A Mother/Daughter Book Club

Today, Pamela Fierro of Virginia Beach, Virginia, talks about what inspired her to start a Mother/Daughter book club and how the lively discussion group has since become an annual summer tradition for her twin daughters and some of their friends.

Pamela is the author of Everything Twins, Triplets & More, Praying Through Pregnancy, Your Pregnancy Devotional and Mommy Rescue Guide: Twins, Triplets & More, and her writing has appeared in Twins, Tidewater Parent, and other magazines. Since 2001, she has been the Guide to Twins & Multiples at About.com, where she writes articles and blogs about raising twins and the world of multiple birth.


When my twin daughters were nine years old, I became increasingly discouraged by their lack of interest in reading for pleasure. Alternatives for their time and attention were too appealing: video games, television, the computer, sports, activities and friends. I'd been a member of a book club for several years and thoroughly enjoyed discussing books in a social forum. Why not share that joy with my daughters and perhaps spark their interest in reading?

I invited several friends who liked to read and had daughters the same age as my own. Thus the Mother/Daughter book club was born.

We chose Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson as our first book. It was a magical experience! Despite their initial reluctance to read it, my girls loved discussing the book with their friends. The moms loved hearing their daughters speak their minds. The girls were fired up about the book, analyzing characters and plot twists, identifying literary techniques and proposing alternate endings.

A tradition was born. Since that summer of 2005, we've met annually, usually twice over the course of the summer. As the girls graduated from elementary school and went on to different middle schools, the summer book club gives them a chance to reconnect.

It can be difficult to find suitable books. They have to be engaging enough to induce the girls to read in the summertime, when the pool and beach (and now boys!) are a distraction. Since our first book, we've read a fairy tale (Princess Academy by Shannon Hale) and a mystery (Twisted Summer by Willo Davis Roberts). We've also done two books that the moms remember reading as kids: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.

For this summer's book selection, we ventured into science fiction. Our book was Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer, an apocalyptic story about an asteroid crashing into the moon and the struggle for survival in the wake of the disaster. Told in diary form by a teenage girl, the story was instantly gripping. All summer, the girls have been buzzing about the book, eager to share their thoughts but careful not to give away the ending.

On the night of our 2008 Mother/Daughter book club, the house came alive with the squeals and giggles of nine thirteen-year-old girls, pigging out on chicken nuggets, brownies and sodas. Meanwhile, the mothers nibbled on bruschetta and sipped glasses of wine. We settled down in the family room for our discussion, the girls sitting close together, almost on top of each other with the easy intimacy of teenage friendship.

For the next two hours, the book ceased to be just a pile of printed papers. The story of Life as We Knew It blazed into life, illuminating the room like the glow of a lit candle. As is our custom, each girl came prepared with a question to pose to the group, so everyone had a chance to direct the conversation. The girls debated the what-if's, why-not's, and what-would-you-do's as they dissected every tangent of the story. Their questions were insightful and provocative; their answers were thoughtful and imaginative. I'd contacted the author, Susan Beth Pfeffer, by email and she graciously replied, becoming a part of the conversation by sending a message to the girls as well as autographed book plates.

And for a while, mothers listened to their daughters share their surprisingly mature --- and sometimes silly --- insights about serious issues, like the role of religion, whether things matter more than people and how much mothers should control their children. For a time, the daughters actually listened to their mothers too, forgetting their disputes about chores and homework and curfews and hairstyles, and relating to them as fellow readers.

Like a candle extinguished, the house is dark now. All is quiet. The girls and their moms have gone home and all that's left are some dirty dishes and the memories of our discussion. But I look forward to the next Mother/Daughter book club, treasuring the opportunity to witness and share the moments when a book touches my daughters' hearts, sparking a love of literature at least for a few hours on a sultry summer night.

---Pamela Fierro