Bookclub groups meet once a month on the designated Wednesday.

Suggested grade levels are as follows:

Yellow: 1st - 3rd grades
October 30th, Costa Mesa Store – The Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, by Geronimo Stilton
November 27th, Newport Hills Store – Magic Treehouse – Thanksgiving on Thursday, by Mary Pope Osborne

Orange: 2nd - 4th grades
October 23rd, Newport Hills Store – Jack Plank Tells Tales, by Natalie Babbit
November 20th, Costa Mesa Store – Just Grace, by Charise Mericle Harper

Green: 3rd - 5th grades
October 22nd, Costa Mesa Store – Aurora County All-Stars, by Deborah Wiles
November 19th, Newport Hills Store – Paint the Wind, by Pam Munoz Ryan

Blue: 5th - 7th grades
October 29th, Newport Hills Store – The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor
November 26th, Costa Mesa Store – The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron

We have broken down the reading groups into these 4 color-coded reading levels so that parents can choose the bookclub which best suits their child's reading abilities. As kids improve through the year, they are encouraged to move up to the next reading level. Our intent is to have readers start at a level where they are comfortable, build confidence and skills, then move up.

Discussions include plot summary, evaluation of major characters and themes, and age-appropriate activity or discussion of overall content. The fee for each session is $5.00 and includes a $5.00 gift certificate to the store that can be used towards the purchase of the book for the following month.
 

October, November 2007 titles are: Yellow: 5:00-6:00pm, October 30th, Costa Mesa Store – The Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, by Geronimo Stilton The Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye, by Geronimo Stilton "It all started when my sister, Thea, discovered a mysterious map. It showed a secret treasure on a faraway island. And before I could let out a squeak of protest, Thea dragged me into her treasure hunt! In no time at all, we'd set sail for the island. It was an adventure I'd never forget...." GERONIMO STILTON, Mouse Adventurer. His first "tail"!     Book Details Yellow:  5:00-6:00pm, November 27th, Newport Hills Store – Magic Treehouse – Thanksgiving on Thursday, by Mary Pope Osborne   Magic Treehouse – Thanksgiving on Thursday, by Mary Pope Osborne The Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to the eve of the first Thanksgiving. There they meet the Pilgrims as well as Squanto, a Native American who helped them. The story offers an age-appropriate, in-depth picture of what life was really like for early settlers, as well as the usual Magic Tree House adventure and excitement.   Book Details Orange: October 23rd, Newport Hills Store – Jack Plank Tells Tales, by Natalie Babbit Jack Plank Tells Tales, by Natalie Babbit Yes, Jack Plank started out to be a pirate. His shipmates all liked him, and their ship, the Avarice, was certainly very beautiful. But after a while it was clear that he wasn't much good at plundering. He just didn't have the knack for it. So what to do? Jack did the only thing he could do-he went ashore to look for another line of work. The town was called Saltwash, on the coast of the Caribbean Sea, and he had a lot of helpful advice from the people in Mrs. Delfresco's boardinghouse. Somehow, though, each career he looked into seemed to have something wrong with it. And every night at dinner in the boardinghouse, he tried to explain why. For who would want to work where there might be a troll, or the danger of getting a crab caught in your beard? Or what about a music-loving crocodile? There were other things, too, that ran against every suggestion and took the wind out of his sails. At last, Jack sadly decided he wouldn't be good at anything onshore and would have to go back to sea, pirate or not. But sometimes, as you probably know already, things work out very nicely when you least expect it.   Book Details Orange: November 20th, Costa Mesa Store – Just Grace, by Charise Mericle Harper Grace loves cats. She also loves taking pictures of cats and drawing Not-So Super comics. She doesn’t like Sammy Stringer, a boy in her class. She’s got lots and lots of ideas, and when her neighbor’s cat goes missing, Grace does her best to make Mrs. Luther feel less lonely. But as the mystery of the missing cat continues, Grace’s well-intentioned plan backfires, and she finds herself in a bit of trouble. Maybe, just maybe, Sammy Stringer will help her through.   Book Details Green: October 22nd, Costa Mesa Store – Aurora County All-Stars, by Deborah Wiles Twelve-year-old House Jackson--star pitcher and team captain of the Aurora County All-Stars--has been sidelined for a whole sorry year with a broken elbow. He's finally ready to play, but wouldn't you know that the team's only game of the year has been scheduled for the exact same time as the town's 200th-anniversary pageant. Now House must face the pageant's director, full-of-herself Frances Shotz (his nemesis and perpetrator of the elbow break), and get his team out of this mess. There's also the matter of a mysterious old recluse who has died and left House a wheezy old dog named Eudora Welty--and a puzzling book of poetry by someone named Walt Whitman. Through the long, hot month of June, House makes surprising and valuable discoveries about family, friendship, poetry . . . and baseball. Book Details Green: November 19th, Newport Hills Store – Paint the Wind, by Pam Munoz Ryan "...A beautiful portrait of a rugged land, within which people and horses sometimes find a bond" - Kirkus Reviews "The author gets the romance just right, from 11-year-old heroine Maya's aching desire to learn about her long dead mother and fit into her mother's family, to Maya's instant connection with the horse raised and trained by her great-Aunt Vi" - Publishers Weekly Maya is a captive. In Grandmother's house in California, every word and action is strictly monitored, and even Maya's memories of her mother have been erased — except within the imaginary world she has created. A world away, in the rugged Wyoming wilderness, a tobiano Paint horse called Artemisia runs free, belonging only to the stars. She embodies the spirit of the wild — and she holds the key to Maya's memories. How Maya's and Artemisia's lives intertwine, like a braided rein, is at the heart of this richly drawn adventure about captivity and freedom, about holding on and letting go.   Book Details Blue: October 29th, Newport Hills Store – The Looking Glass Wars, by Frank Beddor The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook. The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss� parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.   Book Details Blue: November 26th, Costa Mesa Store – The Higher Power of Lucky, by Susan Patron Lucky, age ten, can't wait another day. The meanness gland in her heart and the crevices full of questions in her brain make running away from Hard Pan, California (population 43), the rock-bottom only choice she has. It's all Brigitte's fault -- for wanting to go back to France. Guardians are supposed to stay put and look after girls in their care! Instead Lucky is sure that she'll be abandoned to some orphanage in Los Angeles where her beloved dog, HMS Beagle, won't be allowed. She'll have to lose her friends Miles, who lives on cookies, and Lincoln, future U.S. president (maybe) and member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers. Just as bad, she'll have to give up eavesdropping on twelve-step anonymous programs where the interesting talk is all about Higher Powers. Lucky needs her own -- and quick. But she hadn't planned on a dust storm. Or needing to lug the world's heaviest survival-kit backpack into the desert Book Details