The Losers Club

Title: The Losers Club
Author: Andrew Clements
Major Themes: School, Bullying, Friendship, Books, Reading
Synopsis: The only thing Alec liked to do was read, so when he found himself stuck in Extended Day after school, he started a reading club—called the Losers Club to keep everyone else out!

I remember first reading books by Andrew Clements around 20 years ago. I enjoyed these stories about ordinary children doing things that I could picture any child doing, but doing them extra well. Then, each book has an unexpected twist at the end, which makes them even more fun. I just bought a few new books by this author, and we just read The Losers Club. My children all enjoyed this one.

Alex loved books. Reading was his favorite thing to do, and when he got into a good book, he simply could not put it down. Naturally, this caused trouble in school. On the very first day of fifth grade, the principal informed Alec that if he did not pay attention in class there would be severe consequences. His parents also told him the same thing. What could he do so that he would not lose all his reading time?

Finally, Alec came up with the perfect solution. He started a reading club. He named it the Losers Club so that no one else would want to join it because, of course, no one wants to be a loser. As more and more children joined his club, however, Alex started to learn that names like loser and bookworm are only labels. How should he re-browned his club to tell the whole story, the real story of these children who love to read?

What a delightful story about reading! I could very well identify with Alec because I have been a bookworm all my life. I really appreciated a lot of the lessons Alec learned along the way. He learned a lot about diligence, making sure important things got done, and relationships with other people. I also liked all the great book recommendations that were given during this story. At the end of The Losers Club is a checklist of all the books that are named in the story, so that if any children want to read them it is easy to find them.

WARNING: Chapter 17 and on: a small amount of talk about boyfriends/girlfriends (in fifth grade)

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