An update from our seventh Stone Soup Book Club meeting! This week, during our 7th meeting of the Stone Soup Book Club, we were very lucky to have Adam Gidwitz, the author of The Inquisitor’s Tale come and join our discussion for a little while! We had the exciting opportunity to ask Mr. Gidwitz questions about his book, and about writing overall. We listened as he explained how he came up with the characters of Jeanne, William, and Jacob, as well as how all of the events of the story came together. We found out how Mr. Gidwitz settled on his unique style of narration in his book, what inspired him to tackle all of the subjects that he did, and we learned about the perseverance that all authors have. Our conversation was very thoughtful and meaningful, and it was a great experience all around! We did not have much time left after our discussion with Mr. Gidwitz, but we used our remaining time to talk about the ending of Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper, the book that we had been reading over the past week. In a similar fashion to Gidwitz’s The Inquisitor’s Tale, Out of My Mind talks about differences in people and about overcoming adversity in your path. It was very cool to see what connections people drew between the two stories! Finally, we chose our next book, and the book that we will read after that one! Participants: Anya, Djin, Georgia, Lena, Chloe, Joanna, Katie, Enni, Lucy, Abhi, Isabel, Chloe C., Rachel, Madeline, Kaya, Allegra, Penelope, Sophia, Ariana Our Next Book (6/3, 6/10): Lord of the Flies, by William Golding Our Second-Next Book (6/17, 6/24): The List, by Patricia Forde The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13, during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book, and always welcome new members! Join us!
Adam Gidwitz
Book Club Report: Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper
An update from our sixth Stone Soup Book Club meeting! This week, in Book Club, we began discussing Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper. This is the story of a 10-year-old girl with Cerebral Palsy. She is extremely intelligent but struggles to communicate her thoughts—she cannot speak, write, or walk. We began our session talking in small groups about the importance of words. We discussed the role words play in our lives, whether words are more valued verbally or written, and how we might try to communicate without the ability to speak or move our bodies. We went on to discuss the strength of Melody as the main character and the role of the many companion characters the author uses to tell her story. We also talked about what we considered the core themes of the book, including perseverance, courage, strength, the importance of friendship, and our deep human yearning to communicate with others. Next week, we are so excited to be joined by Adam Gidwitz, author of The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, for the first part of our session. Please come prepared with a few questions about the book, if you read it, or writing more generally. Since we have only a short time with Mr. Gidwitz, please keep in mind that everyone may not have the opportunity to ask a question directly. Following our time with Adam Gidwitz, we will continue discussing Out of My Mind and conclude by voting on the next one or two books we will read in Book Club. The Participants: Anya, Georgia, Lena, Vishnu, Rachel, Lucy, Joanna, Djin, Enni, Kaya, Allegra, Arianna, Katie, Zoe, Penelope, Em Jay, Isabel, Chloe The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13, during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book.
Book Club Report: The Inquisitor’s Tale, by Adam Gidwitz (cont.)
An Update from our fifth Stone Soup Book Club meeting This week, during our 5th meeting of the Stone Soup Book Club (13 May, 2020), we discussed The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, the Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog, by Adam Gidwitz. Our fantastic Stone Soup contributor, Anya Geist, led the session through a stimulating discussion on the various themes, plot twists, and favorite characters of this complex story. We discussed book banning, tolerance and diversity, religion, race, and a range of other interesting themes the book touches upon. We also spent time discussing how the perspective and structure of the book affects the story. Gidwitz takes an intertextual approach to the narration with a range of quirky characters telling of their own encounters with the main characters and their own versions of key events. I think we all agree this is part of what makes the story so very rich and exciting! The Participants: Anya, Lucy, Georgia, Joanna, Allegra, Chloe, Djin, Rachel, Chloe, Enni, Penelope, Kaya, Vishnu, Arianna, Sophia, Isabel The Stone Soup Book Club is open to all Stone Soup contributors and subscribers, age 9-13, during the COVID-19-related school closures and shelter-in-place arrangements. We meet every Wednesday for one hour via Zoom to discuss our chosen book. Next week, we will begin discussing our 3rd book, Out of My Mind, by Sharon M. Draper. Hope to see you all there!
