January Meeting Wrap-Up

Seven members of the Book Buddies Book Club met yesterday afternoon to discuss Mudshark by Gary Paulsen. Everyone thought that it was a quick read and very entertaining! We also agreed that it was one we would recommend to friends!

We talked about the character of Mudshark (Lyle Williams), the kind of person he is and where he got the name "Mudshark" (from being one of the fastest players of Death Ball, a local sport combining soccer, football, rugby, wrestling and mudfighting.) We discussed the skills that made him the school's best problem solver and locator of lost items and how he felt about being upstaged by Ms. Underdorf's "psychic" parrot.

We discussed why the principal asked him for help and agreed that his plan to return the stolen erasers was very well thought out and that it was very nice of him to protect Mr. Wilson. We thought at length about what was really going on in the faculty washroom and enjoyed re-reading the principal's morning announcements.

Many of us enjoyed reading about Ms. Underdorf's "armadillo" and the various cases Mudshark was able to solve for his fellow students.

Overall, we really enjoyed Mudshark and look forward to reading more books by Gary Paulsen.

We spent some time discussing other books with boy detectives including Encyclopedia Brown, The Hardy Boys and Half Moon Investigations. We also talked about other books we've been reading. A couple of book club members have been working on C.S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew. Another member is working on the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. Other books currently in progress are Old Yeller and The Mouse and the Motorcycle.

To round out our meeting we worked on some valentine cards and had snacks including chocolate chip cookies.

It was a wonderful meeting and thanks to all of the Book Buddies members who attended!