September Meeting Wrap-up

The Book Buddies Book Club met on Monday afternoon to discuss the book Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay. Overall we really enjoyed the book and getting to know the Casson family. Some bits of our discussion:

• All of the Casson children are named after colors and we discussed how members of the book club got their names.
• Everyone felt that Saffy should have been told much earlier that she was adopted so that she wouldn't accidentally find out like she did.
• Most members felt that Saffy's being adopted shouldn't make a difference even though it did to her - she's still family and it shouldn't change that. Everyone felt it was very sad, though.
• We all agreed that the father, Bill, was mean and only really cared about his work. We felt he didn't treat the mother, Eve, right and one of the worst things about him was that he never ate the sandwiches Eve made for him.
• We were split on Saffy's friendship with Sarah - some of us felt that she was a good friend, especially the way she helped Saffy get to Italy to find her angel. Others felt she was not a good friend to Saffy and didn't particularly like her as a character.
• Everyone agreed that Saffy should have told her mom before stowing away with the Warbecks for Italy. We then discussed the places we would stowaway to if we had the chance. Our favorite destinations included Hawaii, Australia, California , Texas, and Paris and many of the destinations were chosen because club members have family in those places.
• We discussed the ways that Saffy's brother, Indigo, faced his fears and how we have all faced fears in our lives.
• All club members agreed that it was very important for Saffy to find her angel because it was the only thing left that directly connected her to her parents and the only thing to remind her of her life in Italy.
• We discussed which Casson sibling we are most like. Popular choices included Rose and Caddy.
• Our favorite parts of the book were when Saffy found her angel and when Caddy put Saffy's name on the color chart so she'd be there with the rest of the family. Our least favorite part was when the grandfather died and their father, Bill, was so uncaring.

We also had a look at all of the different book covers that Saffy's Angel has been published with, which was something that I posted about a few weeks ago. We decided that this is our favorite cover because it shows Saffy and the door to the garden and because it plays up the mystery part of the story and really makes you want to read the book.

Finally we had snacks and made edible art bracelets for our craft project (using LifeSavers candy) in a tribute to Rose and her edible art project in the story. We also discussed other books we read over the summer and enjoyed. Some books members recommend include Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin, The Aurora County All-Stars (one of our book club books last year) and the Nancy Drew series.

It was a great meeting and I'm looking forward to getting together next month!