The Underneath by Kathi Appelt was the Semicolon Book Club selection for May, and Amy at Hope Is the Word is on top of it. She’s right in pointing out that this book was somewhat controversial in its treatment of cruelty to animals, and I agree with her that the book is for older children and young adults.

Because I had already read The Underneath and because I loaned my copy to my mom and because I sometimes uses excuses like those to procrastinate, I didn’t get around to re-reading The Underneath in May. My local book club didn’t meet because I got so involved in graduation for my daughter and in hymn survey that I couldn’t manage the book club, too. (Another excuse.)

Anyway, here’s a link to my review of The Underneath, a book I think deserved the Newbery Honor it received and then some. The Semicolon book club selection for June is David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I’m not going to procrastinate on the one because if I do I won’t get it read. If you want to join me in reading Dickens’ semi-autobiographical opus, then get reading. I’m making it a goal to post every Tuesday about my progress in re-reading David Copperfield—just to keep myself on track.

The book club meeting, for those of you who live in Houston, will be at 2:00 on Monday, June 29th rather than on the previous Saturday. Anyone who’s even finished part of David by that date is welcome to come over to my house and discuss. Then on Tuesday June 30th, I’ll post a wrap-up with link to those of you online who manage to read and write about Mr. Copperfield.

Come on and give it a try. Summertime is made for long, hefty, chunky classics.