September 2012 - The Aviary

For September’s Book Club, we read The Aviary by Kathleen O'Dell. Here are our thoughts…

If I could change one scene in the book, it would be:

Cam:

Harry: The moment that the spell is broken should be more suspenseful. There should have been a bigger time lapse to build tension.

If I could be a character from this book it would be:

Cam: I would want to be George when he was human because I like to take stuff apart and put it back together.


Harry:I would want to be one of the Glendoveer children in both forms. Probably George, because he can pick locks in both forms.

My favorite character is:

Cam: Frances in bird form because she got aggravated when she wasn't able to speak well. "More words!" and "think genius".

Harry: I really like Peter when his chirps because he sounds like he's doing his business. Just kidding. My real favorite character is Frances.

The character I wouldn’t want to share an aviary cage with is:

Cam: I wouldn't want to share an aviary with Clara because she's weird.

Harry: I wouldn't want to share with Mr. Booth because he's plain cruel and he'll try to hypnotize me.

Cam: I would want to share a cage with Mr. Booth because he would hypnotize me.

Were you confused by anything in this book?

Cam: I was confused by Jimmy.

Lisa: I was confused as to when and where the book took place. O'Dell finally mentioned the coast of Maine but they never gave a definitive date. Early 1900s.

(the boys then recreated scenes from the book as they would appear as a cartoon drawn by the guy who does the Simpsons)

The one character I would want to happy forever is:

Harry: Clara because she's had a rough life and she should be happy from now on.

Please rate this book from 1-5, with 5 being the best:

Cam: 3.5

Harry: 3.5

We were both reluctant to read it in the beginning but it got our attention.

If you were trapped in the body of anything else, what would it be? What would be the advantages and limitations?:

Cam:  I would want to be an ostrich, bear, cat or elephant. Bear: big vs too big and you can't hide. Ostrich: stick head in sand vs can't fly. Cat: jump and climb up trees vs owners who pet you and try to pick you up. Elephant: trunk and shower whenever I want and I could squish anything vs being so big that everyone can see you coming

Harry: I would want to be a tiger. Cat's are some of the ultimate animals. Amazing mobility, amazing speed, amazing agility. Disadvantage: I would scare most people and maybe be hunted.

Any more thoughts?:

It was okay that the main character was a girl. There is usually more adventure with boy main character books. Boy characters get sucked into things, literally. We'd love to get sucked into cartoons and video games.

The book for the next Book Club meeting is Pie by Sarah Weeks. We will be meeting on Wednesday, October 3rd.