House of Stories - A Book Club for Children

The Friends by  Rosa Guy The saying, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’, goes right about Edith, the only friend of Phyllisia, the lead character in the story The Friends by Rosa Guy. Phyllisia with her snobbish behaviour instead befriended Edith only if she needed her. Edith stood by her when students in the class booed and bullied her. Since then Phyllisia knew, though she hated to be seen with ragamuffin like Edith, she needed her the most. After all Edith is the only friend she has in Harlem. Her bond with Calvin her father is diminishing. She did things to spite him like bunking classes, staying out late with strangers. After her father chased out Edith of the house, Phyllisia did not bother about checking on her even when she heard Edith’s brother Randy had died.  Amidst all chaos she lost her mother, her only solace. Instead of being with her Phyllisia indulged in the diversions of youth, desperately avoiding her guilt feelings for not being there for Edith.

Merle Hodge Merle Hodge Born in Trinidad in 1944, Merle Hodge along with her 3 sisters were taken care of by her grandmother. Raised up by the tough lady, she became bold and   independent. Merle Hodge was one among a very few who attended secondary school. She later won a scholarship to join for Undergraduate Degree and later for Masters in Philosophy. Merle Hodge is the first African Caribbean to publish a novel, Crick Crack, Monkey in 1970. It was followed by another book, For the Life of Laetitia for young adults. Her writings, reflects the colonial education, culture and lifestyle of the colonized. Her books throw light into the racism, gender discrimination and social divisions during post colonial period. In addition to the novels, Merle Hodge has also written short stories, essays and articles on her observation on the Caribbean families and society. Books Written by the Author: Crick Crack, Monkey For the Life of Laetitia The Knots in English: A Manual

For the Life of Laetitia  by Merle Hodge For the Life of Laetitia - Front Cover For the Life of Laetitia I am glad I bought this book. For the Life of Laetitia is a must-have in our children’s collection.  I u sually do not go for those books that has a smaller font size and a very little spacing between the lines like in this book or suggest it for children either, but this is an exceptional book and I recommend it for your children. Once in a while let our kids drop those fantasy books and read some realistic stuff like these. The language is simple and vocabulary is easy to understand even for the young readers. In short, I got hooked to it as soon as I started reading. For the Life of Laetitia- Back Cover In For the Life of Laetitia , Merle Hodge has beautifully captured the dreams and life of Laetitia, a young Caribbean girl, who became the first one ever in her family to attend secondary school. In spite of poverty and racism she strives to achieve wh

A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean   Being a dog-lover, the cover-page caught my eye. The font size and the spacing between the sentences makes this a comfortable book for children to read.   This beautiful book introduces children to the need of care and love for other living beings. The book begins rather solemnly. “My name is Cally Louise Fisher and I have not spoken for 31 days…”. As the story progresses, we find out this story is about a little girl who lost her mother at an early age and she starts seeing her everywhere she goes. Dressed in a red raincoat, her mother appeared in the cemetery, school ground and other places. Add to this, a friendly wolfhound also made appearances often in unexpected places. She tries to tell her family members about seeing her mum with the hound, but no one seems to understand her. Meanwhile Cally participated in the sponsorship program for silence held at school and took it rather seriously. Cally moves into a new neigh