Double Giveaway
2011 Cyber Monday Double Giveaway with Heather Vogel Frederick!
(IF YOU’RE COMING FROM THE FIFTIES CHIX PAGE OR HEATHER’S BLOG, WELCOME! COMMENT BELOW TO BE ELIGIBLE TO WIN THE DOUBLE GIVEAWAY)
I’m thrilled to present my interview with Heather Vogel Frederick, author of the Mother-Daughter Book Club series (and she interviewed me on her site: double fun!). We thought with the holiday season upon us, the release of our new books, and Cyber Monday (big online shopping day 11/28!), it would be the perfect time to think about good reads that you can curl up with…with family and friends: perfect mother-daughter book club reads!
All you have to do to be eligible to win is answer the question that follows my interview with Heather below, then hop on over to Heather’s blog and answer the question following Heather’s interview with me. Double fun!
If you’re on Facebook, be sure and “like” the Fifties Chix.
(Breaking news: a Mother-Daughter Book Club Fan Club page is coming soon to Facebook — stay tuned!)
Heather Vogel Frederick
Heather, where did the idea for a series about a mother/daughter book club come from?
Actually, it was my editor’s idea! I was hard at work on one of my Spy Mice books when she called me up one day out of the blue and said, “You know, Heather, there are mother-daughter book clubs across the country, and I’ve been thinking it would be fun if someone were to write a story about one. How about you?”
I was stunned into silence. I have two boys, and have never been in a mother-daughter book club, nor will I ever be in one! But she recalled that I lived in Concord, Massachusetts, when I was in middle school. Concord is where Louisa May Alcott lived when she wrote Little Women, and she suggested that if I were to do the book, that’s what I could have the club read. Well, she had me at “Louisa.” Armed with that idea and the title, I was off and running!
Are you in book club now, or have you ever been?
I’m not in a book club at the moment, but I was in one (for adults) a long time ago, when our oldest son was a baby, and I was in one for a while more recently. I loved both of those experiences. What could be better than getting together with friends to talk about books? Plus, there was generally food involved. Good books + good food = a killer combination.
What advice do you have for people (especially mothers and daughters) starting a book club?
There are two websites I’d direct people to. The first is www.motherdaughterbookclubcom — it’s run by my friend Cindy Hudson, who has also written a book called Book by Book: The Complete Guide to Creating Mother-Daughter Book Clubs. It’s an excellent resource and I highly recommend it. Her website has book reviews and all sorts of great tips for those interested in starting or maintaining a club.
The other website is www.daringbookforgirls.com — authors Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz (The Daring Book for Girls” and “The Double Daring Book for Girls) have a whole section on how to start a mother-daughter book club, too. Great stuff!
The main thing is to have fun. This shouldn’t be yet another academic obligation for the girls, but something they really look forward to. Choose girls and moms who blend well, give everyone a turn to pick books, be creative with activities and yummy things (book clubs I’ve visited have often featured treats or regional food mentioned in the books they’re reading), and enjoy the conversation and wonderful bonding time that ensues.
How do you decide which books your mother/daughter book club characters will read?
When I wrote the first book, I had no idea that it was going to turn into a series. After it was published, and I was asked to write more, it seemed a logical choice to stick with other classic “girls’ novels” like Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables sprang instantly to mind. I’ve had great fun getting to be empress of the world for a moment, and choose books to feature that were favorites of mine when I was growing up (and still are favorites of mine). Some are more well-known (Pride and Prejudice and now Jane Eyre), others less so (Daddy-Long-Legs and the Betsy-Tacy series), but all of them had to pass a kind of litmus test, in that I needed to feel that they were still fresh and wonderful and deserving of being loved by a new generation of readers.
Do you read a lot every day? If so, is it for work or for fun?
Not as much as I used to. These days I’m so busy with writing, teaching, visiting schools, and so on that it’s a real treat to be able to relax with a good book. I read a lot on airplanes. As for the second part of your question, the answer is both. I find it more difficult to fall into a book the way I used to, as it seems the writer part of me is often looking over my shoulder and asking, “How did the author do that?” and being more analytical. I can tell a really good book these days by its ability to move me past that, on to the sheer enjoyment stage.
How many books do you read and write at the same time?
I often have many books going at a time as far as reading goes. I’ll be in the middle of something on my Kindle, perhaps, as well as something on my bedside table and something else on the bookshelf by the comfy armchair where I work. When it comes to writing, though, I keep my focus tight: just one book at a time. Something else may be cooking on the back burner of my mind, and I might jot down notes and ideas, but as far as actual writing – just one book at a time.
What are you working on right now?
I’ve just finished final revisions of Once Upon a Toad, a middle grade fractured fairy tale coming out in Spring of 2012. And I’m coming down the home stretch on Wish You Were Eyre, the sixth and final mother-daughter book club installment. Busy days!
