The Awesomeness of the American Girl Book Club

There aren't a lot of book clubs out there for elementary school-aged girls.

But considering how popular our American Girl Book Club is, maybe there should be more.

Isabella Glauser and Molly at our most recent book club meeting. Isabella made Molly her new necklace from recycled magazine pages.

Since we started the book club in January, anywhere between a dozen and 30 girls have come to each meeting. A lot of them bring their dolls with them, but a doll isn't mandatory.

The girls are always eager to talk about the American Girl book they've read over the last month.

They also make a craft. This year alone, they've made everything from dream catchers to jewelry to guacamole to God's eyes.

This month, we met Kit. Then we turned old magazine pages into beads for a necklace.

Aylish McNevan uses the wire for her necklace

Kim Sidorick, our children's services manager, had the idea for the book club after we held an American Girl-themed tea party last year. She thought the book club would help bring together girls with like interests to learn and just have fun.

“We had an American Girl tea party here last spring that was very successful,” Sidorick said. “The dolls are classics and the books circulate well.”

Emma McCue laughs while she and Libby Henrikson make necklaces at November's book club meeting.

Our last meeting of the year is Dec. 4. (The meetings are always 4 to 5 p.m. at our Main Branch on the first Wednesday of the month.) The girls will meet Samantha.

If you have a girl who is between eight and 12 years, then they can join the fun. They don't need a doll or anything like that. However, they should read Meet Samantha beforehand so they can participate in the discussion.

You can register your child for the book club on our web site or by calling (440) 255-8811 ext. 221. Registration isn't mandatory, but it makes it a lot easier for us to prepare if we have a good idea how many kids are going to be there.