The beloved New York Times bestselling author of the modern classic Frindle celebrates books and the joy of reading with a new school story to love!
Sixth grader Alec can’t put a good book down.
So when Principal Vance lays down the law—pay attention in class, or else—Alec takes action. He can’t lose all his reading time, so he starts a club. A club he intends to be the only member of. After all, reading isn’t a team sport, and no one would want to join something called the Losers Club, right? But as more and more kids find their way to Alec’s club—including his ex-friend turned bully and the girl Alec is maybe starting to like—Alec notices something. Real life might be messier than his favorite books, but it’s just as interesting.
With The Losers Club, Andrew Clements brings us a new school story that’s a love letter to books and to reading and that reminds us that sometimes the best stories are the ones that happen off the page—our own!
Praise for The Losers Club!
* "Clements’s latest is engaging and funny. A laugh-out-loud first purchase for all middle grade collections, and a solid read-aloud choice for classrooms."--School Library Journal, Starred Review
"Clements is out to celebrate reading in all its obsessiveness, and...tosses in shout-outs to a passel of other writers. [The Losers Club] gives fried bookworms everywhere the satisfaction of knowing that friends may desert them (if only temporarily) but books never will. "--The New York Times
Praise for Andrew Clements!
“Clements is a genius.” --The New York Times
“We have never read an Andrew Clements book that we haven’t loved.” --The Washington Post
BL 5.5
7 Points
Sixth grader Alec can’t put a good book down.
So when Principal Vance lays down the law—pay attention in class, or else—Alec takes action. He can’t lose all his reading time, so he starts a club. A club he intends to be the only member of. After all, reading isn’t a team sport, and no one would want to join something called the Losers Club, right? But as more and more kids find their way to Alec’s club—including his ex-friend turned bully and the girl Alec is maybe starting to like—Alec notices something. Real life might be messier than his favorite books, but it’s just as interesting.
With The Losers Club, Andrew Clements brings us a new school story that’s a love letter to books and to reading and that reminds us that sometimes the best stories are the ones that happen off the page—our own!
Praise for The Losers Club!
* "Clements’s latest is engaging and funny. A laugh-out-loud first purchase for all middle grade collections, and a solid read-aloud choice for classrooms."--School Library Journal, Starred Review
"Clements is out to celebrate reading in all its obsessiveness, and...tosses in shout-outs to a passel of other writers. [The Losers Club] gives fried bookworms everywhere the satisfaction of knowing that friends may desert them (if only temporarily) but books never will. "--The New York Times
Praise for Andrew Clements!
“Clements is a genius.” --The New York Times
“We have never read an Andrew Clements book that we haven’t loved.” --The Washington Post
BL 5.5
7 Points
Activity 1- Personal Connection Is there something in this story that has happened to you or someone you know? Using as many details as possible, tell how your experience is the same as the character’s experience in the story. You should describe what you learned and what the character learned from this experience.
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Activity 2- Dear Diary . . . The characters in this story experience a lot of ups and downs. Alec struggles with being teased by Kent and with the challenges of starting a new after-school club. Alec also realizes he may like Nina— as a girl. This causes all sorts of confusion for him. The reader also sees Nina and Kent go through their own ups and downs throughout the story. Choose one character, and reflect on the events that had the greatest impact on that character during The Losers Club. You will then be asked to write three diary entries from the perspective of that character. Remember that a diary should include thoughts, feelings, and specific events from the story.
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Activity 3- Compare and Contrast Make a class set of copies of a Venn diagram. Work to compare yourself to one of the main characters. Here are some questions to help jumpstart your thinking: • How are you and this character the same? • Can you find physical descriptions of this character in the text? Do you look alike? • What are this character’s hobbies? Which after-school club do they belong to? Do you have similar interests? • What are some personality traits that you would associate with this character? Are they brave? Kind? Outgoing? Shy? Boastful? Do any of these traits describe you? Be sure to use specific examples from the story for each notation that you make on the Venn diagram.
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