Kids and Families

Book Discussion Kits

Calling all book clubs!

We know how difficult it is to choose a book for your next book group meeting, and to find enough copies for all the members of your group. We've made it easier for you by collecting donated and withdrawn copies of discussible books and putting all the copies in a canvas bag. We've included discussion questions and information about each author in a folder for each collection.

THE KITS

There are at least 5 copies of the book in each kit. At this time we have 77 kits for you to choose from, or see only our newest additions.

The Kits: New youth titles | All kits for grades 4 - 5 | All kits for grades 6 - 9 | New Adult Titles | Adult titles, sorted by author | Adult titles, sorted by title

HOW CAN WE GET THE KITS?

Once your book discussion group has decided on a title, send a group member to the Madison Public Library - Central Library (201 W. Mifflin St.), or call us at 266-6300, and we will help you check out the kits. The kits will be checked out on the library card of the person picking them up. The person checking out the kit may choose a due date for the kit, up to 3 months from the day they pick it up. Due to high demand, please take only one or two kits at a time. Kits can be shipped to any library in Madison as well as any public library in the South Central Library System.

WHAT IF A BOOK IS LOST?

If your group happens to lose a book, we ask that you replace it with another copy of the book, new or second hand, that is clean and readable.

 

Newest Additions:

May 2008

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the Hidden.
Luke is one of the shadow children, a third child forbidden by the Population Police. He's lived his entire life in hiding. Then Luke meets Jen, another third child willing to risk everything to come out of the shadows. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co..

Wrede, Patricia. Dealing With Dragons.
Cimorene should have been a proper princess, but she is not. After she is forbidden lessons in fencing, cooking, magic, and ecomnomics, she takes her one remaining option: she runs away to become the princess of a very powerful dragon, Kazul. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted.
At her birth, Ella of Frell is given the gift of obedience by a fairy. She realizes that it is truly a curse, for how can she be herself when at any moment she must obey any order given to her, whether it’s to hop on one foot, or betray her kingdom. Book Discussion Questions from Harper Collins.

Lowry, Lois. The Giver.
In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. In this role, he meets The Giver and discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world. Book Discussion Questions from TeenReads.com.

Collins, Suzanne. Gregor the Overlander.
Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building and hurtles into the dark Underland, where giant spiders, bats, rats, and cockroaches coexist with humans. Gregor becomes a reluctant hero in this strange land. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

Sachar, Louis. Holes.
Stanley Yelnats' family has been cursed with bad luck for generations, so Stanley isn't surprised when he is wrongly convicted of stealing. He is sent to Camp Greenlake, a juvenile detention center in the desert, with no lake and no green. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

Farmer, Nancy. The Sea of Trolls.
Jack and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. OR.

Almond, David. Skellig.
When Michael goes out into the old rickety garage behind his new house, he comes across a mysterious being who calls himself Skellig. Michael and his friend Mina bring Skellig out in to the light, and their worlds change forever. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

Lerangis, Peter. Spy X: The Code.
When Andrew and Evie (twins) turn 11, their mother mysteriously disappears. Will they be able to find and rescue her or is she gone forever? Book Discussion Questions from MPL.

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl.
Stanley Yelnats' family has been cursed with bad luck for generations, so Stanley isn't surprised when he is wrongly convicted of stealing. He is sent to Camp Greenlake, a juvenile detention center in the desert, with no lake and no green. Book Discussion Questions from Random House.

Paulsen, Gary. Tucket's Gold.
Tucket, Lottie, and Billy are fleeing for their lives. At the same time, Tucket is searching for his family after being separated from them on the Oregon Trail more than a year past. Now, after finding hidden treasure, maybe their luck is changing. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

Pratchett, Terry. The Wee Free Men.
Tiffany Aching is a young dairymaid with some witch-like tendencies. When her brother is kidnapped by the fairy queen, Tiffany goes on a rescue mission aided by the Wee Free Men, a band of six-inch-high, blue, fairy-land rejects. Book Discussion Questions from HarperCollins.

 

April 2008

Byng, Georgia. Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism.
Miserable orphan, Molly Moon discovers a book about hypnotism and takes the world by storm! Book Discussion Questions from MPL.

