Book Club Ideas for Tweens

What you'll find here are ideas for how to structure a Book Club for Tweens, tips and tricks for getting a great discussion going, and book recommendations paired with book club activities for both Boys and Girls. I've read all the books I recommend here and we've put a lot of these tips and tricks into action in a family book club that we've attended off and on for years now. In other words, I've got everything you need to put together a Book Club that your tweens are going to love.

How to Structure a Book Club for Tweens (Kids ages 8-12)

• How often should we meet? Because you'll be reading chapter books, you want to make sure that everyone has time to finish the book. Once a month is usually a good interval for book club meetings.
• How long should a book club last? When you get a group of tweens together, you should probably plan for at least a few minutes of chatting and catching up. Then, aim for approximately 30 minutes of book discussion. Obviously, if the kids get going with a great discussion, just let it roll. However, if you're working with a bunch of book club newbies, you may have to coax the discussion along the first time. If you are adding an activity or craft, add on another 45 minutes, give or take.
• How many people should we include? This obviously depends on you, but here are a few things to think about:
  • Are the kids mostly younger (8 and 9) or older (11 and 12)? If you have mostly younger kids, aim for a smaller group, especially if this is their first time in a book club.
  • What will you be doing at the book club? If you just plan on hosting a book discussion, a larger group will be manageable. However, if you plan on doing a craft or other activity (see ideas below), you may want to scale back.
  • How many adults will there be?
• What role do the adults play in a tween book club? Discuss this one with your own tween - most likely, he or she will have some opinions about this one since it's their peers and friends you'll be inviting. Here are a few things to think about:
  • For a while now, we've been semi-regular attendees at a family book club. At this book club, there are a wide range of kid ages and parents accompany them. In the family book club, everyone, adults included, share their thoughts on the books and participate in the discussion. This works.
  • Tweens are at an age where they are looking for a little more independence, so you may want to step back a little. Help your tween plan (pick a book, pick an activity, write out some discussion questions) and then let them run it (while you sit back and grin proudly). If they want more help, you could offer to lead the discussion or just be available to step in if things start lagging.
  • Whatever you and your tween decide, I highly recommend that you read the books too. Whether you read them aloud together or just read them on your own, you'll be able to jump in where needed in the book club. Plus, having a book in common is a great way to start a conversation with a tween.
• How do we pick a book? (I have a list of great book recommendations below) Again, talk to your tween about this one. If you are hosting the book club, you can pick the book and just let everyone that you are inviting know what you've picked. You could also get your book club group together (you can do this via email too), give them a few books to choose from, and have everyone vote.

Tips and Tricks for a Good Book Club Discussion

This is easier than you think. First of all, the book club setting inspires kids to be ready for a conversation. They know that they are reading the book so that they can attend the book club and talk about it. Still, you may need to ease them into book club culture. Here are a few tips and tricks.

• Write it down. Encourage the kids to mark their favorite parts and/or hated parts, and write down their thoughts as they are reading. Have them set aside a notebook just for reading notes. This will help them keep the book fresh in their mind while they wait for book club.
• Check in. Actively participate in your tween's reading experience so they are ready for book club. Read the book aloud together, have them read it to you, or read the first few chapters aloud just to get them started. If they're reading on their own, check in every now and then with a few open ended questions.
• Keep it fun. This isn't school, there's no tests or grades, and there are no right or wrong answers. If it feels relaxed and casual, the kids will feel a lot more comfortable opening up.
• Set some ground rules. On day one, set a few ground rules for the group discussions and make sure everyone is on the same page. Ours look something like this:
  • Everyone has a right to their own opinion about the book. There are no right or wrong opinions.
  • Everyone gets a turn to talk without being interrupted.
  • You only have to talk if you want to.
  • Keep it friendly and have fun.
• Ask Compelling Questions. I borrowed this one from the inimitable Sarah Mackenzie. In her book, The Read Aloud Family, she says that compelling questions matter more than compelling answers and I completely agree. Here are some of the compelling questions that Sarah offers in her book to get a good discussion going:
  • What does the character want, and why can't he or she have it?
  • Should he/she have done that? (Sarah says, "Should is an incredibly powerful word - one that must be thought through, reasoned with, and backed up."
  • What does this story or character remind you of?
  • What is the character most afraid of?
  • What surprised you most?
  • What would you change about the setting or main character if you were writing this book?
  • What is something you don't want to forget from this book?
  • Which character most reminds you of yourself?
• Have a Back Up Plan. If the discussion is getting stuck, mix things up a little. One thing that has worked well at our family book club is to play character charades. Take turns picking a character to act out and everyone try and guess which character it is.

