For April's Book Club, we read Regarding the Fountain by Kate and M. Sarah Klise. Spencer was present. This is what we talked about:It is important to be honest at all times :This novel deals a lot with honesty. Sally Mander and Dee Eel have not been honest for the past thirty years and it has ruined their community. Their dishonesty is negative. The students are also dishonest when they write the letters to Florence when they are told not to. These letters help Florence to understand what is going on with the situation. These are two different types of dishonesty. Should you always tell the truth?
-Yes. If you don't tell the truth, you might lie yourself into a corner and then you might have to show what you were lying about. That would be worse than the original lie. The students writing Florence was kind of in the middle. They told her that they weren't supposed to write her but they felt they had to.
(We then had a conversation about white lies and how you might even get out of telling white lies by using language in an effective way. Instead of lying to a friend to say that their new shoes are great (when they are clearly horrible), you can just say "they totally suit you." That gets you out of any lying and maintains your polite demeanor.)
Giving is better than receiving :Often we think the best thing is to receive a gift. In this novel, Florence Waters gives without ever receiving anything in return. She gives everything to these students without expecting to be paid. Her “pay” is in the joy of the students. Which do you prefer and why?
-Receiving makes me feel happy. But giving makes me feel better. What you are giving might have sentimental value. You might realize that the person you are giving an item to will like it more than you.
It is important to be an active member of the
community :The students in this novel
are the people who discover what happened to their community. It is because
they were involved in their community that they now have more water than they
know what to do with, and the whole town is a better place. Describe your place as a member of your family or of your community.
-I am the youngest in my family and since I'm the youngest, sometimes people outside of the family treat me like I'm two. My brother gets treated like he's actually there. My mom was the youngest in her family. It's hard to leave your friends from the school community when you are part of a military community. You move every three years. I try to keep in contact with my good friends from my past schools.
-I am the youngest in my family and since I'm the youngest, sometimes people outside of the family treat me like I'm two. My brother gets treated like he's actually there. My mom was the youngest in her family. It's hard to leave your friends from the school community when you are part of a military community. You move every three years. I try to keep in contact with my good friends from my past schools.
If you do something wrong you will always get caught : Sally Mander and Delbert Eel
have gotten away with their crime for nearly thirty years, but they eventually
get caught. Will they be caught
if they do bad things? It might not be immediate consequence, but a consequence
in some way or another is likely to come; it could just be a guilty conscience.
-In my mom's old school, a lot of kids didn't get caught for all the years that they were there. They probably had a guilty conscience.
Things are not always what they seem : Sally Mander and Delbert Eel appear to be profitable, charitable people. However, they turn out to be criminals. Florence Waters at first, appears to be a spacy lady that does not understand the rules of the school. She however, turns out to be an important character in that she is the one who helps the students figure out the secret, and helps bring the community back to the way it was.
A gift is always free for the receiver : According to this novel, a
gift is free for the receiver. The students receive several gifts from Flo, but
do not give anything back to her.However, because they received the gifts, they
were able to give the community the gift of restoring back to its previous (and
improved) state. Gifts can be considered free, but oftentimes we do something
in return‐not necessarily for the giver of the gift, but for someone.
-After a further discussion on gifts, Spencer pointed out...If the kids only eat cotton candy and corn dogs, how are they still alive? (I think that they only eat that on Dry Creek Days).
Adults are always right - In this novel adults are not
always right. Sally Mander and Delbert Eel obviously lie about who they really
are. Mr. Walter Russ also is incorrect about his dealing with Florence and the
fountain, and perhaps even with how he treats Goldie Fisch.Would you try to tell an adult if they were doing something wrong?
-It depends on what an adult is wrong about. If what they are wrong about is going to be a big deal, I might say something.
What would you rate this book, between 1 and 5?
I would rate this book a 4.
In May, we will be meeting on Wednesday, May 6 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the book The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks.
A nine-year-old boy receives a plastic Indian, a cupboard, and a little key for his birthday and finds himself involved in adventure when the Indian comes to life in the cupboard and befriends him.
As always, we will have snacks and discussion along with our chatting and blogging session.
