High School Summer Book Clubs 2023
At the bottom of this page, there is a Google Form to submit indicating a book club choice.
Please note that titles, authors, and book club dates are indicated below by each facilitator's name. For a book club to run, there must be a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 15 students. A book club will not run if there is insufficient enrollment. Please note, if a book club reaches capacity, you will not be able to select it on the Google registration form.
At the bottom of this page, there is a Google Form to submit indicating book club choice.
Book Club #1: Title: Monday's Not Coming
Author: Tiffany Jackson
Facilitated by: Mrs. M. Goldfarb
DATES: July 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31, Aug. 3, 10:00- 11:00
GRADES: Grades 9-12
***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy through the MTPL or purchasing.
Book Summary: Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable - more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn’t turn up for the first day of school, Claudia’s worried.
When she doesn’t show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn’t just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year’s rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now, Claudia needs her best - and only - friend more than ever. But Monday’s mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday’s sister April is even less help.
As Claudia digs deeper into her friend’s disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she’s gone?
This book club will be offered virtually.
Book Club #2: Title: Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Author: Holly Jackson
Facilitated by: Ms. M. McDonnell
DATES: Monday & Wednesday, July 3, July 10, July 17, July 24 and July 31 @ 10 am- 10:30 am
GRADES: Grades 9-12
***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy through the MTPL or purchasing.
Book Summary: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder is a young adult mystery debut novel by Holly Jackson. The novel is the first in a series of three novels and one novella: A Good Girl's Guide to Murder; Good Girl, Bad Blood; As Good As Dead; and Kill Joy.
Genres: Mystery, Young adult fiction
SUMMARY: The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?
This book club will be offered virtually.
Book Club #3: Title: All of Us Villains
Author: Amanda Foody & Christine Lynn Herman
Facilitated by: Ms. D. Lang
DATES: Monday & Thursdays: 7/10, 7/13, 7/17, 7/20, 7/24 @ 11 am-11:30 am
GRADES: Grades 9-12
***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy through the MTPL or purchasing.
Book Summary: The Blood Moon rises. The Blood Veil falls. The Tournament begins. Every generation, at the coming of the Blood Moon, seven families in the remote city of Ilvernath each name a champion to compete in a tournament to the death. The prize? Exclusive control over a secret wellspring of high magick, the most powerful resource in the world―one thought long depleted. But this year a scandalous tell-all book has exposed the tournament and thrust the seven new champions into the worldwide spotlight. The book also granted them valuable information previous champions never had―insight into the other families’ strategies, secrets, and weaknesses. And most important, it gave them a choice: accept their fate or rewrite their legacy. Either way, this is a story that must be penned in blood.
This book club will be held virtually.
Book Club #4: Title: Five Survive
Author: Holly Jackson
Facilitated by: Ms. K. Gehrsitz
DATES: Meeting dates and times will be determined with book club members. Initial meeting will be Wednesday, July 5 @ 10:00am
GRADES: Grades 9-11
***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy through the MTPL or purchasing.
Book Summary: The brand new unmissable crime thriller from Holly Jackson, best-selling, award-winning author of the Good Girl’s Guide to Murder trilogy.
Eight hours.
Six friends.
One sniper . . .
Eighteen year old Red and her friends are on a road trip in an RV, heading to the beach for Spring Break. It’s a long drive but spirits are high. Until the RV breaks down in the middle of nowhere. There’s no mobile phone reception and nobody around to help. And as the wheels are shot out, one by one, the friends realise that this is no accident. There’s a sniper out there in the dark watching them and he knows exactly who they are. One of the group has a secret that the sniper is willing to kill for. A game of cat-and-mouse plays out as the group desperately tries to get help and to work out which member of the group is the target. Buried secrets are forced to light in the cramped, claustrophobic setting of the RV, and tensions within the group will reach deadly levels. Not everyone will survive the night.
This book club will be held virtually.
Book Club #5: Title: The Glass Castle
Author: Jeanette Walls
Facilitated by: Mrs. C. Davi
DATES: July 1st - August 1st; Monday and Thursday at 10 am.
GRADES: Grade 9
***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy from the Middletown Public Library - ebook or purchasing.
Book Summary: "The Glass Castle" is a memoir written by Jeannette Walls in 2005. It tells her upbringing in an unconventional and poverty stricken family. The book provides an insight into Walls' childhood and the struggles her family faced due to her parents' unconventional lifestyle and inability to provide a stable home environment. The memoir highlights the themes of resilience, the power of imagination, the complexities of family relationships, and the impact of poverty and addiction on children.
This book club will be offered virtually.
Book Club #6: Title: Turtles All the Way Down
Author: John Green
Facilitated by: Mrs. M. Velasquez
** on the summer reading list
DATES: Wednesdays in July & August from 6:00 - 7:00 pm. (July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26, August 2, August 9, August 16, August 23 @ 6pm - 7pm)
GRADES: Grades 9-12
***RESOURCES: ***RESOURCES: Students can obtain a copy through the MTPL or purchasing.
Book Summary: "It all begins with a fugitive billionaire and the promise of a cash reward. Turtles All the Way Down is about lifelong friendship, the intimacy of an unexpected reunion, Star Wars fan fiction, and tuatara. But at its heart is Aza Holmes, a young woman navigating daily existence within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. In his long-awaited return, John Green shares Aza's story with shattering, unflinching clarity." (MTPS Summer Reading Program Letter)
This book club will be offered virtually.
Please use this Google Link to submit your bookclub choice for the MTPS Summer Reading Book Clubs