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Book Clubs and Reading Groups for New York City Kids, Tweens and Teens
I love to read and most of my adult life have been in one – sometimes two – book groups. There seems to be a under the radar trend in the city right now where girls and their mothers are starting book groups together, possibly spurred on by the popular middle grade book series: The Mother-Daughter Book Club , about a group of girls reading Little Women along with their mothers.
There are quite a few book groups or reading clubs already established in New York City - for practically every age. Read on to find out where and when and for our tips on starting a reading group for your child (with mommy or without.)
OUR LATEST VIDEOS
Thalia Kids’ Book Club
Presented at the Symphony Space Peter J. Sharp Theater, this regularly scheduled program brings authors together with their readers (aged 9 years and up), for creative writing projects, opened ended book discussions and of course book signings. Sometimes the events even include readings from the book. At this point in the year, the program is winding down but should be back in September. Some past clubs have featured powerhouse children’s literature authors like Mary Pope Osborne and Judy Blume. If you missed the program you can catch up with the discussions online.
The next and last scheduled book club for the season is May 4, 2010 and features, Rick Riordan, the author of The Lightning Thief, with his new series: The Kane Chronicles.
In the meantime if you have a bibliophile in training, there is a Thalia Kids’ Book Group Summer Camp, this only in New York opportunity lets kids that love to read and write spend the summer immersed in books: discussing them with their favorite authors and illustrators and going on related field trips. During previous summers, kids have gotten to meet author Brian Selznick, go on assignment with New York Times reporter Michael Winerip, plus tons of other book related workshops.
The New York Public Library also offers free book groups for Tweens and Teens
Weekly Book Discussions:
Bookalicious:
10 to 13 year old kids read a different book each week and discuss it in a laid back, friendly group. Fridays at 4:00, The Children’s Center at 42nd Street, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Bookalicious, Part Two: The Bookening!
Once the kids age out of Bookalicious they move across town to the Teen Center in the Grand Central Library for Bookalicious, Part 2. Low key and inclusive this group is for young teenagers up to the age of 18 but mostly 13 and 14 year olds join in. Every Friday at 4:00.
Teen Book Discussion Group:
Also on Fridays at 4:00, the St. George Library Center on Staten Island offers book discussions for tweens and teens aged 13 to 18 years old.
Science Fiction Discussion Group:
13 to 18 year olds that are into science fiction books, movies and TV can visit the Allerton Library on the first Saturday of every month at 2:00 for an engaging discussion on the genre.
Regularly Scheduled NYPL Reading Groups:
Bronx tweens and teens can talk books and anything else they have on their mind at the Woodstock Library on select Tuesdays at 4:00.
Make a project and talk about books with other teenagers at the Chatham Square Library, this week the project is a duct tape wallet and the library even provides snacks, April 28, 2010 at 4:00.
The Queens Library System offers great reading groups for kids and tweens for free:
You can also start your own book group with or for your child. You just need 5 like minded kids and a book. Start now and you can be up and running when summer vacation rolls along.
Here are our tips on how to get started:
Pick a place to meet:
You can rotate through the member’s homes, or meet in a library or café.
Decide how you will choose the books to read:
In my group choosing the next book to read is the best part of the night, we go in alphabetical order and each take turns proposing a handful of different titles to vote on. You could also put the member’s names in the hat and make a schedule and then let each kid choose the book or choose the books for the year as a group.
Would you like parent involvement?:
The group will need to decide if the parents are reading the book, too. If you go the mommy and me route, the adults could take turns moderating the discussion or maybe each adult moderates when it is their child’s book choice. You don’t need to have a moderator or prepared questions; you can just have a free flowing discussion of the book and anything else that comes up. Plus, older teens probably won’t need help to get the discussion going, anyway.
Decide how often to meet:
My group meets each month and for me that is plenty, I expect for kids that could be the perfect frequency, too. It really just depends on what else they have going on, how long the books are, and how quickly they read. Picking a dedicated date and time (first Tuesday of every month) makes it easy to plan for and be committed to.
Blow it out and make it fun with themed eats, crafts, costumes or anything else you can think of.
Here are some Mommy Poppins approved book ideas to get you started.
Happy Reading.
