Girl Detective

The more I think on a group reading project around Lizzie Skurnick’s reading memoir, Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading, the more excited I get.

NB: it’s a project, not a challenge. I’m going to try and make this as easy, enjoyable, and participatory as possible.

The Project: In the summer of 2012, we’re going to read a chapter a week from Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading. Each of its 10 chapters has a theme, and essays on several books. In addition to the chapter, read one of the books from the chapter, OR a book from your reading past OR a modern YA or adult book, OR a genre book (sci fi, fantasy, mystery, etc.) that fits the theme. OR don’t read a book, just read along, or reminisce on the ones that you did.

To recap: read a chapter, and a book from or related to that chapter. Or remember rather than read a book. Then discuss. Or just lurk.

See? Easy. Fun!

Every Monday starting June 4, 2012, here at Girl Detective, I’ll post the chapter and book list for the coming week. The following Monday, starting June 11, 2012 and ending August 20, 2012, I’ll write a post on the chapter and book/s, and we’ll discuss in the comments section. I’ll also be posting the blog entry on Facebook. The book has ten chapters, but we’ll go to week eleven for related books, modern books, and a recap/post mortem.

I’ll keep this as the introductory entry, and modify it as needed, so that there’s only one starting place with all the info. I’m also going to try to come up with a spreadsheet in Google docs of the books Skurnick references, and see if that’s a good way to compile and share them. (Because you, like me, may be sending it to your mother to spelunk in the basement for your childhood copies, perhaps?)

I am really excited about this group read, and hope you are, too. Spread the word! And by all means, if you have kids, have them read along for the less racy books.

Shelf Discovery Summer Schedule:

Monday June 4: Start Your Engines. Prepare to read Foreword, Introduction, and Chapter 1: Still Checked Out: YA Heroines We’ll Never Return from Lizzie Skurnick’s Shelf Discovery. Read, or reminisce about, a book with a memorable heroine/hero.

Monday June 11: Discuss Chapter 1 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 2: She’s at That Age: Girls on the Verge. Read or reminisce on, a book about puberty.

Monday June 18: Discuss Chapter 2 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 3: Danger Girls: I Know What You Did Last Summer (Reading). Read or reminisce on a book involving kids in danger.

Monday June 25: Discuss Chapter 3 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 4: and Read ‘Em and Weep: Tearing Up the Pages. Read or reminisce on a book that made you cry.

Monday July 2: Discuss Chapter 4 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 5: You Heard It Here First: Very Afterschool Specials. Read or reminisce on a book about Special Topics like Child Abuse, Rape, Drugs, Alcohol.

Monday July 9: Discuss Chapter 5 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 6: Girls Gone Wild: Runaways, Left Behinds and Ladies Living Off the Fat of the Land. Read or reminisce on girls who are out of place in some way, shape, or form.

Monday July 16: Discuss Chapter 6 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 7: She Comes by It Supernaturally: Girls Who Are Gifted and Talented. Read or reminisce on a book with ESP, time travel, ghosts, and other “In Search of…” topics.

Monday July 23: Discuss Chapter 7 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 8: Him She Loves: Romanced, Rejected, Affianced, Dejected. Read or reminisce on a book about teen romance, or the lack thereof.

Monday July 30: Discuss Chapter 8 and books. Prepare to read Chapter 9: Old Fashioned Girls: They Wear Bonnets, Don’t They? Read or reminisce on an old-school heroine.

Monday August 6: Discuss Chapter 9 and books. Prepare to read the last chapter, 10: Panty Lines: I Can’t Believe They Let Us Read This. Read or reminisce on a book that gets panties in a twist either through intense interest, or outrage.

Monday August 13: Discuss Chapter 10 and books. Prepare to read or reminisce about any other book referenced in Shelf Discovery, or related to any of the themes.

Monday August 20: Discuss the book as a whole, and the re-reading/reminiscing experience. Possibly win a signed copy of Skurnick’s book through a random drawing of those readers who make it through the entire summer.

Let me know if this schedule and the project make sense and if you’re going to read along.

Here are the 74 books referred to in the book. Don’t panic! (See how that’s written in large, friendly letters?) Remember, the suggestion is to read (or just recall) one book from the chapter of the week, so a total of ten or eleven all summer. I’ll also include the list, alphabetically by author, for easier library/bookstore searching. FYI for those in Half-Price Books range, they are having a sale this Memorial Day weekend.

Books from Shelf Discovery, by chapter.

1 Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself by Blume, Judy
1 Danny, the Champion of the World by Dahl, Roald
1 The Great Brain by Fitzgerald, John D.
1 Harriet the Spy by Fitzhugh, Louise
1 From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg, E.L.
1 A Wrinkle in Time by L’Engle, Madeleine
1 Farmer Boy by Wilder, Laura Ingalls
1 Ludell by Wilkinson, Brenda

2 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Blume, Judy
2 Blubber by Blume, Judy
2 Tiger Eyes by Blume, Judy
2 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t by Blume, Judy
2 Sister of the Bride by Cleary, Beverly
2 Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Danziger, Paula
2 The Long Secret by Fitzhugh, Louise
2 A Ring of Endless Light by L’Engle, Madeleine
2 And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine by Pevsner, Stella
2 Caroline by Roberts, Willo Davis
2 To Take a Dare by Zindel, Paul and Dragonwagon, Crescent

3 Secret Lives by Amoss, Berthe
3 I Am the Cheese by Cormier, Robert
3 Daughters of Eve by Duncan, Lois
3 Summer of Fear by Duncan, Lois
3 The Arm of the Starfish by L’Engle, Madeleine
3 Dragons in the Waters by L’Engle, Madeleine
3 The Westing Game by Raskin, Ellen
3 The Grounding of Group 6 by Thompson, Julian F.

