We snacked on a selection of Greek food, chips and guacamole, cheese puffs, pink hostess snowballs, wedding cake, dried apricots, sour gummi worms, watermelon and gummy dinosaurs. We drank ginger ale and Odwalla lemonade quenchers (which no one really liked).

We started our discussion by locating Washington, D.C., South Carolina, Baja California and Greece on our maps.

The girls and one mom came dressed as one of the four girl friends. Lacy was Bridget in her soccer uniform, Andi Lynn and Molly were Lena, Donna was Carmen (and she really fit in her daughter’s size 14 gap jeans!!), and the others all were Tibby with smocks and name tags and pierced noses. We discussed these choices.

We then shared thoughts about the book and our journals. No one disliked the book and most really liked it. We talked at length about whether the Bridget / Eric issue was too mature for our ages and discussed what might have really happened. We noted that whatever took place did not feel good for Bridget at her edge and/or stage of life. We talked about her jumping into things and about the recurring theme in the novel of impulse control and common sense. We noted that Lena might have too much control to express her feelings and Bridget had a kind of energy she didn’t seem to be able to control. Those who had read the sequel gave us some hints about Bridget’s development over the next year.

Vicki raised the concern about the girls’ lack of parenting. It seemed they were not supervised enough in many situations -- why didn’t Tibby’s parents take her to see Bailey or to her funeral? How could Lena leave her sister in New York and fly on alone without any permission/discussion to California? We all expressed our intense dislike of Carmen’s father’s behavior and had a discussion about unconditional love and forgiveness. She wanted and needed a father and so was able to forgive him for behavior that we found perhaps unforgivable?

We talked about the author. This was her first book and we shared a biography and an interview from the internet.

We had our usual lively debate about the format for the next year, the next meeting time and place and book selection. It was agreed to rotate homes again with book choice to be made by the hosting couple. We will meet next on November 2nd at 3pm at Jill’s. She will let us know the reading assignment. We will also try to get together on October 26 to meet author Celia Rees if she is available.

Our next bookclub reading selection is: "Not as Crazy as I Seem" by George Gharrar. We will meet at Jill and Lacy and Emma's place at 3pm on Sunday November 2, 2003.

Report prepared by Book Club parent Nancy Z.