Today we’ll have one winner for all of the e-guides and the book.
Introducing Cindy Hudson
Cindy Hudson is the author of Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs (Seal Press, October 2009) as well as several e-book guides that help moms plan book-club meetings. Cindy has been writing weekly for The Oregonian for seven years. She is the founder of two long-running mother-daughter book clubs, and she lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two daughters. Visit her online at www.MotherDaughterBookClub.com and www.CindyHudson.com.
Learn about…
Book By Book, The Complete Guide To Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs
Mothers and daughters share a special bond. . . why not further this bond through reading together? Book clubs have been growing in popularity over the past ten years, started by a variety of people with various interests and goals. Mother-daughter book clubs offer a great way for families to grow and share — with each other and with other mother-daughter pairs. In Book by Book Cindy Hudson offers all the how-to tips mothers need to start their own successful book clubs. Hudson offers her own firsthand experience as the founder of two long-running successful mother-daughter book clubs.
Hudson offers suggestions on books topics, club guidelines, and how to keep the club going as daughters grow older. How big should the club be? Whom should we invite? How often should we meet? How do we make sure we actually read the books? Hudson has all the answers. With recommended book lists (divided by four age groups), online resources, and suggested recipes for book-club treats, Book by Book is a great resource for helping moms and daughters form new memories and traditions.
Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guide Collection One
Each collection offers guides to six books that I have hand chosen as being especially good for mothers and their daughters who are aged 9 to 12. You could easily start a mother-daughter book club and begin with the six featured books, or if you are in an established club, you can simplify your year by choosing to read all the book in the guide. The collections also let you save money! One collection costs less than if you purchase six guides individually. Here are the collections available:
Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides: Collection One
Titles include:
- The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little
- How to Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart
- Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent
- Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins
- The Mother-Daughter Book Club by Heather Vogel Frederick
- Trauma Queen by Barbara Dee
Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guide Collection Two
Titles include:
- Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
- Breakaway by Andrea Montalbano
- OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
- Savvy by Ingrid Law
- Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Mother-Daughter Book Club Meeting Planner Guides: The Cultural Explorations Collection
If you’re looking for books that may introduce your children to other cultures, some far away, some in different states in the U.S., check out the Cultural Explorations Collection. Titles include:
- The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little
- Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent
- Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins
- OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy
- Tortilla Sun by Jennifer Cervantes
- Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
I asked Cindy three questions about our giveaway’s theme topic, self-expression:
1. Is self-expression an important part of your life today, why or why not?
I can’t imagine a time where self expression will not be important in my life. It’s been a big part of who I am for as long as I can remember, even though its form has changed as I’ve grown over the years. That’s exciting in a way, because I feel I will continue to evolve and grow in the years to come. I may be doing something different 10 years from now, but as long as I find satisfaction from whatever it is, I know it will be okay.
2. What does self-expression mean to you and how do you do it in the world?
I think of self-expression and creativity as being tied together, and at different times of my life I have expressed myself creatively in different ways. When I was growing up I painted, crocheted, made ceramics, and created seed art, and I frequently gave my creations as gifts. In college I started to write more frequently for my journalism classes, and I found a lot of satisfaction in taking complicated stories and turning them into something people could easily understand. At heart I like simplicity in my own life, and I am most happy when I bring that simplicity to my writing.
3. How does your self-expression impact the world—your family, your friends, your readers, and everyone else?
I know what I create is not everyone’s cup of tea, but that doesn’t bother me because it doesn’t have to be for me to feel satisfaction with what I do. I write memoir to put my life into perspective and to leave stories for my children, I write about literacy and book clubs because I believe when people come together to discuss books lives are changed, and I write about people and places in my community because I believe our world is stronger when we are more connected to the place we live. Somehow, I hope all of my efforts have a ripple effect that spreads out from my articles, essays and books.
And Now, Your Turn…
You remember how this works right?
Please read the complete rules at least once!
I ask you a question.
You answer in the comments for your chance to win a book each day.
Please just respond once, even if you make a typo. 
Answer in the comments in 50-200 words (no less and no more to qualify to win one of today’s books).
What was your favorite book as a tween or teen? Why? Tell us a little story about its impact on you.
Ready, set, comment! I will hold the drawing tomorrow and post the results here in my blog.
Thanks for participating in the Writer Mama Every-Day-In-May Book Giveaway!
And thanks for spreading the word. We will be giving away great books by wonderful women authors all month.
View the complete list of authors and books.
View the giveaway Pinterest board.
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This may have been just before tween-dom. The first book that left an impact on me was “The Underground Railroad.” I don’t recall who wrote the edition I read as a young girl, but it would have been written in the seventies. It had a dark cover and the art showed slaves in a tunnel and Harriet Tubman watching over them and wielding an iron (one used for ironing clothes). I can’t seem to find it know in a search, there are many books on the Underground Railroad now.
Anyway, it left a lasting impression on me because I had a regular childhood. That was my first glimpse that the world was not a cozy little bubble. And my first foray into non-fiction.
The book that had the biggest impact on me in those years was “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Blume. It was the first time I didn’t feel all alone in the world – the first time I felt like somebody, somewhere had a clue about me. It was totally life changing.