4 The Gift of the Pirate Queen by Giff, Patricia Reilly
4 Summer of My German Soldier by Green, Bette
4 Beat the Turtle Drum by Greene, Constance C.
4 Jacob Have I Loved by Paterson, Katherine
4 Bridge to Terabithia by Paterson, Katherine
4 A Day No Pigs Would Die by Peck, Robert Newton
4 Tell Me if the Lovers are Losers by Voigt, Cynthia
4 The Pigman by Zindel, Paul

5 Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
5 Deenie by Blume, Judy
5 It’s Not the End of the World by Blume, Judy
5 Are You in the House Alone? by Peck, Richard
5 Don’t Hurt Laurie! by Roberts, Willo Davis

6 Understood Betsy by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
6 Julie of the Wolves by George, Jean Craighead
6 The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile by Hautzig, Esther
6 Island of the Blue Dolphins by O’Dell, Scott
6 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Speare, Elizabeth George
6 Homecoming by Voigt, Cynthia
6 Little House on the Prairie by Wilder, Laura Ingalls

7 Jane-Emily by Clapp, Patricia
7 A Gift of Magic by Duncan, Lois
7 Stranger with my Face by Duncan, Lois
7 Down a Dark Hall by Duncan, Lois
7 Hangin’ Out with Cici by Pascal, Francine
7 Ghosts I Have Been by Peck, Richard
7 Girl with the Silver Eyes by Roberts, Willo Davis

8 Forever by Blume, Judy
8 Fifteen by Cleary, Beverly
8 To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Conford, Ellen
8 The Moon by Night by L’Engle, Madeleine
8 In Summer Light by Oneal, Zibby
8 Happy Endings are All Alike by Scoppetone, Sandra
8 My Darling, My Hamburger by Zindel, Paul

9 Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Aiken, Joan
9 An Old Fashioned Girl by Alcott, Louisa May
9 The Secret Garden by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
9 A Little Princess by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
9 Belles on the Their Toes by Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth
9 Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth, Jr, Frank B.
9 All of a Kind Family by Taylor, Sydney

10 My Sweet Audrina by Andrews, V.C.
10 Flowers in the Attic by Andrews, V.C.
10 Clan of the Cave Bear by Auel, Jean
10 Wifey by Blume, Judy
10 Domestic Arrangements by Klein, Norma

***

Books from Shelf Discovery, alphabetically by author:

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Aiken, Joan
An Old Fashioned Girl by Alcott, Louisa May
Secret Lives by Amoss, Berthe
My Sweet Audrina by Andrews, V.C.
Flowers in the Attic by Andrews, V.C.
Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
The Clan of the Cave Bear by Auel, Jean
Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself by Blume, Judy
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Blume, Judy
Blubber by Blume, Judy
Tiger Eyes by Blume, Judy
Then Again, Maybe I Won’t by Blume, Judy
Deenie by Blume, Judy
It’s Not the End of the World by Blume, Judy
Forever by Blume, Judy
Wifey by Blume, Judy
The Secret Garden by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
A Little Princess by Burnett, Frances Hodgson
Belles on the Their Toes by Carey, Ernestine Gilbreth
Jane-Emily by Clapp, Patricia
Sister of the Bride by Cleary, Beverly
Fifteen by Cleary, Beverly
To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Conford, Ellen
I Am the Cheese by Cormier, Robert
Danny, the Champion of the World by Dahl, Roald
The Cat Ate My Gymsuit by Danziger, Paula
Daughters of Eve by Duncan, Lois
Summer of Fear by Duncan, Lois
A Gift of Magic by Duncan, Lois
Stranger with my Face by Duncan, Lois
Down a Dark Hall by Duncan, Lois
Understood Betsy by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
The Great Brain by Fitzgerald, John D.
Harriet the Spy by Fitzhugh, Louise
The Long Secret by Fitzhugh, Louise
Julie of the Wolves by George, Jean Craighead
The Gift of the Pirate Queen by Giff, Patricia Reilly
Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth, Jr, Frank B.
Summer of My German Soldier by Green, Bette
Beat the Turtle Drum by Greene, Constance C.
The Endless Steppe: A Girl in Exile by Hautzig, Esther
Domestic Arrangements by Klein, Norma
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by Konigsburg, E.L.
A Wrinkle in Time by L’Engle, Madeleine
A Ring of Endless Light by L’Engle, Madeleine
The Arm of the Starfish by L’Engle, Madeleine
Dragons in the Waters by L’Engle, Madeleine
The Moon by Night by L’Engle, Madeleine
Island of the Blue Dolphins by O’Dell, Scott
In Summer Light by Oneal, Zibby
Hangin’ Out with Cici by Pascal, Francine
Jacob Have I Loved by Paterson, Katherine
Bridge to Terabithia by Paterson, Katherine
Are You in the House Alone? by Peck, Richard
Ghosts I Have Been by Peck, Richard
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Peck, Robert Newton
And You Give Me a Pain, Elaine by Pevsner, Stella
The Westing Game by Raskin, Ellen
Caroline by Roberts, Willo Davis
Don’t Hurt Laurie! by Roberts, Willo Davis
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Roberts, Willo Davis
Happy Endings are All Alike by Scoppetone, Sandra
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Speare, Elizabeth George
All of a Kind Family by Taylor, Sydney
The Grounding of Group 6 by Thompson, Julian F.
Tell Me if the Lovers are Losers by Voigt, Cynthia
Homecoming by Voigt, Cynthia
Farmer Boy by Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Little House on the Prairie by Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Ludell by Wilkinson, Brenda
The Pigman by Zindel, Paul
My Darling, My Hamburger by Zindel, Paul
To Take a Dare by Zindel, Paul and Dragonwagon, Crescent

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