Dear Pen Pal (The Mother-Daughter Book Club)

I think Heather Vogel Fredrick is a wonderful author for young children. DEAR PEN PAL helped me get to know each of the characters more, and find more interest in the series and the author.The story has four main characters, Jess Delaney, Cassidy Sloan, Megan Wong, and Emma Hawthorne.This year, the club is reading the book, DADDY LONG-LEGS, and have pen pals in Wyoming who are reading the same thing.The story begins with Jess discovering something surprising. She was excepted into a boarding school! The school is in Concord, but Jess is still sad about not being able to see her friends, Emma, Megan, and Cassidy. Also, Jess has a snotty roommate named Savannah Sinclair, who makes her life miserable.Emma is trying to spend more time with her writing to her pen pal, because her best friend Jess is away. She loves writing. So this is great for her because she can have a friend while doing something she loves to do. She also suffered a bad day, and much more.Megan's grandmother Gigi comes for a visit. Megan loves Gigi but Gigi and Mrs. Wong don't get along. Megan and Gigi go through many fun times during the visit. Emma, Jess and Cassidy enjoy her as well.Cassidy goes through many struggles in the book. She is getting used to her new stepfather Stanley. But Stanley and her mother make an announcement that gets Cassidy crabby and upset.These four girls go through a lot. They are not the typical type of friends, but are a thread fit due to to the book club. The MDBC is a great book for young girls about ten to fifteen.The shipment was quick and the author, Heather Vogle Fredrick really cane relate to young girls especially two sons. Her son's, Ian and Ben, are amazing, as Heather puts it.I love, love, love, this book!GZGymnastics zebra

Cassidy, Emma, Megan, and Jess are back, and going into 8th grade. The book club has some changes in store this year, and individual members struggle a bit with change. Becca is back, and much improved. There's a new "mean girl" involved with the group, a secret, a first kiss, and a long distance trip or two. The girls are reading "Daddy Long Legs" in this book, along with a sequel. The books are less intertwined with the overall plot, though there is a certain connection, it is far less intrinsic than in the previous "Club" books. This book doesn't seem as unique as the others in the series, as the scenes near the book's end are fairly predictable and wrap up a little too tidily. Still, it's a fun book and quite enjoyable for girls and moms alike. I am very much looking to what I assume will be a 4th and final book in the series, so there will be one for each of the four original book club members.

Book #147 Read in 2015Dear Pen Pal by Heather Vogel FrederickI wish this series was around when I was in middle school and my mother was still alive; I think we would have enjoyed reading these books together. This is the third book in the series. A group of girls are friends and members of a mother/daughter book club. Each book focuses on a different group member but the chapters are told in alternating narration of all the girls. In this book, Cassidy's mother is having a baby, Megan's mother and grandmother are still fighting, Jess heads to a private school etc. These books focus on real issues faced by middle schoolers with the books that the book club is reading as a parallel story/backdrop. I enjoy these books.

This was the second order for this toilet. First one arrived all broken. But the second one was so well packed that nothing could break. I ordered the toilet on Thurs evening and couldn't believe it would arrive in 2-3 days, but it did...even though Mon was a holiday (Oct 14th) the toilet was delivered!! We got it installed and love it!! Just a word of caution. The directions say to screw down the bolts until the 3 shoulders hit. Well we couldn't do that without fear and trepidation....we didn't want to break the tank. So we screwed down the bolts as far as we could, then let it sit for a couple days. There was about 1 Tbl spoon of water that leaked out of the tank. We then finger tightened it again, and about 1 tsp of water leaked. Finally finger tightened it again and voila no leak!!! We love the toilet and would highly recommend it to all. I researched this for months, even visited the Kohler factory in Wisconsin when we were there. My bottom line decision is that the Toto is better built.

I purchased this book for a middle school girl. She loved the first two and thought this one was just as good. The author tells the story from the views of four girls who are all in a mother-daughter book club together. With Jess starting her first year at the snobby-prep school Colonial Academy thanks to a mysterious benefactor, the book club decides to read Daddy Long Legs. Megan's grandmother has just come to live with them from Hong Kong, throwing the Wong household into a state of disarray. Cassidy is dealing with a stepfather, a new baby on the way, and what she calls a "completely disgusting" first kiss. Emma has just become the editor of the school newspaper, but a surprise speech brings that crashing down, which is exactly what she'd doing in her figure skating lessons. If you add all that to Becca Chadwick coming back to book club and some Wyoming pen pals, you get a hilarious realistic fiction story.

It is a wonderfull feeling to be able to pick up a book and know that you will not be dissapointed. That is the knowing feeling I have with these books. They are just so cute, sweet, and warm. And not lacking in insight, and good moral lessons. I also love the relationship between the mothers and the daughters, sure some are a little more strained than others, but they are all very sincere and realistic.Gosh I love these characters! The adventures they have are full of girl power, and never ending fun. In each of these books I promise you will be able to relate to one of the girls at a certain time. These books are not only great, but highly praise, without giving away, the stories that the girls and their mothers are reading in the club. It celebrates the joys of family, friends, and a good book.

I gave this book five stars because it shows that you can get to be able to be best friends with someone who is not nice at the start.This book is something everyone can learn from, what I am trying to say is that it has a great moral behind it.