By Kitty Felde
There will be those days this summer when venturing outside in 90 degree heat with 90% humidity is too much to imagine. Even your kids refuse to go outside. How do you keep them off the gaming devices? Sign them up for a book club.
Summer is the perfect time to join a book club. It keeps their brains working, helping to fight “summer slide.” It cuts down on screen time. Kids can meet new friends. And there’s often rewards for participants.
Our local bookstores are all in. On Capitol Hill, EAST CITY BOOKS hosts two kidlit book clubs. The PageTurners is for readers between 8 and 11 years old. Their next meeting is Sunday, August 6th at 3PM when they’ll be discussing Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry. Older readers aged 11-13 have their own club. Be(Tween) Reads’ next meeting is also Sunday, August 6th at 4:15 PM when readers will discuss Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow.
Up on H Street, SOLID STATE BOOKS hosts a Middle Grade book club for young readers every other month. Their next meeting is also August 6th at 6PM. They’ll tackle Roseanne Brown’s Serwa Boateng’s Guide to Vampire Hunting.
Don’t forget our own DC PUBLIC LIBRARY’s Discover Summer reading program. Kids get a bag and free tickets to a Nats game. They’re also entered into a raffle for tickets to the International Spy Museum or a DC United game.
Looking for a virtual book club? Try the BOOK CLUB FOR KIDS podcast, available wherever you listen to podcasts. This free show features kids from around the country who discuss a book, interview the author, and hear a reading from the book by a celebrity. Kids can participate remotely by recording themselves on the voice memo app of a smartphone talking about their own favorite book.
Don’t be jealous: you can join a grown-up book club, too. Most bookstores and the DC Public Library host book clubs for adults on various topics.
Kitty Felde writes The Fina Mendoza Mysteries series of books and podcasts. Book 1: Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza has just been re-released in English and Spanish.