I have been so excited about this month’s book club event, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it!
We’re studying the American Revolution right now, and so the boys read 
They set up camp first. There were three dads, six book club boys, and one little brother. They pitched four tents and gathered firewood, and then we settled down to discuss the story. The boys had lots to say about who the villains were in the story. Woodruff does an excellent job of portraying the humanity of the soldiers in each army, and the boys caught that information. They chose sticks to whittle for roasting their hot dogs for dinner and went on a long hike.
They spent a lot of time at the water – throwing in sticks, rocks, and whatever else they could find. One mom rented a canoe and a kayak, and the boys took turns paddling around this part of the lake.
There was a lot of running around and yelling and playing-with-sticks and general boyish craziness, too. It all resulted in lots of fun.
I think this is one book club event that will be remembered for a very long time.
What are your kids reading right now?
After the bread came out of the oven, we headed out into the yard to experience Ellen’s rough spy journey. First, we played “Keep Away” with a few loaves of bread to simulate Ellen’s fight with and subsequent flight from the bullies who stole her bread. The girls laughed really hard during this game and tried hard to hold their bread tightly – they were all so excited about eating their bread that they didn’t want to risk dirtying it!
1. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein This story features middle-school characters but is I’ve tested out many more books than I’ve chosen, too, because I’m a picky reader, and I have high expectations for what my kids read. The following list includes my most favorite adventure stories for upper elementary readers, though, and if you haven’t read clean and fun. The characters are involved in a Survivor-like contest in a high-tech new library and must figure out an escape from a series of well-formulated clues to win an enormous price. 
2. Capture the Flag by Kate Messner This is the first book in a trilogy about a secret society of people descended from the world’s greatest artists and whose mission it is to protect their ancestors’ work from those who seek to steal or destroy it. The main characters are three unlikely kids, all with different skills and talents, who work together to bring down some serious art thieves. 
3. The Secret Island by Enid Blyton This is another first-in-a-series, this time about kids who are living in poor foster situations and decide to run away together to live on an island in the middle of a nearby lake. They build shelters, cook for themselves, store food for the winter, and otherwise survive on their own for months. It’s a great story of survival skills and working together. 
4. The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein This Grabenstein book also features older characters and touts great literature. How real are the things we imagine? Can our imaginations fuel real change to our world? These themes are explored when the main character writes himself into many classic stories and barely escapes with his life over and over again. 
5. The Sixty-Eight Rooms by Marianne Malone This first book, and the three that follow it, follow two kids through adventures through time, righting wrongs and learning about history. Their time travels are centered around the Sixty-Eight Rooms, a real exhibit in a Chicago museum. 
7. Honus and Me by Dan Gutman While time travel is my thing, sports are not – and yet I love this series. The main character, a tween boy, has the ability to travel through time with old baseball cards, and in each book of the series he travels to a different time and place, meeting the old greats and trying to correct wrongs – all while learning about the history of baseball. Of course, things never go as planned, and he’s captured by mobsters, lost without money, chased by angry managers, and much more. Find out how to turn this story into a real-life learning adventure here. 
8. Edison’s Gold by Geoff Watson This is one of my son’s favorite books. When Thomas Edison’s a-bunch-of-greats-grandson learns of his ancestor’s secret discovery, he and his friends race to find and save it – before the competition destroys his family. With explosions, chase scenes, and neat science tricks, it’s a super fun story – and you’ll learn something, too. 
9. Missing on Superstition Mountain by Elise Broach This story, and the rest of the trilogy, explore the mysterious past of a real mountain range in Arizona. With legends abounding, as well as a race to find a lost gold mine, you won’t be able to put this series down.
10. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett This story will make you think, as the author combines history, art, and philosophy – but she does so amidst the biggest art heist in history, and when some kids discover the trail to the thief, adventures fly. 
