Book Reviews and More: The Kindness Club - Courtney Sheinmel

Wednesday, 10 April 2019

The Kindness Club - Courtney Sheinmel - The Kindness Club Book 1

The Kindness Club
The Kindness Club Book 1
Courtney Sheinmel
Bloomsbury
ISBN 9781681190914
eISBN 9781681190921
ASIN B01LRQL95K

I have read all of the Stella Batts books by Courtney Sheinmel multiple times. Some by myself, all with my oldest, and some with my younger two children. And As much as we loved the Stella Batts books, reading the first of the Kindness Club books was special in that the four of us read it together. It was also a source of some great conversations.

This is the first book in the second series by Courtney that we have read. The story focuses around Chloe Silver, a young girl who is starting at a new school. Her parents have divorced, and they have both moved. She is at a new school, in a new home, and her father has a new apartment. Chloe learned about affirmations over the summer and she is beginning this new school year with one:

“I have the best friends in my new school. I have the best friends in my new school. I have the best friends in my new school.”

And on the day, she goes to pick up her books she meets a few fellow students. Monroe Resser is the leader of the ‘It Girls’ and Chloe seems to git it off with her. She really wants to be a part of this club especially after what happened at her old school. But she also meets Lucy Tanaka, a girl with a quirky fashion sense. Chloe likes to be nice to every, be as she quickly learns it does not always lead to good results. Chloe is tamed with Lucy, and Theo the most studious guy in the grade for a science project. They form the Kindness Club as part of a science project. The first sight she goes to her Dad’s new place, she is whisked upstairs to another woman’s place who has a daughter her same age, Sage. Soon she is struggling with conflict between the two groups at school, and Sage and her mother. And everything starts falling apart.

You will need to read the book to find out if Chloe can find the silver lining in all her situations. Will the Kindness club succeed? Can they prove their hypothesis? Can Chole Silver find the silver lining, and can she figure it all out? To find out you will need to read this excellent book.

My Children’s favorite part of the story are:

13 year old love that she chose true friends over popularity.
11 year old love that Mrs. G was changed.
8 year old loved that Chloe like to be kind by baking for others.

My favorite part was the quote from Plato, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”. The children in the story really got a better understanding of this. We also had a great discussion about the implications of divorce, and how it impacts both the parents and the children. We also talked about parents who let their kids down or have unrealistic expectation. There is so much in this story that can be used for discussion either at home or in the classroom.

This is a great read, as a family we really loved it, and are eager to read book two, Designed by Lucy, and the three kids are already asking of there are going to be more books in the series.