Book Club Report: Beyond the Bright Sea, Loren Wolk

An update from our thirtieth Book Club meeting!

On September 25, the Stone Soup Book Club discussed Beyond the Bright Sea, by Loren Wolk. Beyond the Bright Sea tells the story of twelve-year-old Crow and her search for her birth family after having spent her entire life on an isolated island off the coast of Massachusetts, with Osh, the guardian who rescued and raised her.

There were ten Book Club participants in attendance from the US, England, and Dubai. We engaged in in-depth conversations about the book’s various themes as well as character, setting and plot. As always, we endeavored to unpack how and for what purpose each of these elements were crafted in Wolk’s development of the novel.

We also participated in a couple of fun writing activities. We explored, in writing, the notion of home; what makes a place a home and what is it like to feel a sense of yearning for home? Participants could choose to share their reflections about home directly from their own perspectives, or to explore their ideas about home through a fictionalized account. We also engaged in a writing activity that allowed us to imagine a sequel to the book. In doing so, we discussed what aspects of the book’s current ending we would like to see preserved, and what aspects would be fun to disrupt!

The overwhelming consensus of the group was that this was a great read with vivid, believable characters, an intriguing setting, and a fast-paced, exciting plot!

Remember: if you attended book club and liked what you wrote for these activities, submit it through the Writing Workshop Submission Form and we will post it along with other stories on the Stone Soup website!

At the conclusion of our discussion, we chose our October book and the December book was announced!

Our Next Book, to be discussed on October 30:

When Stars are Scattered, by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

We are excited to share that on, December 11^th, our final Book Club meeting of this session, we will be joined by author and historian, Lucy Worsley, to discuss her book The Austen Girls!