CHECK IT OUT

Books will provide more than literary escape for teens and their moms

registered in “Shared Chapters.” The new book club for young women in

seventh through 10th grades and their significant female grownups will

provide a forum for sharing ideas inspired by popular and classic

fiction, while providing opportunities to build family bonds and learn

how another generation thinks.

The group will build on the success of the two-year-old

Mother-Daughter Book Club for girls in fifth and sixth grades and their

moms or favorite female grownups. It will meet for the first time at 7

p.m. on Sept. 26 at the Newport Beach Central Library.

At its initial gathering, young adult librarian Terri Wiest will lead

a discussion of “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle,” a tale of

murder and intrigue on the high seas by award-winning author Avi.

The 1991 Newbery Honor book stars a 13-year-old heroine who finds

herself the only passenger and only female aboard a sailing ship bound

from England to Rhode Island in 1832. When she joins the crew in a revolt

against the captain, she’s drawn into an outbreak of evil and danger in a

riveting plot bound to inspire discussions about allegiance, rebellion

and respect for authority.

Shared Chapters will meet again on Oct. 24 to discuss Joan Bauer’s

“Rules of the Road,” a fast, funny tale narrated by too-tall Jenna Boller

-- a smart, moral and funny protagonist who is far better at selling

shoes than at academic performance.

When she’s invited to chauffeur her boss on a business trip to Texas,

the savvy 16-year-old finds herself on an eye-opening adventure that

teaches her some rules of the road, and of life.

Club members will determine reading selections for the remainder of

the school year, based on their own favorites and suggestions from Wiest.

Any genre is fair game, including mystery, science fiction, romance and

fantasies.

Good possibilities range from such contemporary classics as “Summer of

My German Soldier,” a tale of a mistreated Jewish girl who befriends an

escaped German prisoner of war, to new fantasies like “I Am Mordred: A

Tale from Camelot,” a riveting adventure that extends the Arthurian

legend.

For children in fifth and sixth grades and their significant grownups,

two other parent-child book clubs will meet at the Central Library from

October through May 2001. At 7 p.m. on Oct. 10, the Mother-Daughter Book

Club will launch its third season. At 7p.m. on Oct. 19, the Parent-Son

Book Club will begin its second school year of monthly meetings.

For all of the clubs, the object is the same: to provide a catalyst

for conversation and promote an appreciation for the joy of books.

Register in person at the Central Library, or call (949) 717-3807 for

more information.

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Melissa Adams, in collaboration with

Terri Wiest. All titles may be reserved from home or office computers by

accessing the catalog at www.newportbeachlibrary.org.