Tween Book Club Recommendations and Activities

All of these middle grade books will make excellent book club reads. They have characters and plots that are fun to read and easy to discuss.

While I don't necessarily believe in "boy's books" and "girl's books," I do recognize that some books may be more geared to boys or girls. I've noted in the list below books that may be better for boys, girls, or a mixed group - take it for what it's worth. I've also noted whether the books are better for younger or older tweens, but really, you know your tween best.

Float by Laura Martin

This is the ultimate summer read! I raved about Laura Martin's first book, The Edge of Extinction, and she's done it again - another middle grade masterpiece. Float tells the story of Emerson who is being sent to a government mandated summer camp for RISK kids. Emerson has a RISK factor (Reoccurring incidents of the strange kind) which causes him to float, uncontrollably. So far, his RISK factor has made his life miserable. He's also pretty sure a mandated camp full of RISK kids is going to be pretty awful too. What he doesn't know is that he's about to have more fun than he can even imagine, make the best friends he's ever had, and find himself in the most dangerous and complicated situation he's ever encountered. It's quite a summer! In fact, it's quite a read!

• This book doesn't actually come out until May 29, 2018 - but go ahead and preorder now, you won't be sorry.
• Because all the main characters in the book are boys, this is a great read for boys. But don't let the girls skip it either - it's a really good read!
• The age recommendation is 8-12, but my personal recommendation would be more like 10-14, only because there is a little boy talk about french kissing, and although there is no actual french kissing in the book, I'd reserve it for the older tweens and young teens.

Activities and Themes: 

• Themes: Overcoming fear, Fitting in, Living with challenges/disabilities,
• In the book, the characters write "life lists," which are different than bucket lists in that they don't write down things they want to do before they die, they write down things they want to do that make them feel alive. At the book club, you can write your own life list. On your list, include things that you want to do as well as things you've already done that made you feel alive - then see how old you are based on your life list (this makes sense when you've read the book).
• Talk about some of the life lists that are in the book (as well as the ones you write). For example, in the book, Murphy's list includes "Shave hair into a Mohawk" - would this make you feel more alive? Why or why not?
• Talk about Gary. Why do you think he has such a bad attitude?
• Talk about Emerson. What is he really afraid of? Do his fears change over the summer?
• The author says that the really great adventures happen outside your comfort zone. How is this true in the book? Has it been true in your own life too?
• S'mores show up in this book often (summer camp, of course). Make s'mores together!
• Side bar: Make sure you read and talk about the author's note at the end of the book. It's so fun to see where the idea from the book came from and how several of the crazy things that happen in the story are based on real life events.

Love, Sugar, Magic: A Dash of Trouble by Anna Meriano 

My 9 year old couldn't stop talking about this one, so I had to read it to see what all the fuss was about. The book takes place in a small town in Texas where Leonora Logroño’s family owns the most popular bakery in town. For generations, they've made the best baked goods for miles around. During the annual Dia de los Muertos festival, Leonora does a little too much sneaking around and uncovers the family secret: the women in her family are all brujas - witches of Mexican ancestry - and there's a little magic mixed into all those sweet treats. Leo's not supposed to know about the magic or use it yet, but she still manages to get herself in a pretty big magical tangle.

• This one might appeal more to girls (although there is a male supporting character), but it's not ever a bad thing for a boy to read a book featuring strong female characters.
• Great for ages 8-12

Activities and Themes: 

• Themes: Mexican-American Culture, Family/Ancestors, Consequences of keeping secrets, Growing up/Feeling too young,
• Make some magic. Pick a potion or two from here and have fun.
• At the end of the book, there are several recipes for some of the popular bakery items in the story. Pick a recipe to make together at the book club.
• This is a good book for the question, "Should she have done that?"
• Talk about how things might have happened differently if Leo had done x,y, or z. For example, "What would have happened if Leo had asked her parents for help?"

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald

Maybe you read this when you were a kid? If not, join your tween in reading this one. I promise, you'll be laughing through the whole thing. In this book, the narrator, young J.D., takes us to a small fictional town in 19th century Utah where he and his brother find all sorts of hilarious mischief. Young J.D. both fears and idolizes his older brother Tom who he calls the Great Brain, "a silver tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit." But while the Great Brain is a character you'll love to hate, he'll also have you doubled over with laughter.

