Common Sense Note
Parents should know that this hip and engaging site connects girls who love to read with each other and with the authors of some of today's best young adult novels. It highlights a book each month (with strong female characters) with author interviews and book club questions and also offers guidelines for starting a book club. The content is directly tied to the featured books, so depending on their themes, weighty topics may pop up. There's a link to the site's myspace page (which opens the portal to the uninhibited world of social networking) where users can interact with each other through online chatting. A bonus: there's no advertising.
Families can use this site to find and facilitate conversation on quality novels. Why do certain books touch us deeply? Can we better understand a story when we hear from the author? What are the stories that your daughter has to tell? Families may want to encourage daughters to start a face-to-face book club using the site's guidelines.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Amber Keyser
READERGIRLZ.COM is the brainchild of four women, all authors who depict strong female characters in their books. Each month, the fun-colored site profiles a novel, offers an in-depth interview with the author, and suggests book club questions. Users have the opportunity to email questions to the author, engage in online book chats with other girls, and even download a playlist of music that fits the book.
One of the most engaging areas of the site is the "Readergirlz Community Challenge," where each month The Readergirlz Divas pick a cause related to the book and provide an outlet to make a difference. One month's issue features Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies), a novel about an Asian-American girl dealing with racism and bullying. The site directs girls to tolerance.org to learn how to stop bullying at school and to cross the boundaries that divide us.
Readergirlz.com starts with the premise that books can change lives -- they feed us, challenge us, and comfort us. The site then wants readers to shed the view that reading a book is passive and solitary; instead, books "rock our worlds" and demand active engagement.
For books with strong girl characters, readers might want to check out The Braid, Hattie Big Sky, and Mable Riley.
Reviewed: 03/28/2007
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Social BehaviorThere's a girl power feel to the site -- from the books and music they pick to feature to the bright, happy design. The site is all about "celebrating strong girls in books who've got the guts to dream." |
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Educational ValueMakes reading fun! |
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