Please help me remember the title to this book!

[Gracie]

Our book group read a book within the last year that we all loved. It was about a group of 8th grade (I think) girls that had grown up together but now one of them was being excluded from the group for no apparent reason.

This book was told from the mother's viewpoint and was about families that had their girls in a fancy private school. I can't believe I don't remember the name or the author since we all loved it so much. I don't think the author had published anything else.

Is this ringing any bells with anyone?

Loren

[Gracie]

Other things from the book I remember - these 6 or so girls who had been together most of their lives - their group got disrupted by a new girl in town who had a single mother. This new girl was using all kinds of ways to worm her way into this group and ended up excluding the girl whose mother is telling the story. The main character's family included the mother, father, girl and she had a younger brother, too, who was unaffected by all this.

I've even tried to Google this with a bunch of keywords but no luck.

Loren

[Canice]

It's a looong time since I read it, but sounds almost like Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.

[Gracie]

I just looked that up on Amazon and that's not it. :(

I can't believe I can't remember!! :rolleyes:

Loren

[Canice]

Yea, I knew it wasn't exactly the same, but thought I'd throw it out there, Just in Case. Great book, though!
I'll look forward to seeing the answer here (and someone *will* know it) -- as a former 8th-grader, I think I'd enjoy this mystery book.


ETA: Oops, I missed the part about it's being the author's only publication; I'm pretty sure Margaret Atwood has pounded out a couple of other volumes. ;)

[Gracie]

ETA: Oops, I missed the part about it's being the author's only publication; I'm pretty sure Margaret Atwood has pounded out a couple of other volumes. ;)

Well I don't know that for sure. I'm just thinking that I'd never heard of the author.

This is really bothering me! I asked DD since she read it too. She's a voracious reader and she doesn't remember the title or author either but she remembers the book.

Loren

[Meghann]

Is it...
A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity
by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

[cocoa'smom]

Is it...
A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity
by Kathleen Gilles Seidel

I'll bet that's it - I read it a couple of weeks ago and was racking my brain this morning trying to remember the name. I enjoyed the book.

[Gracie]

That's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Thank you! I knew someone would know!

Loren

[kgseidel]

Hi, everyone! I'm Kathleen Gilles Seidel, the author of the book A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity that Gracie's book club read. When a friend alerted me to this thread, I had to sign up so I could thank you all -- especially Gracie, Cocoa's Mom, and Meghann -- for your interest.

That book is actually my 13th, but as my others were romances, my current publisher was pretending that they didn't exist. Not my choice. There's more about me at www.kathleengillesseidel.com. I hope that my mentioning that doesn't violate the standards of this form.

And if you are interested in the book, do NOT rush out and buy it. The paperback should be released in early February so you may want to wait.

What an interesting forum this is (even when you aren't talking about me). I certainly do need to start cooking in a more healthy way.

My very best,
Kathy Seidel

[sneezles]

Hi, everyone! I'm Kathleen Gilles Seidel, the author of the book A Most Uncommon Degree of Popularity that Gracie's book club read. When a friend alerted me to this thread, I had to sign up so I could thank you all -- especially Gracie, Cocoa's Mom, and Meghann -- for your interest.



That is very cool!:)

[PAMMELA]

That is very cool!:)


For sure! :D

[Goin' Coastal]

That is very cool!:)

Very Cool!!

[Canice]

Thanks for stopping by! :)

[ccooney]

Welcome, Kathy Seidel!
I will have to ask my students if any of them have read your book.
And I hope you will join us again in the future. :)

[Gracie]

Welcome Kathy! That's so cool that you stopped in here. Did you write this book from personal experience?

Loren

[zackaboo]

I really enjoyed this book Kathleen! I am glad to know that you have written more books. I will have to check them out. :)

[Chefzhat]

I'm heading out to get this book now, our local library has it.

How cool that the author stopped by. :)

[Molli526]

How cool the author stopped by!!

I got this from the library last week and read it in 2 nights. I thought it was cute and a good read. Made me happy to have 2 boys :o ;)

[kgseidel]

"Sort of" is the answer to Loren's question about whether or not the book is based on my own experiences. The school I created in the book is different from the one my daughters went to. (I didn't want to lose all my friends!) The plot and the characters are also fictional.

But the specific instances of over-involved hyper-parenting are based on things I saw, some of which I myself may have been guilty of.

When my younger daughter was in sixth grade, I suddenly realized that she was one of "the" popular girls. So I rapidly (like in five minutes) went from a life-long "let's blame the popular girls for everything" attitude to far great tolerance -- "no wonder everyone likes my child, she's just such an angel." The paperback edition of the book includes an essay I wrote about the experience of having a popular daughter. I will try to post it on my website, but it won't happen for a week or so. I'm not very adept at the website updating thing, and I am working madly on another book.

Again I am thrilled by all this interest.

Kathy Seidel

[erinl]

Alright, you guys convinced me! I just requested it from the library.

[lonetree1353]

Although my girls are now in their early 20's this sounds like a book I will definitely have to read. I work in a middle school (Grades 7-9) so I see this side of things daily.

You never know who pops up here. When I was cooking my way through Eat, Shrink and be Merry I received a PM from one of the authors thanking me for recommending their cookbook. I have all three of their books and enjoy cooking from them. Apparently a number of people had called to order the book and they asked where all the sudden interest had come from. She very kindly sent me an autographed copy and I was thrilled. :D

[Gracie]

You never know who pops up here. :D

That's when you realize that we're not just talking to each other and this is a very public place! This is a good example of that! :D

Loren

[boisewinesnob]

Alright, you guys convinced me! I just requested it from the library.

No kidding! I can't believe the author stopped by "our" forum ;) . That is so cool.

I will have to go check this out too.

:) welcome Kathy!

[Goin' Coastal]

You never know who pops up here. When I was cooking my way through Eat, Shrink and be Merry I received a PM from one of the authors thanking me for recommending their cookbook. I have all three of their books and enjoy cooking from them. Apparently a number of people had called to order the book and they asked where all the sudden interest had come from. She very kindly sent me an autographed copy and I was thrilled. :D

What a great surprise! I wonder who has the autographed copy of One Smart Cookie! :D

[Chefzhat]

Okay, got the book and read it in two nights. A very quick, easy read. I enjoyed it very much.

[boisewinesnob]

well crud! I went to my library's website and they don't have it :(

maybe I'll get in in February (I hate buying anything in hardback!)

[beacooker]

well crud! I went to my library's website and they don't have it :(

maybe I'll get in in February (I hate buying anything in hardback!)

You can always ask your library to borrow it from another library! It should be free.

[KristaMB]

I stopped by our library last night and picked this up. So far I'm really enjoying it. I just love that Kathy came and posted here about it, too.

[Canice]

Has anyone here read The Price of Privilege (http://www.amazon.com/Price-Privilege-Advantage-Generation-Disconnected/dp/0060595841/sr=1-1/qid=1169843651/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-4572285-0214502?ie=UTF8&s=books)? I was carping to a friend about certain prevalent attitudes toward parenting and she suggested that book.

[knunes]

And I picked Kathy's book up at the library yesterday (borrowed from another library). I am having some foot surgery in two weeks and will be sitting on a couch for the two weeks following, so I'm sure I'll have some time to read it then, if not before!

[cherylopal]

I just came across this thread today- how cool! I tried to find the book on my library's website but it's down. I'm picking soon for book club and this sounds like a great choice. I think that I will also share this with my first graders tomorrow- share the fact the author (hi Kathy and welcome:) ) came onto these boards and shared some of how she wrote the book!