April Grades 3-4 Book Club: The Collectors

For April's Book Club, we read The Collectors by Jacqueline West. Gavin, Kailynn, Luna, Mira, and Mark were present. This is some of what we talked about.

Please use one word to describe your first impression of Van at the beginning of this book:

-nervous
-curious
-Collector
-nervous
-low-self-esteem

Later in the book:

-two-sided
-confused
-Collector
-sneaky
-mischievous
-confident
-curious
-hopeful
-scared
-brave

Who was your favorite character in The Collectors?  Why?:

-Pebble, Van, Barnavelt and Lemmy
-Lemmy and the wish eater that made the chandelier shake
-Barnavelt was funny
-Lemmy was cute
-Pebble was interesting
-Van was observant

Who was your least favorite character in this book?  Why?:

-Nail, because he was creepy
-Jack was intense
-Mr Falberg, although I liked him at the beginning
-Mr. Gray
-Peter

What's your favorite scene of the story?:

-When Van jumped out the window at Peter's birthday party. It was unexpected.
-The scene where Van and Peter were getting along at the pizza place. The part where Pebble and Van said that they were friends. And the part with Lemmy coming out of the box.
-The part with Lemmy and the chandelier.
-The whole entire book.
-I liked when he was talking to Mr. Falborg and Pebble at the end of the book.
-Renata/Chuck talking to Van at the end.



Least favorite scene:

-Van running back to his house. It was hard to imagine.
-When Van let all of the wish eaters out, because that could cause something bad to happen.

Did you think that Van was a bad person because he often stole things at the beginning of the story and reinvented the truth to serve his purposes later in the book?:

-Mr. Falborg was controlling Van when he let the wish eaters out of their changes
-You knew that there was something up with Mr. Falborg because he seemed too nice. It was kind of like Sweep and Crud offering Nan his breakfast, which was a trick.
-Razor seemed really creepy and mean at the beginning but then ended up being nice.

What's up with Peter? Why is he so mean to Van? Are his actions justified?:

-He thinks his dad is going to marry Van's mom
-Yes
-His actions are somewhat justified.

Let's talk a little bit about Mr. Falborg. Is he evil or just misunderstood?:

-Evil
-Evil
-He made Pebble by wishing for her. He wanted another collector with him.
-He's an evil collector.
-He made Pebble to help take care of his wish eaters.

How does Van change by the end of the story? Is he a different person than when it started?:

-Braver
-More confident
-He has higher self-esteem
-He's proud of himself

Do you think that there was a message in this book, beyond the story it told? What might the message be?: 

-Pay attention to your surroundings. Mr. Falborg totally tricked Van.
-Working for both sides might be possible.
-Van should have just chosen one side.
-Mr. Falborg asked Van to be a spy on the evil side, though he didn't know it at the time.

-Be yourself.
-Don't judge yourself. And don't judge others.

Please use one word to describe your last impression of the collectors and The Collectors.

-Amazing
-Nicer
-Mysterious
-Sneaky
-Nicest
-Misunderstood by Van

What did you think about the ending of the book? Do you think there will be a sequel or did the author complete the story in one book?: 

-no sweep and this book was a tie
-there could be a sequel
-no sequel
-there could be a sequel

Rate this book from 1-5:

-4.5
-4.5
-5
-4
-4.5

For the Grades 3-4 Book Club in May, we will be reading Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina.

Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don't have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci's school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna's jealousy. Things aren't going well at home, either: Merci's grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately -- forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what's going on, so she's left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school.

We will meet on Wednesday, May 8 at 3:00 p.m. Copies of the book are available at the Circulation Desk. Please do not forget to register so Miss Lisa knows how many participants to expect!