Black-Eyed Susan Chapter Book Club

Our 3rd-5th grade participants recently voted for their favorite Black-Eyed Susan book.  We have about 40 boys in the club who independently read the nominated books from November through April.  We get together over lunch every three weeks to discuss the books, and check in about reading progress.  The boys comments are thoughtful and insightful.  They like the freedom to choose which of the 10 nominated books to read.  I require them to read at least 4 in order to vote.  They also like to be able to dislike a book, and can passionately describe why they dislike it. 

We end our reading season with a pizza voting lunch in our school's Alumni House.  The Alumni House is the home of our Development and Alumni offices -- not a place lower school students often frequent.  They love the grown up feel of the Alumni House and it imbues the voting lunch with a sense of purpose and importance. 

All votes are recorded and "count", but the boys love to learn which book "won" at our school.  This year's vote was a close one with only one vote separating the top three places.  Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein was our overall favorite, with This Journal Belongs to Ratchet by Nancy J. Cavanaugh coming in second, and Buddy by M.H. Herlong and I Funny by James Patterson tying for third.  Our statewide winner will be announced on May 2.

Walking to the Alumni House

Voting/Lunch Session