Teachers who don't teach book club...little women edition

Over the last few sessions, our book club has run into a conundrum: do we dislike some YA books because they aren't good or because we are too far away from the target demographic (aka OLD)?

And so, in honor of the the end of winter (and our childhoods), we read Little Women.

Full of seasonal changes, our book club has been adding members. Face and Ams rallied and spent all weekend listening to LW being read aloud. Literary bonding makes me smile.

I went away for the weekend and grabbed my copy of LW from 4th grade on my way out. Upon returning to Chicago, I video chatted Face and Ams (FAMES) because...BETH DIDN'T DIE in my book, and my book only spanned one year.

How was that possible?

After much confusion, we realized my little kid edition separated Little Women and Good Wives into two separate books whereas new editions smash them together in about 500 pages. And so, I embarked upon a 2 day, 300 page marathon finishing 2 minutes before leaving for book club and endless fish and chips...

Where I got to hear Face's philosophy that the plot is actually driven by the men of the story. He stands by it:


I almost like the book(s) more as an adult. As a child, I loved the story and feistiness of Jo. As an adult I was all: whoa, hello road map to becoming an adult.

With any book that people enjoy, the characters, themes, and plot get inserted into conversations. And so we chomped away on fish and chips and someone would chime in: that's so Laurie, you're such a Jo, at least you can make jam, or oh, the professor.

I've concluded that I can still project myself back to being young(er) because Little Women (and Good Wives) maintain their hold on my heart.

"The best of us have a spice of perversity in us, especially when we are young and in love."
Louisa May Alcott