North Ayrshire Library and Information Service

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Reading Space

Beith Junior Book Group

This group has been meeting now for over three years and the current members are aged between 12-15 years. We meet in Beith library one Thursday each month between 4-5pm. Please contact Mhairi Cook on 01294 212716 if you would like to join and to find out when our next meeting is.

Books we have read

We choose a book to read each month from a list and discuss what we thought of it at the meeting. Sometimes we read books that we wouldn't normally have read! Some of the books we have discussed in the past are:

The Merrybegot by Julie Hearne
Firestarter by Catherine Forde
Girl, Missing by Sophie McKenzie
Jacob's Ladder by Brian Keaney

Author Visits, Film Nights, Book Awards

As well as reading we sometimes have special visitors e.g. published author Keith Charters who told us a bit about book publishing as well as his Lee series of books. In December we enjoyed a film night with another group and watched The Fantastic Four. In the past we have read books on the Royal Mail Awards 8-11 year old short-list e.g. Chill by Alex Nye and voted for our favourite. One of the many highlights was our visits to the Edinburgh Book Festival the past two years.

Reports on our meetings

May 2010

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Liam is unusually tall for his age and often gets mistaken for a grown-up, which leads to him posing as father to his friend Mercedes in a bid to win a trip to outer space. The book deals with the relationship between parents and children in a humourous and touching way. All the group enjoyed the book, particularly as it was very funny but dealt with some deeper issues, and led to discussions on the role of being a parent and the difficulties faced by children who look older than they are.

Next month the group are having a film night and will take a break over the summer.

February 2010

The Innocent's Story by Nicky Singer

This month, the book group read The Innocent's Story by Nicky Singer, about a girl who is killed by a terrorist bomb and becomes a 'para spirit' who lives inside the mind of the bomber who killed her. The book deals with the conflict between different cultures and religions and the circumstances which led to the bombing. The group all gave the book a thumbs down, with most of the members giving up half way through. We discussed other high profile bombing including 9/11, and the reasons why the group felt that someone would become a suicide bomber.

For next month, we are reading 'The Forbidden Room' by Sarah Wray.

January 2010

Roxy's Baby by Catherine MacPhail

The group read Roxy's Baby by Catherine MacPhail over the Christmas break. It got a thumbs up from all the girls, but our boy member didn't like it. Everyone agreed it was aimed mainly at girls, with the main character being a fourteen year old girl who becomes pregnant and runs away from home. The book deals with some hard issues such as family problems, step-families and the killing of babies for illegal donor transplants. All the girls could relate to Roxy's issues with her family, and everyone was shocked when they discovered what was happening to the babies. Most of the girls are now reading their way through all the other Catherine MacPhail books in the library.

For next month, the group is reading the Innocent's Story by Nicky Singer.

December 2009

The Drowning Pond by Catherine Forde

This month the group read The Drowning Pond' by Catherine Forde, with mixed views. Some of the group disliked it because they felt it was too 'weird' and others enjoyed the book. One criticism was the fact that the book is written in the voice of different character, and sometimes it was unclear who was telling the story at the beginning of some chapters. It also made the story a bit disjointed, but did help understand where the different characters were coming from. The group discussed bullying and peer group pressure as covered in the book, with animated discussions on how far they would go to be accepted by the 'it' crowd.

November 2009

The Passion Flower Massacre by Nicola Morgan

This month the group read The Passion Flower Massacre by Nicola Morgan. The book's themes are faith, religion, cults and freedom. Matilda, her friend and her friend's boyfriend go to work on a fruit farm for the summer after leaving school. Matilda's life up until now has been dominated by her brother's death and her parents' reaction to this. Freedom beckons, but as she starts work on the farm and she begins to succumb to the charms of the "nice" people with their light coloured jeans and white shirts, Matilda finds herself caught up in a religious cult, with devastating consequences.

The group all found the themes in the book interesting, and we discussed various other cult leaders including David Koresh and Charles Manson, and the reasons why people are drawn to cults and their leaders. We also discussed the Jonestown Massacre which was the inspiration for the book. Although none of the members felt they would be at risk from a cult, they could understand the reasons why some people become involved. For next month, we are reading The Drowning Pond by Catherine Forde.

October 2009

The Medusa Project: The Set-up by Sophie Mckenzie

This month the group read the Set-up by Sophie Mckenzie, the first part in a new series of adventure books about four teenagers who each have a different psychic ability. Fourteen years ago, scientist William Fox implanted four babies with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. But Fox died and the babies were hidden away for years. Now the children are teenagers - and unaware that their psychic powers are about to kick in.

Everyone in the group enjoyed this story, and found it fast paced and exciting. It had both strong male and female characters. The group discussed which psychic ability they would choose, and how they would use it. Next month, we are reading 'The Passionflower Massacre' by Nicola Morgan.

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