The Mother-Daughter Book Club - Heather Vogel Frederick Audiobook

Written by Heather Vogel Frederick
Read by Cris Dukehart, Amy Rubinate, Kate Rudd, Emily Woo Zeller
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps

Mother-Daughter Book Club Series, Book 1
Publisher: Ideal Audiobooks, LLC Edition: Unabridged
Release date: July 13, 2015
Duration: 06:16:35

The book club is about to get a makeover…Even if Megan would rather be at the mall, Cassidy is late for hockey practice, Emma’s already read every book in existence, and Jess is missing her mother too much to care, the new book club is scheduled to meet every month. But what begins as a mom-imposed ritual of reading Little Women soon helps four unlikely friends navigate the drama of middle school. From stolen journals, to secret crushes, to a fashion-fiasco first dance, the girls are up to their boots in drama. They can’t help but wonder: What would Jo March do?

Allusions to Little Women sprinkled throughout this contemporary novel, may well pique the interest of Louisa May Alcott buffs. Frederick (the Patience Goodspeed books; the Spy Mice series) alternates the perspectives of Emma, Megan, Cassidy and Jess, members of a mother-daughter book club who are reading Little Women while adjusting to their first year of middle school.

Emma, an aspiring writer, has grown apart from her former best friend, Megan, who gained entry into the popular crowd after her father’s invention made the family rich. Despite her heightened status, Megan isn’t altogether happy, since her mother scorns her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Meanwhile, tomboy Cassidy mourns the loss of her father, who was killed in an accident, and Jess misses her mother, who has gone to New York to pursue an acting career.

All of the girls are less enthusiastic about the book club than their parents are, but as might be expected, their attitudes change as they become absorbed in Little Women and its author, who grew up in their hometown of Concord, Mass. The girls’ increasing sensitivity to each other’s problems is convincing, but the way in which each character finds happiness (during a whirlwind trip to New York City) is more dependent on lucky circumstance than personal achievement. Still, this club’s success in uniting a group of disparate sixth-graders may well inspire readers to start one of their own. Ages 9-12.