''The Mother-Daughter Book Club'' is a series of

children's novel Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

s written by Heather Vogel Frederick. The books center around the lives of five different preteens, and eventually teenage girls who become best friends because of the book club that their mothers start. The girls live in a slightly fictionalized

Concord, Massachusetts Concord () is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. At the 2020 census, the town population was 18,491. The United States Census Bureau considers Concord part of Greater Boston. The town center is near where the conflu ...

Characters

Emma Jane Hawthorne - A bookworm whose mother is the local

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

and whose father is a published

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, Emma starts off the series shy and reserved. Later on she takes up

ice skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...

and bonds with her coach, while also dating Stewart Chadwick and practicing writing. She is the primary focus of the fourth book in the series, ''Pies and Prejudice.'' Jessica Joy Delaney - The brains of the group and Emma's best friend, Jess is a hardworking girl. Jess's family owns Half Moon Farm and is riddled with financial problems. Her mother is an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

who returns to work on the

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

when it causes a rift between her and the family. Later in the series, Jess begins attending a local

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

on an academic

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

, and dates Emma's popular older brother Darcy. The second book in the series, ''Much Ado About Anne'', is mainly about her. Megan Rose Wong - A seemingly stereotypical rich girl, Megan used to be friends with the popular girls before joining the book club, and is embarrassed by her mother who "gives their money away" to charities and is open about her

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. Di ...

lifestyle. Megan's main hobby is

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

, and she eventually attends

Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for a BFA in Fashion. She dates

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but doe ...

Simon Berkeley. She is the main focus of the third and sixth books ''Dear Pen Pal'' and ''Wish You Were Eyre''. Cassidy Ann Sloane - Cassidy moved to Concord from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

after her father died, and lives in the shadow of her mother Clementine, a famous former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

who later remarries and creates her own

cooking show A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in British English) is a television genre that presents food preparation, often in a restaurant kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Ty ...

. Unlike her mother and sister, Cassidy is a tomboy who plays

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

, and despite not being nearly as interested in boys as the rest of the book club, gets together with both Zach Norton and Simon's brother Tristan Berkeley over the course of the series. The first book in the series, ''The Mother-Daughter Book Club,'' centers around her. Rebecca Louise Chadwick - While a general mean girl in the first book, her mother Calliope forces her to join the book club in the second and she slowly forms a reluctant bond with the rest of the girls. Stubborn and boy crazy, Becca later becomes a waitress at the

tea shop A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

owned by Megan's grandmother, and attends the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

with her boyfriend Theo Rochester. The book which centers around her is the

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

special and fifth book in the series, ''Home for the Holidays''.

Plot

Middle school

In the first book in the series, ''The Mother-Daughter Book Club,'' the book club is formed by the mothers while all of the girls are in sixth grade. They become friends over the course of it and help Jess get her parents back together while reading ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

'' by

Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known as the author of the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Little Men'' (1871) and ''Jo's Boys'' (1886). Raised in ...

. In ''Much Ado About Anne'', they read ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'' by

Lucy Maud Montgomery Lucy Maud Montgomery (November 30, 1874 – April 24, 1942), published as L. M. Montgomery, was a Canadian author best known for a collection of novels, essays, short stories, and poetry beginning in 1908 with '' Anne of Green Gables''. She ...

, and struggle with their mothers' decision to let Becca Chadwick into the book club. Meanwhile, Cassidy and her older sister Courtney discover that their mother has begun dating again, and Jess tries to keep her parents from selling Half Moon Farm. In the third book ''Dear Pen Pal'', the mothers set the girls up to be pen pals with another mother-daughter book club in Wyoming, whom they visit at the end of the book, and read Daddy Long Legs by

Jean Webster Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876 – June 11, 1916), an American author whose books include '' Daddy-Long-Legs'' and '' Dear Enemy''. Her best-known books feature lively and likeable young female prota ...

. Jess transfers to a prestigious boarding school, Colonial Academy, after being offered an anonymous scholarship and clashes with her Southern roommate Savannah Sinclair, but also joins the school's a cappella group. Megan's grandmother Gigi moves in with the Wongs and Cassidy learns her mother is pregnant.

High school

The girls enter high school in ''Pies and Prejudice'' as Emma's family prepares to move to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

for a year and swap houses with the Berkeley family. The book club continues over video call as they read Jane Austen's classic

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

. Jess begins rehabilitating wild animals, Emma develops a rivalry with the "British Becca" Annabelle (aka Stinkerbelle), Megan starts an anonymous fashion blog and a romance with Simon Berkeley. Cassidy enters an Elizabeth/Darcy esque dynamic with Simon's

ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

brother Tristan and helps out with a hockey program called Chicks with Sticks. The book concludes with Megan's grandmother Gigi opening a tea shop called Pies and Prejudice. The following book, ''Home for the Holidays'', takes place over the course of a single month during the girls' sophomore year, as they read the Betsy-Tacy series by

Maud Hart Lovelace Maud Hart Lovelace (April 25, 1892 – March 11, 1980) was an American writer best known for the Betsy-Tacy series. Early life Maud Palmer Hart was born in Mankato, Minnesota to Tom Hart, a shoe store owner, and his wife, Stella (née Palmer) ...

and participate in a

Secret Santa Secret Santa is a Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift giver is to remain a secret and should not be revealed. Deriving from the ...

. It is also the first book in the series to include chapters from Becca's perspective, whose dad is laid off before she is set to visit her grandmother in Minnesota and her mother goes through a midlife crisis. Megan goes on a tropical cruise, and Jess is set to go on a skiing trip with Savannah, until she injures her leg in a sledding accident and is forced to spend Christmas with Emma, who is angry at her for wanting to go on the trip. Cassidy competes in a hockey tournament and tries to ward off the affections of Zach Norton, while dealing with Becca who is jealous of her relationship with Zach. ''Wish You Were Eyre'', wherein the girls read

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature. She enlisted i ...

, begins with the Wongs accepting a French exchange student named Sophie into their house, who develops a close bond with Gigi that Megan is envious of. Mrs. Wong runs for mayor with the help of Emma and her boyfriend Stewart. Becca meets the mysterious Theo on her trip to Minnesota. Megan visits

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

for

Fashion Week A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, where fashion designers, brands or "houses" display their latest collections in runway fashion shows to buyers and the media. These events influence the upcoming fashion ...

as a birthday from Gigi. Gigi meets and dates Sophie's grandfather Edouard and they later marry. This, as well as "Home for the Holidays", all takes place during the girls' sophomore year. The final book in the series, ''The Mother-Daughter Book Camp'', follows the girls' experience as camp counselors at Camp Lovejoy, located in New Hampshire, the summer before their freshman year of college. Emma is paired up to counselor with Jess's know-it-all cousin Felicia, who drove a wedge between the two in ''Home for the Holidays'', while Jess is left with Cassidy and Megan co-counselors with Becca. Together with their campers, they read

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Dorothy Canfield Fisher (February 17, 1879 – November 9, 1958) was an educational reformer, social activist, and best-selling American author in the early 20th century. She strongly supported women's rights, racial equality, and lifelong educat ...

Understood Betsy ''Understood Betsy'' is a 1916 novel for children by Dorothy Canfield Fisher. Plot summary The story tells of Elizabeth Ann, a 9-year-old orphan girl who goes from a sheltered existence with her father's aunt Harriet and cousin Frances in the ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mother-Daughter Book Club 2007 American novels 2007 children's books American children's novels Novels set in Massachusetts Concord, Massachusetts Children's books set in Massachusetts