• Great for boys, since it's a book about 3 brothers, but your girls will love it too (mine did).
• Great for ages 8-12. Take note, however, that there is a part where a kid gets pretty depressed (because he's "plumb useless" and wants to commit suicide. It ends up being handled with humor and all turns out well, but there are a few moments that might have parents biting their nails and wondering if things are going to go the wrong direction. I don't think you should skip it, just be prepared to talk about it and talk about how it could be handled differently too.
• P.S. This one is great on audio

Activities and Themes: 

• Themes: 19th century America, Family, Sibling Relationships, Realistic Fiction
• Make homemade ice cream together (this happens in the book)
• Exercise your own "great brains" and play some brain games. Here are some online brain games, and some printable brain games, and a book of brain games for kids.

One Mixed Up Night by Catherine Newman

Best friends Frankie (girl) and Walter (boy) have been obsessed with the Ikea catalog for years. After reading the classic book From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, they hatch a plan to run away to Ikea for a night. Not unlike the classic book that inspires them, both kids are looking for more than just a fun night away. Walter is coping with the recent death of his father. Frankie is trying to figure out how to be a friend to Walter in his grief and also how to find her own voice and space at home. With a lot of crazy hi jinks and mishaps, they both get a little closer to finding what they're looking for.

• Great for both boys and girls
• Great for ages 8-12

Activities and Themes:

• Themes: Grief, losing a parent, friendship, independence
• If you live near an Ikea, the activity for this one is simple: go to Ikea, eat some meatballs, and find all the areas it talks about in the book
• If you don't live near an Ikea, have meatballs anyway and play Frankie and Walter's "picking game" with a few copies of the Ikea catalog
• I'd love to hear a group of tweens discuss this book! Do they think the kids got what they deserved in the end? How would they have ended the book?

Pie by Sarah Weeks

This has been read and reread many times at our house. The story is a mild mannered mystery, the sort that takes place in a small town with quaint characters. The mystery begins when Alice's Aunt Polly, the Pie Queen of Ipswitch, dies and leaves her famous secret pie recipe to her cat. Everybody goes pie crazy trying to figure it out. Especially Alice and her best friend Charlie, who she drags along on her quest to solve this mystery.

• Great for both boys and girls
• Great for ages 8-12

Activities and Themes: 

• Themes: Grief/Loss, Adventure, Courage, Special Talents
• At the end of every chapter, there is a recipe for one of Aunt Polly's well loved pies. Plan on making a pie together for this book club activity!
• Scholastic has a great list of discussion questions for this book too! Get them here.

Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein by Jennifer Roy 

This book is based on a true story and follows a young boy, Ali, during the Gulf War. He's just an ordinary eleven year old boy who loves to play soccer and video games until the dictator of his country, Saddam Hussein, invades Kuwait. Ali's homeland turns to war as the United States drops bombs in an effort to get Saddam Hussein to withdraw. Will Ali's life ever be the same again?

This is a short book - just over 150 pages. It's a quick, but powerful read, sure to provoke great discussion and a better understanding of the Gulf War.

• Features a boy and his brothers as main characters, but a good read for boys and girls
• Best for 10-12 year olds

Activities and Themes: 

• Themes: Growing up during War, Survival, Politics, Geography, Iraqi Culture/Customs
• Some of the themes in this book are pretty heavy, but you can still have some fun with this book. Play some of Ali's favorite games using this online Atari Arcade.
• Find some maps and photographs to illustrate some of the places in the book. Look up some more history about the Gulf War to share with the book club.

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Emily's family has just transplanted her to San Francisco. She's not really happy about moving but she is excited because San Francisco is home to her favorite literary icon: Garrison Griswold. Griswold is the creator of Book Scavenger, a game that has people hiding books around cities all over the country and leaving clues for people to find them. But before she can meet her idol, Griswold is attacked and put into a coma. This happens just before he can launch the epic new scavenger game that his fans have been anxiously awaiting. Emily, along with her new friend James, sets out to find the clues and solve the mystery. What ensues is gripping, page turning fun!

• Great for Boys and Girls
• Great for 8 to 12 year olds

Activities and Themes: 

• Have fun writing and decoding ciphers at your book club. Here's a great site to get started.
• Following the popularity of the book, they made an actual Book Scavenger website similar to the fictional one. You can actually go hide a book or go look for a book!
• Have you tried geocaching yet? Find a geocache near you and take the book club along to search and find. Real life treasure hunting!