We love your books, Heather! Thanks for the interview! Now for the giveaway question. To be eligible to win, you’ll need to answer this one in the comment section BELOW, then hop on over to the Heather’s page to answer the second one.
What classic book would you want to read
for your mother-daughter book club?
Two entries (U.S. and Canada only, please) will be randomly selected by midnight on Monday November 28th, 2011. Check back here on Tuesday the 29th for the names of the winners.
CONTEST CLOSED. That was super double fun!! Click here to find out who won!!
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
I would love to read the book, Oliver Twist. I’m in the “phase” of reading as many classics as I can, and oliver Twist is one I’d like to read and also have my Mother/Daughter bookclub read!
I would read another Jane Austen book- Sense and Sensibility. Actually, my mom and I are going to read it together soon!
If I could pick one that we weren’t already going to read, I’d have to pick… hmmm… maybe Cranford. I absolutley adore the TV series by BBC so I’d love to read the book!!
I guess “Little Town on the Prairie.” They’ve already done my top favorites, but “Little Town on the Prairie” is a great book and I love that you can keep enjoying it at any age.
She’s covered a lot already! Another Jane Austen book would be good. I’d love it if they read the Elsie Dinsmore books. I’ve read the modern publications of those. Or how about Nancy Drew?
I’d love to read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (:
I would like to read “The Daughters”, it is a book about a supermodel’s daughter and her “unique looks.” The main character reminds me alot of Cassidy from MDBC and it has alot to do about books too. It also teaches good life lessons and is very fun.
I would want ot read the classic novel, Little Princess. My first choice would have been Anne of Green Gables, but Heather copied that already.
A book club sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I love the idea of creating regional food or food mentioned in the book. I think it would really fun to do a book club read of Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace. I consider it a classic.
I was just thinking about what book would be next for the Mother-Daughter book club! You would almost have to do Wilder, but I’m tempted to say that Julie Andrews Edwards Mandy would be a good one. Or, since the girls haven’t read any fantasy, how about Pierce’s Alanna: The First Adventure?
If I were a mom or could read again with my mom, the first book that comes to thought is “Are you there God, It’s Me, Margaret” by Judy Bloom, or any of the Laura Ingall series of “Little House on the Prairie”.
I would read Princess “The Darlings Are Forever” by Melissa Kantor because it looks like a really interesting story about 3 girls who are best friends who now go to 3 different high schools in all different places across New York. My friend read it and said it was really good, so I am excited to read it.
If I had to pick one, it would definitely be Watership Down! It was an AMAZING book. You honestly think that the rabbits are real people!
I would absolutely love if the girls read Treasure Island!I know it’s a kid book.But it would be something cassidy would read!
-emma jean
I would say sense and senseblity or Daddy-long-legs (I just picked up a copy at a library booksale). There are lots of classics I would like to read, so I wouldn’t complain about most club picks.
So many choices! I might choose, “Understood Betsy,” by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. I like everyone’s choices so far
If I were in a mother-daughter-book-club, I would probably want to start with “Little Women” because it seems like in the MDBC series it was a great place to start. I would also consider “Little House on the Prarie” because I have always wanted to read that book and haven’t had the time. I hope to read both of these classic books one day because classic books seem to always prove themselfs to be an enjoyable read!
I would start off my bookclub with Anne of Green Gables because, my grandma has a house on an island and it looks just like the house in the book! it even has its own sign that says “Anne Of Green Gables”!
If I were to start a Mother-Daughter Book club I would chose Little Women because when I was reading the MDBC it came to be a really interesting book and like it would be one that I could relate to.
I WOULD START OFF WITH:
1.Sarah, Plain and Tall
2.Island of the Blue Dolphins
3.A Little Princess
4.Anne of Green Gables
5.The Secret Garden
6.Little House on the Prairie
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST :
THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB
I HOPE THIS IS A SATISFACTORY ANSWER.
If I were to be in a mother-daughter book club, I would want to read all of Louisa May Alcott books, especially the Little Women series (even if I’ve already read Little Women and Little Men) and the Anne of Green Gables series which I haven’t really read yet.( Well, I did start it…)
i am the librarian mother of a teenage daughter, this is a tough one, maybe “to kill a mockingbird” or”gonev with the wind”? both should appeal to teenage girls!
i live in france, but if i win the books could be sent to a librarian friend in the states! andrea
A Little Princess is one of my all-time favorites. It’s such a sweet story about a girl who can be a princess if only in her own imagination.
A Secret Garden or Hitty
Not to copy the Mother-Daughter Book Club, but definitely Anne of Green Gables. That novel (and its sequels) made such an impression on me, and Anne is still one of my literary best friends. I have gotten into Anne-esque scrapes and situations where I stopped and thought, Okay-what would Anne do?
Great interview! I love stumbled on Heather’s books by accident and am so glad I did