School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-Emma is teased about wearing hand-me-downs by the mean Fab Four, but the fact that she has a cool older brother evens things out a bit. At the end of the first day of sixth grade, her librarian mom announces that Emma will be joining her after dinner for the newly formed Mother-Daughter Book Club and that the first book will be Little Women. Megan is one of the Fab Four; her health-obsessed mother is also dragging her off to the book club. The other two members are Emma's friend Jess and Cassidy, a jock. Each chapter is narrated by one of the girls; unfortunately, they all sound alike and there is nothing to distinguish one voice from another. While the setting, Concord, MA, provides an appealing scenic backdrop, the story tries too hard to find parallels to Little Women. Problems and how they are overcome seem forced and unrealistically resolved. The supposed insights learned from studying Little Women don't seem to apply to those outside the club as mean girls are one-upped and boorish adults are told off. A running joke about an overweight, unpleasant adult is disturbing especially as the remarks are condoned and even instigated by the adults, something Marmee March would not have approved of. Discussion questions for this book and an author's note are appended.-Susan Moorhead, New Rochelle Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Allusions to Little Women, sprinkled throughout this contemporary novel, may well pique the interest of Louisa May Alcott buffs. Frederick (the Patience Goodspeed books; the Spy Mice series) alternates the perspectives of Emma, Megan, Cassidy and Jess, members of a mother-daughter book club who are reading Little Women while adjusting to their first year of middle school. Emma, an aspiring writer, has grown apart from her former best friend, Megan, who gained entry into the popular crowd after her father's invention made the family rich. Despite her heightened status, Megan isn't altogether happy, since her mother scorns her dream of becoming a fashion designer. Meanwhile, tomboy Cassidy mourns the loss of her father, who was killed in an accident, and Jess misses her mother, who has gone to New York to pursue an acting career. All of the girls are less enthusiastic about the book club than their parents are, but as might be expected, their attitudes change as they become absorbed in Little Women and its author, who grew up in their hometown of Concord, Mass. The girls' increasing sensitivity to each other's problems is convincing, but the way in which each character finds happiness (during a whirlwind trip to New York City) is more dependent on lucky circumstance than personal achievement. Still, this club's success in uniting a group of disparate sixth-graders may well inspire readers to start one of their own. Ages 9-12. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Four sixth-grade girls and three of their mothers read Little Women for their book club. Reluctant at first, the girls manage to overcome their misgivings. The girls' voices are a bit stiff and stereotypical, and Frederick reaches too far for some of her Little Women parallels. But the concept is sweet and the Concord, Massachusetts, setting well drawn. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Four moms meet at yoga class and decide to create a book club for their very individual sixth-grade daughters. Emma's mom, a librarian, orchestrates the year-long monthly discussions of Little Women. Jess, Emma's best friend, misses her actress mom, who is away in New York City. Cassidy, daughter of a retired supermodel, misses her dad, who was killed in a car accident. Megan feels pressure to stay with the rivaling "Fab Four" clique rather than the book-club girls but really wants to pursue her interest in fashion design despite her mom's Ivy League expectations. Parallels between the classic novel's characters and the girls are interspersed as the mothers and daughters pursue their monthly meetings despite a continual display of bullying, if not nasty, behaviors and attitudes from adults, kids and Queen Bee moms. Told in alternating voices from the girls' viewpoints, some issues are addressed and resolved in an all-too-conveniently glamorous trip to New York City. Certain imagery Frederick provides seems clich and even vexing. The popular crowd constantly chastises Emma for wearing thrift store hand-me-downs, while her mother dresses in her own thrifty choices. Are librarians really that poor? Still, possibility for discussion exists here, though the novel itself is a negative model for a parent/child book group. (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
"Four sixth-graders sign up for a book club, in which they'll read Little Women with their moms. In alternating chapters, each of the four girls describes a meeting. There is aspiring poet Emma, whose librarian mother started the group; Jess, Emma's best friend, who lives on an organic farm; hockey-playing Cassidy, daughter of a former supermodel; and popular Megan. Despite their initial resistance to the club, the girls experience joys and sorrows and develop a closer bond, just like the characters that they grow to love. Plenty of detail and musing about Little Women will entice readers to pick up the book if they have not yet read it, but familiarity with Alcott's classic isn't required to enjoy this story. The girls' relationships and feelings are complex; unfortunately, their typecast mothers are much less so, and a fairy-tale ending caps the story. Still, readers will be easily pulled along to find out how the four girls resolve their differences. A book discussion guide is included."--"Booth, Heather" Copyright 2007 Booklist
