays nice and clean, like this book was, it might be a great replacement for Sisterhood as that one is not something I'd like my girls reading as teens.
Content Warnings:
bullying, crushes on boys, death of a father (happened prior to start of the book)