The Mother-Daughter Book Club facts for kids

The Mother-Daughter Book Club is a fun series of children's novels written by Heather Vogel Frederick. These books are about five preteen girls who become best friends. They get close because their moms start a book club together. The girls live in a town called Concord, Massachusetts, which is a real place but a little bit changed in the books.

Meet the Characters

Emma Hawthorne loves books! Her mom is a librarian, and her dad writes books. At first, Emma is a bit shy and quiet. But later, she learns to ice skate and even starts writing her own stories. She also dates Stewart Chadwick. The fourth book, Pies and Prejudice, is all about Emma.

Jess Delaney is super smart and Emma's best friend. Her family owns Half Moon Farm, but they have money problems. Jess's mom used to be an actress. She stops acting to work on the farm, which causes some family arguments. Later, Jess gets a scholarship to a fancy boarding school. She also dates Emma's older brother, Darcy. The first book, The Mother-Daughter Book Club, focuses on Jess.

Megan Wong seems like a typical rich girl at first. She used to hang out with the popular kids before joining the book club. Megan sometimes feels embarrassed by her mom. Her mom gives a lot of money to charities and is openly vegan. Megan's main hobby is designing clothes. She dates a British exchange student named Simon Berkeley. Eventually, she goes to Parsons College in New York City to study fashion. The third book, Dear Pen Pal, and the sixth book, Wish You Were Eyre, are about Megan.

Becca Chadwick starts out as a bit mean in the first book. Her mom, Calliope, makes her join the book club in the second book. Slowly, Becca starts to become friends with the other girls. She is stubborn and likes boys a lot. Becca later works as a waitress at a tea shop. This shop is owned by Megan's grandmother. She also attends the University of Minnesota with her boyfriend, Theo Rochester. The Christmas special, Home for the Holidays, is the fifth book and focuses on Becca.

Cassidy Sloane recently moved to Concord from California. Her father passed away, and she lives in the shadow of her mom, Clementine. Clementine is a famous former model who later remarries. She even gets her own cooking show! Cassidy is a tomboy, unlike her mom and sister. She loves playing ice hockey. Even though she's not as interested in boys as the others, she dates Zach Norton and Simon's brother, Tristian Berkeley. The second book, Much Ado About Anne, is mainly about Cassidy.

Adventures in the Book Club

Middle School Years

In the very first book, The Mother-Daughter Book Club, the moms create the book club. All the girls are in sixth grade. They become good friends while reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. They also help Jess get her parents back together.

In Much Ado About Anne, the girls read Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. They are not happy when Becca Chadwick is allowed to join the club. Meanwhile, Cassidy and her older sister Courtney find out their mom is dating again. Jess tries to stop her parents from selling their farm, Half Moon Farm.

The third book is Dear Pen Pal. The moms set up the girls to be pen pals with another book club in Wyoming. They even visit them at the end of the book! They read Daddy Long Legs by Jean Webster. Jess moves to a fancy boarding school called Colonial Academy. She clashes with her roommate, Savannah Sinclair, but also joins an a cappella singing group. Megan's grandmother, Gigi, moves in with them. Cassidy learns her mother is pregnant.

High School Years

The girls start high school in Pies and Prejudice. Emma's family gets ready to move to England for a year. They swap houses with the Berkeley family. The book club keeps meeting over video calls. They read Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice. Jess starts helping wild animals. Emma has a rivalry with a "British Becca" named Annabelle. Megan starts a secret fashion blog and a romance with Simon Berkeley. Cassidy has a complicated relationship with Simon's brother, Tristian, who is a figure skater. She also helps with a hockey program for girls. The book ends with Megan's grandmother, Gigi, opening a tea shop called Pies and Prejudice.

The next book is Home for the Holidays. This story happens over just one month during their sophomore year. They read the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace. The girls also do a Secret Santa gift exchange. This is the first book with chapters from Becca's point of view. Her dad loses his job, and her mom has a midlife crisis. Megan goes on a tropical cruise. Jess plans a skiing trip with Savannah. But she hurts her leg in a sledding accident. She has to spend Christmas with Emma, who is mad at her. Cassidy plays in a hockey tournament. She tries to avoid Zach Norton, and deals with Becca, who is jealous of her relationship with Zach.

Wish You Were Eyre is about the girls reading Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. The Wong family welcomes a French exchange student named Sophie. Sophie becomes very close with Gigi, which makes Megan jealous. Mrs. Wong runs for mayor with help from Emma and her boyfriend Stewart. Megan goes to Paris Fashion Week for her birthday with Gigi. Gigi meets and marries a man named Edouard by the end of the book. This all happens during their junior year.

The final book in the series is The Mother Daughter Book Camp. It follows the girls as camp counselors at Camp Lovejoy in New Hampshire. This is the summer before their first year of college. Emma is a counselor with Jess's know-it-all cousin Felicia. Felicia had caused problems between Emma and Jess before. Jess is paired with Cassidy. Megan and Becca are co-counselors. With their campers, they read Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.