Guernsey is one of four British Channel Islands that was occupied by the Nazis for five years (1940-1945). This extraordinary story is one that few people, except for historians, are aware of. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows have recreated the wartime atmosphere in postwar London and Guernsey through their charming character, journalist, Juliet Ashton, and her relationship with the islanders.

It all starts with a letter from a farmer, Dawsey Adams, who was trying to track down books by Charles Lamb. Juliet’s name and address are written inside the single copy of Lamb’s essays that Dawsey possesses. None of the Guernsey bookstores had survived the war and Dawsey is looking for help. His letter hints at the existence of a strange book club called the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and its connection to a secret dinner of roast pig. Those two details alone guarantee Juliet’s curiosity and interest. She responds and the rest is intriguingly revealed in the novel’s subsequent correspondences between Juliet and the Guernsey inhabitants.

Bookclub-in-a-Box takes a look at this delightful novel and considers the history of Guernsey, the essence and value of participating in book clubs, the psychological impact and much more!

The discussion guide is available in both printed and PDF forms.
 

Congratuations to Anne Michaels! Her novel Fugitive Pieces recently won the Orange Prize Youth Panel Award! To celebrate the fifteen years of the Orange Prize, a panel of teen readers read the previous fifteen winners and chose their favorite!

Anne had the following to say about winning this wonderful award:

It means more than I can say that Fugitive Pieces has been chosen by the Orange Prize Youth Panel. How heartened I am that this book has been received, with alertness and openness, by readers courageous enough to take to their hearts both the complex questions and the hope contained in its pages. Fugitive Pieces is a discussion of history, a serious enquiry into events and their consequences; what love makes us capable of, and incapable of. And it is a discussion of the deepest responsibilities of memory.  That these questions have been embraced by the minds and hearts of young readers – the youth that is taking its place in the world – is utterly hopeful. I could not wish for a more meaningful honour.

To celebrate Anne's victory, we're pleased to offer 15% off of the Bookclub-in-a-Box guide for Fugitive Pieces, available in both PDF and printed forms. Simply use the code OrangePrize when you check out!