Starting a Parent & Teen Book Club
Choosing the Group Members
If you are starting your own book club, you’ll want to have about 4-6 parent-teen pairs, or 8-12 people total. It is important to have enough people participating at any given meeting so no one person feels they have to talk the whole time. A larger number also helps when one or two members can’t make a meeting. There will still be enough of you for a decent discussion.
So, how do you choose the right people? The participants should be interested in reading one book a month, have a preteen or teenager of similar age, share similar social values with you, and be available at the time and day you require.
One thing to consider is your child’s peer group. If you decide to choose kids in your teen’s peer group, then it is important to understand that there may be a more social aspect to the club. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can make a book club less focused on books and more centered on socializing.
On the other hand, choosing teens outside of your child’s peer group can make it harder for your son or daughter to participate. There is the “coolness” factor to grapple with in the minds of all young adults. However, if you know your child is willing to socialize with kids who aren’t necessarily in their schools, church, or community, this can make your decision an easier one.
You can also join an existing book club. Check your local church, bookstores (including the chains), or other local organizations first to see if one already exists. If it does, talk to the organizer as well as some of the participants to see if there is a fit with your schedule, book interests, and both you and your child’s personality.
When and Where to Meet
Obviously, when to meet should be based on you and your teen’s availability as well as any of the members participating. Some people like to hold meetings right after school, but extracurricular activities or jobs may cause a scheduling conflict. Some parents choose a Friday evening when teens tend to otherwise “hang out” at local pizza joints or movie theatres. Others like to plan their clubs for weekend afternoons, sometimes after Church. Choose what works best for you.
If your club is formed only with members in your church, it is probably best to see if they have a room or hall where you can meet. This way, you can meet at the same time and place for every book discussion, and no one gets confused about the schedule.
It may also work well to meet at a club member’s house, taking turns on hosting the discussion. There are two ways to go here. The group can decide to have a big meal around the discussion and make it fun and festive. For some people, that requires too much effort. Alternatively, you can establish a rule early on that only water has to be served, with food being optional.
Many book club meetings also occur at bookstores. Chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders Books have meeting areas and cafes. Still others meet at local coffee shops that have couches and a lot of space conducive to meetings. Anywhere that is relatively quiet, spacious, and comfortable will work.
Choosing the Theme and Books to Read
Some parents like to choose fiction because it leaves a lot of room for picking books that appeal to everyone in the group. If it is a parent-son group, there are plenty of male-oriented novels to choose from, such as The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis), Rocket Boys (Homer Hickman), and The Bark of the Bog Owl (Jonathon Rogers). For parent-daughter groups, the field is even wider with choices like Lauraine Snelling’s Frontier Series, such as Ruby and Opal, The Prodigal (Beverley Lewis), or any Jane Austen novel. If both boys and girls attend, choose gender neutral stories like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Another good way to get your child and friends to participate is to choose books that have been made into movies. Today’s teens love movies! So if you read the book and then plan a trip to the local movie theatre or have a movie party at your house, this often makes it more interesting (and exciting) for the kids.
This brings me to who actually chooses the books you’ll read. Often, the parents will choose the books each month. This works particularly well with pre-teens or younger teenagers with little reading experience. Older teens will probably insist they take part in the choosing. It may work better to alternate months between parent-chosen books and teen book choices.
It may help to have an already parent-approved book list. Bookstore websites, such as Crossings.com, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com have good lists of books by subject, genre, age group, etc. that can help you choose what’s most appropriate and worth reading. These websites also have reviews by other readers to give you a sense of how well the book is received. Parents can take these books and make a larger reading list from which each month’s book is chosen. This way, parents can enforce the value system of the book club while still offering the teens a choice.
The Discussion
The key to a good, lively discussion is when everyone in the group (teens included) feels comfortable enough to make comments and give their perspective. You don’t want to make it like an English Literature class. Asking open-ended questions that do not have a right or wrong answer is one way to go. For instance, start with a question about why the author gave the book that title. It’s very general, but open to interpretation. After everyone feels comfortable, then you can delve deeper into the book’s meanings. But don’t expect too much too fast from your teens. You don’t want them to feel like you are judging their intelligence or beliefs.
Another way to start the discussion is to have everyone say what his or her favorite and least favorite part of the book is. Or you can read aloud previously written reviews of the book and ask participants to agree or disagree.
If the discussion starts to falter, bring up one aspect of the book, like a character, plot, setting, or literary techniques (such as use of flashback, stream of consciousness, etc.). Additionally, many books today have reader guides created by the publishing company. Do a Google search on “Readers Guides” where all the different publishing company websites will be listed. They even have reader’s guides for the more popular classics now.
Sharing Different Perspectives
Book clubs help to expand the types of experiences both parents and teens share with each other. By discussing books, the two of you can learn from the other’s perspective and to understand and appreciate your differences as well as the your similarities. And you may even have a little fun, too!
