by Heather Vogel Frederick

Emma, Jess, Cassidy and Megan simply can’t believe their ears! Their mothers have enrolled them in what? A mother-daughter book club? A book club which is to meet once a month, taking turns at members’ homes? What on earth could their mothers have been thinking – or not thinking?

The four middle school girls have many other things on their minds than reading and discussing Little Women. Megan is entirely preoccupied with her own set of fashionable friends; hockey is Cassidy’s life; Jess misses her absent mother too much to care about anything else, and Emma has already read just about every book in print - including Little Women. Besides, although Jess and Emma are good friends, they are despised by Megan, a snob, and Cassidy appears to have no use for anyone not involved with hockey.

However, as this novel skilfully demonstrates, the four unlikely friends have much more in common than they suppose at first. They also have quite a bit in common with the four sisters in Little Women - and with their own mothers. Connections are drawn between the girls and their families and into the past, as on various occasions they begin to ask themselves, “What would Jo March do now?”

Heather Frederick’s novel scores highly in appeal, humour and realistic dialogue, and it’s quite likely that middle school readers will be looking for more of her books. (The Library has two.)

** Recommended for ages 9 to 12 years.
Find this book in the library catalogue.