The first book we will be reading in Modern American Literature is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Published just this January, it is a story about a young girl living in South Carolina during the 1960s who is trying to escape an abusive father and find out the truth surrounding her mother’s death. It’s a beautifully written story that has garnered many great reviews from critics and students alike.
This year, we’re inviting you to read along with us! We’re going to try to form the first ever Secret Life of Bees Parents’ Online Book Club. All you need to participate is a desire to read the book, an Internet connection, and a bit of spare time to share your thoughts in writing. We’ll pose some questions for you to respond to, and hopefully we can start a dialogue about the book…”
Seventy kids total…any guesses on how many parents take us up on it???
Dear Will,
I have been following your blog posts for weeks and am very impressed with what you and your students have accomplished.
I used to teach Parent Education and am a former school counselor.
Your parent book club idea is terrific. I think you may be offering busy parents another way to interact with the school and with their student. Of course, you’ll be up against the “uncool factor” of high school students possibly increasing their contact with their own parent(s) and other adults. I hope that the illusion of distance that may exist for students that blog will allow them to engage with more adults. In his new book, Invitations To The World, author Richard Peck suggests that books for young adults should cross over to adult readers because, “they might just open up a line of communication between the generations. They might be just as good as the cell phone for keeping in touch, maybe better.” I think your parent book club can do this on a deep level. Good Luck!