Book Club Member-Only Content

The satisfaction of donating to the Book Love Foundation and enabling us to put more libraries in the classrooms of dedicated teachers! For information to submit for professional development credit or reimbursement, contact us. The Book Love Foundation is very grateful for the support from our sponsors!  Through their generosity and yours, more money will be available for classroom library grants!

  • Podcasts for each book hosted by Book Love Foundation president and author / speaker, Penny Kittle, and Teacher Learning Sessions.  We will have a chance to hear from some of the authors discussing their work and their writing process.
  • Private facebook group that will host live Facebook Chats and permit members to share their thoughts and experiences with each other
  • Book Club specific discussion topics and writing prompts that will allow you to experience these books on a whole new level
  • Book Love Foundation Swag!  Includes a writing journal, pen, canvas tote, wristband and sunglasses to protect your eyes from the summer sun!
  • Booksource
  • Scholastic Books
  • Minuteman Press

 A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving  

a prayer for owen meany

“I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he was the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.”
In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy’s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn’t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary and terrifying.

Recommended Watches

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander 

Crossover

“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I m delivering, ” announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. Heand his twin brother Jordanare awesome on thecourt. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood, he’s got mad beats, too, that tell his family’s story in verse, in this fast and furiousmiddle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander.
Josh and Jordanmust come togrips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story’s heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.

Revolution by Deborah Wiles  

Revolution

It’s 1964, and Sunny’s town is being invaded. Or at least that’s what the adults of Greenwood, Mississippi are saying. All Sunny knows is that people from up north are coming to help people register to vote. They’re calling it Freedom Summer.
As she did in her groundbreaking documentary novel COUNTDOWN award-winning author Deborah Wiles uses stories and images to tell the riveting story of a certain time and place — and of kids who, in a world where everyone is choosing sides, must figure out how to stand up for themselves and fight for what’s right.
You can find resources for teaching REVOLUTION at Pinterest. The Playlist is there, as well as photo resources and primary sources used to create REVOLUTION.

Disrupting Thinking by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst 

Disrupting Thinking

Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst are trying to change how we read. In their new book, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, the award-winning authors and literacy educators explore a new approach where reading is viewed as a transformational experience rather than a practice of decoding, recalling, and responding to questions. As Bob says, “We’re looking for the replacement of artificial and formulaic reading with REAL reading.” This week, Kylene and Bob join us in the studio to talk about how teachers can start implementing changes in their classrooms today, ways parents can be reading role models for their children at home, and why it’s more important that kids recognize how a text makes them feel than remember the main character’s name.