Suggested Reading Book Club Guide
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This month my daughter and a few of her friends read Suggested Reading by Dave Connis for their book club. Once a month they meet and discuss a book they have agreed to read. They are all still in high school so, right now I still host their meeting and facilitate the discussion. Book club is one of my favorite homeschool activities!
I had a hard time finding a book club guide for Suggested Reading by Dave Connis. The internet seemed to think that I was looking for book suggestions. Thankfully I had listened to the book in preparation for the book club, so I was able to put together a plan.
Suggested Reading Book Club Guide
Book Overview
Suggested Reading by Dave Connis is about a high school student who discovers that her private school is quietly banning books. She is an avid reader and library volunteer and is horrified by the ban. Many of the books on the banned list had an enormous impact on her life.
She resolves to secretly make the banned books available to her fellow students by running an underground library. This is risky because she is violating school rules and risks losing a college scholarship.
While quietly sneaking books into the hands of her classmates so begins to learn about how books have impacted other people too.
Trigger Warnings
At the beginning of the school year, the girls decided to give each book a trigger warning. Sometimes people are going through situations that leave them not in the right headspace for certain topics.
After all, they are young adults and young adult books are full of difficult topics.
The hope is that these warnings will help students know when they might want to pass on a book.
Suggested Reading by Dave Connis does not have very many trigger warnings. The girls decided that there was really only one warning needed:
- Suicide – One high school student attempts suicide. It is a minor part of the plot but might upset some readers who have struggled with mental health issues or been impacted by suicide or suicidal thoughts.
Discussion Questions
The discussion is always my favorite part of book club. This book club was no exception! I asked the girls these questions and we had an excellent discussion about banning books.
- What are your overall thoughts on this book?
- Does this book have any ‘trigger warnings’?
- Why might someone want to ban books?
- Why did the principal say “prohibited media” instead of banned books?
- Did Clara do the right thing operating her underground library? What would you have done?
- Who benefits from banning books?
- Are there ever any instances where banning, or restricting media, is a good thing?
- If you were an author, how would you feel about your books being banned
- Have you read any of the books mentioned in Suggested Reading?
- The principal uses the term ‘prohibited media’. Are there any other types of media that are banned in the United States? How do we restrict media such as movies, radio programs, and television shows?
- Do you think you have ever read any banned books?
Snack Choices
I like to have snacks available at each book club meeting. Sometimes the snacks are related to the book and sometimes they are just things that sound good.
In this book, the main character has a tradition of reading all night while snacking on mango juice, cheese, and crackers, so it felt obvious to serve those snacks. She also has a book club called Queso (‘k, so what are we reading next’), so chips and queso felt appropriate.
One of the girls has a gluten and dairy allergy, so all of the snacks I provide are safe for her.
- Mango juice
- Crackers
- Cheese (dairy-free and regular)
- Cookies
- Tortilla chips with guacamole and vegan queso
Other Ideas
We spent the majority of book club discussing banned books. If you look at the entire globe, just about every book has been banned somewhere, so we focused our discussion on books that have been banned by groups within the United States.
First, we looked at some of the most commonly banned books.
Then we looked at banned book lists from a few decades to see if there were any commonalities or trends.
Finally, we talked about surprising book bans. Some books have been banned for shocking reasons. Did you know that at one time a library in California removed all of the copies of Tarzan? Apparently, the people in charge were concerned that Jane and Tarzan were living together in the treehouse without being married.
So far this school year, the girls have read:
We took a little break for the holidays, but are excited to be back. I am looking forward to exploring more books with the girls this year.
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