After a high energy visit and snacks of gingerbread and lemon pastry the girls tried to do a crossword puzzle about the book. They also designated character traits of Mattie Cook on yellow index cards.

We gathered in the living room and began discussion by identifying Pennsylvania on the U.S. map. The girls were asked: "how do you think the family could have traveled to the state of California in 1793?" With some prompting, they remembered that California wasn’t yet a state. We talked about what life might have been like in 1793 and what Pennsylvania was like. We talked about how much work life was then. We acknowledged that it was the U.S. capital.

We talked about genre. We recognized that this book was historical fiction. It really happened but not to these exact people and maybe not exactly as described.

Mothers and daughters shared thoughts about the book. Several girls disliked the story - especially felt it was too awful even to finish. It was too scary or horrid to continue. Some found it too dull, with not enough action, not enough character development and less rich language then other novels. Most of us enjoyed the appendix.

We talked about how characters changed as the story went on. Mother had gotten very old in just 3 months. We defined priorities and talked about how mother and Mattie’s were changed by the illness. We talked about how the mother had changed her feelings about things, not just her appearance. We discussed some characteristics of Mattie with examples; smart, sweet, courageous, ambitious, strong, independent... No one agreed that she was lazy as suggested in the beginning of the novel.

We talked about yellow fever: the causes, treatment and prevention. We reminded each other that it could be caught from the mosquito, not each other and therefore it hadn’t been necessary to stay away from someone with this illness. We noted that the disease still exists in Africa and remarked on the similarities of West Nile Virus.

We shared notes about the author. Her web site was made available: www.writerlady.com. We discussed how many awards this novel won and wondered why??? We spoke briefly about her novel for teens, Speak.

We talked about symbolism in literature. We discussed the use of the color yellow throughout this novel. Most of us saw the story in black and white though there were lots of references to "yellow". We read the last lines of the book... "The yellow sun rose, a giant balloon filled with prayers and hopes and promise....Day was begun"... We all saw the color here as hopeful, cheery, warm, hopeful...

We finished with a passionate discussion of how to proceed in book club. It was decided to each have a turn picking a book and hosting the group with the choosing pair leading discussion and activities. We will each have a turn and then re-evaluate. We will meet next on October 13 and discuss "In the Year of the Boar" and "Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lords. Jill and Emma will be our hostesses in their new home.