Funke, Cornelia. Ghosthunters and the Incredibly Revolting Ghost.
Tom discovers a ghost in his cellar and learns from his grandmother’s best friend how to get rid of it. Book Discussion Questions from MPL.

Jacques, Brian. Redwall.
Matthias, a young mouse who lives in Redwall Abbey, must defend his home against an attack by nearby nefarious rats and begins the epic series of Redwall adventures. Book Discussion Questions from Carolhurst.

Konigsburg, E.L. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
Claudia and her younger brother, Jamie, run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and uncover an art mystery while they’re there. Book Discussion Questions from Scholastic.

Lupica, Mike. Heat.
Michael Arroyo, a recent immigrant from Cuba, loves to play baseball, but some of his rivals think he may be lying about his age. Will he be able to find his missing birth certificate in time? Book Discussion Questions from Common Sense.

Spinelli, Jerry. Stargirl.
When Stargirl enrolls at Mica High, she captures the attention of junior Leo Borlock. Leo and Stargirl become a couple, and Leo learns what it's like to be shunned. In hopes of gaining acceptance Leo encourages her to become normal. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co.

 

February 2008

Acceleration. McNamee, Graham.
Stuck working in the Lost and Found of the Toronto Transit Authority for the summer, seventeen-year-old Duncan finds the diary of a serial killer and sets out to stop him. Book Discussion Questions from Rhode Island Teen Book Award.

Sabriel. Nix, Garth.
Sabriel journeys into the Old Kingdom, a place of dangerous magic and frightening half-dead creatures, to battle a powerful sorcerer and rescue her father from the land of the dead. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon .

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Brashares, Ann.
Best friends Carmen, Tibby, Bridget, and Lena are spending their first summer apart from one another. To keep them together in spirit, they form the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, a club where each gets to wear "magical" jeans for a period of time. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon.

So Hard to Say. Sanchez, Alex.
Mexican American, Xio, and Frederick, the cute new boy, quickly become friends, but when Xio wants more than a friendship Frederick has to figure out what he really wants. Book Discussion Questions Rhode Island Teen Book Award.

So Yesterday. Westerfeld, Scott.
Cool-spotter Hunter Braque, paid to spot “cool” trends for major corporations, finds himself searching for a missing corporate agent, and uncovering an anti-consumerist conspiracy. Book Discussion Questions from Rhode Island Teen Book Award.

Tangerine. Bloor, Edward.
Even though Paul Fisher is legally blind, he’s still a great soccer goalie, but Paul can’t understand why no one else can see the truth about his brother Erik, the football star. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon.

 

January 2008

Elsewhere. Zevin, Gabrielle.
On her way to help a friend pick out a dress for the Senior Prom, Liz is hit by a taxi and killed. She awakens aboard a cruise ship headed for Elsewhere. Book Discussion Questions from Holtzbrinck.

Fever 1793. Anderson, Laurie Halse.
At sixteen, Matilda Cook finds herself alone and temporarily homeless in the midst of the yellow fever epidemic in 1790s Philadelphia. Book Discussion Questions from Scholastic.

Flipped. Van Draanen, Wendelin.
Ever since the 2nd grade, Bryce’s oddball neighbor, Juli, has had a crush on him. Now, in 8th grade, Juli has taken to sitting in trees and selling eggs, and Bryce is finding her attention even harder to take. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon.

The Golden Compass. Pullman, Philip.
When Lyra's friend disappears she sets off on a North-bound journey to find him. Along the way she meets witches, an armored bear, and other strange beings. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon.

The Lightning Thief. Riordan, Rick.
Percy Jackson’s summer is turned upside down when he learns he is a demigod, is sent to summer camp for demigods, then sets out to prevent a war between the gods. Book Discussion Questions from Rhode Island Teen Book Award.

The Sea of Trolls. Farmer, Nancy.
Jack and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls. Book Discussion Questions from Multnomah Co. Oregon.

Trickster's Choice. Pierce, Tamora.
Captured and enslaved, Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy. Book Discussion Questions from Random House.

 

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