meeting notes 3.21.2011

Welcome back from Spring Break!  Over the past few weeks, we read The Thing About Georgie by Lisa Graff, from the beginning to page 110. 

Our Book Club Season is coming to a close!  We will have our final meeting on Monday, April 18th and will discuss the ending of the book, The Thing About Georgie.

Here are some of our discussion questions from today:

What is the thing about Georgie?

• He is a dwarf.

How does that make you feel?

• It makes me feel like he's sad because he is different and he is so small.
• I feel like I'm not really that small; my brother is really tall and he makes me feel small but now that I'm reading this there are even smaller people out there.
• I feel sympathy for those people; Georgie suggests that you stare at people who are different to just figure them out.  It makes me feel differently about staring at people.
• It made me think because I just thought people were shorter but I didn't realize about all of the little things that were hard for them to do like tying their shoes, etc.
• If I were Georgie I might feel left out, like when Andy is not his friend anymore.

What do you wonder about Georgie?

• Why is he so shocked when he finds out his mom is going to have a baby?
• I wonder if Georgie ever gets scared around people who are taller...
• Why does Georgie not like that Andy is hanging out with Russ?
• I wonder who is writing the notes....

How would you describe Georgie to someone who hasn't read the book?

• A person who has problems in his life
• He is a dwarf
• Very few people are nice to him because they feel uncomfortable around him
• He doesn't really like the baby who is going to be joining his family

What is there to learn from the sections directed at you, the reader? 

• It explains how short Georgie really is; some abilities we have he can't do since he's short
• More about Georgie's personality

Who do you think the narrator of these parts is and why do you think the author used a different narrator from the story? 

• I think it may be Georgie's mom or dad...
• Andy?

What did you think about these activity sections and how did they make you feel?

• I felt sad for Georgie because he can't do such small things; how can he do big things?
• I learned how different he really is from us; you thought he just had a big head and is shorter but there are a lot of other things that he struggles with (like tying his shoes)

What do you think will happen when Baby Godzilla arrives?  How do you think Georgie will feel?

• I think Georgie is going to feel a little bit happy; he may be happier than he thinks he will be.
• I think he might be a little happy but he really doesn't want a baby brother or sister.
• I think he might not like it and feel left out
• He feels like he is going to be littler than Baby Godzilla since he/she will be "normal" and will grow taller than Georgie
• He might feel better about the baby since he's spent all this time worrying about it and he may realize that the baby may not be able to put the star on the tree (and he can still do it for a few more years)