I have been wanting to get a hold of Cindy’s book for quite some time, especially now that my daughter is almost 10 years old and we can do something like a book club together:)
I had so many books I loved as a tween/teen, but I would have to say once I discovered author Lois Duncan, I was hooked. I loved the way she crafted strong, female protagonists and wove hints of the paranormal/supernatural/psychological suspense in her stories. My favorites were “Killing Mr. Griffin,” “Stranger With My Face,” “Down a Dark Hall,” and “Summer of Fear.” I got rid of my copies of her books years ago and now regret it, so I’m hunting down as many old copies of her works in thrift stores as I can.
“Forever” by Judy Blume left a big impression. It was the first grown up book I read and in the pages of that paperback, I learned about adult feelings and hormonal changes occurring within my own body. I identified with Katherine though she was older than I was. I found Blume to have a remarkable awareness of what teens were feeling with first love and first sexual experiences.
I recall feeling embarrassed and alone in my feelings and reading the story helped me identify and feel less alone.
When I was in Jr. High, a friend handed me a book and whispered in my ear ‘You must read this book..it has sex in it.’ I had to believe what she was saying because she whispered it too me. She told me to return it to her when I finished because she checked it out under name. I remember telling her it would take me a month to read the book because it looked HUGE at the time maybe just under 100 pages and until time I never read a book over 20 pages long. But just with a little hope that there might be something sexy in a book from our Jr. High Library, I was determined to read it immediately. The book was/is ‘Flowers in the Attic’ by V.C. Andrews and it really changed the course of my life. To make a long story short, I completed the 100 plus page book in four days and that simple accomplishment made me realize that I wasn’t ‘stupid’ (in elementary school my teacher often said we were little stupid kids so I really believe that I had no potential and no brain what so ever…sad but true). No too long after I had read the book, the library banned all the V.C. Andrews books from the library after they realized the content. But after that I literally was awaken and tried to read as many books as possible, fiction, nonfiction, biographies etc. I started to actually study and do homework and loved giving Oral Book Reports. I was bused to a school in another neighborhood and I even remember the time I retold everyone on the bus ‘Mommy Dearest!’ Now I have a 3 1/2 year old daughter who loves reading and will even wake me up at night time to read another book.
I read Jack London’s Call of the
Wild when I was a tween and was fascinated with wolves for many years. (Jodi
Picoult’s new “Lone Wolf” provides great insight into these creatures.) As a
teen, “Lord of the Flies” had a tremendous impact. It made me wonder if kids could
really be that cruel and what it would be like to live on an island with no
adults. I also loved Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” “Grapes of Wrath,” “Pearl,”
and “East of Eden.” The drama of interpersonal relationships fascinated me then
and still does today. That said, I never read any of the typical YA books about
romance and teen angst. Those all seemed rather silly to me. But then again, I took care of my three
much-younger siblings since I was nine and had no time for the things most
teenage girls enjoy reading about, like sleepovers, clothes and boys. This year
my favorite fiction book is “The Book Thief,” by Markus Zusak. The author uses unexpected
words and phrases that make me wonder why I didn’t think of that first.
My favorite book at that age was The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein. It was an assigned reading for school and I am so glad it was for we grew up with few books in our home and no public library. (I lived in a very
rural area.) Whenever I wanted to check something out of the sparsely stocked school library that looked interesting, the librarian would tell me that it was too old for me. So, sadly, I grew up reading my mom’s paperback gothic romances that she traded with the girls at her office. Now, as a homeschooler, I do not scrimp on quality reading material for my children.
My favorite books when I was a tween were the Nancy Drew books, Trixie Belden books and the lesser-known Nurse Cherry Ames series. Since I lived on a rural route and our local library required a city address, I had little access to books during summers. Money was tight, so being able to buy a book was such a luxury for me. The only place to get books in my small hometown of 3300 was the IGA grocery store. Mom allowed me to add books from the series’ I enjoyed to her grocery cart only occasionally. Because books were so rare, believe me, I treasured every one I owned.
What inspired me about all 3 of these series was that each featured a teen protagonist who was independent, career-oriented, and stood in her own power. These women had interests beyond being housewives and mothers. For this country-bumpkin, the idea of becoming a super-sleuth like Nancy Drew or Trixie (and her friend Honey Wheeler), or maybe a nurse like Cherry Ames, inspired a vision of what might be possible beyond the Midwestern plains.
I enjoyed reading the posts about everyone’s favorite tween books. There are some I’ll be adding to my “to read” list as they sound like the types of books that adults would like to read too. I’ve had Judy Blume’s “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret” recommended several times, and I can’t believe I haven’t read it yet. That one’s a definite to check out.
When I was growing up I went through the shelves at my library and reading everything I could get my hands on, especially in summer. Two were standouts that I read over and over again. They were Drake: The Man They Called a Pirate and The Witch of Blackbird Pond. I loved the historical times both of these books evoked and the sense of adventure I got when reading them. The best part was sharing them with my daughters when they got old enough to read them and having them like them too.