Los Gatos Patch Whiz Kids of the Week—The Green Oompa Loompas

• Hayley Knowlton, Holly Hill, Julia Leonardis, Maddy Booth, Gabby Alarcon, Eva Muller, Hailey Verga, all age 11; and Avery Harlan, age 10
• School: Louise Van Meter Elementary 
• Accomplishment: These voracious readers comprise the Green Oompa Loompas, a tween book club that meets monthly.  
• Key to Awesomeness: It's not surprising that Hayley Knowlton started a book club with her besties. After all, her mom, Shannon Knowlton, along with three of her L.G. mom friends, started www.storysnoops.com, an innovative website that offers reviews of tween and teen fiction from a parent’s perspective.

“I’ve also been in a book club for the past 10 years,” says Shannon. “It's become a sisterhood, and we have so many neat traditions. I wanted my daughter to have a similar experience.”

Here's how the Green Oompa Loompas roll: Each month one girl chooses a book. After reading the book, the members meet for a potluck dinner. Whomever chose the book leads a discussion as yummy food is passed around the table. Interrupting and talking with one’s mouth full are fully encouraged as long as their discussion is passionate. Sometimes the girls veer off task and start texting boys. Luckily there is always a mom around to steer them back to the book.

After dinner, the girls partake in a special activity or dessert that relates to the book’s theme, setting or genre. Some recent examples include a treasure hunt  for the mystery, The Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler; Chinese cookies for the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which was set in Asia; and a craft made from recycled materials for the eco-friendly My Life In Pink and Green.

The girls also have a special quilt which they decorate with squares commemorating each book. 

So far the book club has devoured 14 books. They read many different authors and genres. One of Hayley’s top picks was the Newberry Award- winning When You Reach Me. “I loved that it was a mystery. It was one of those books you wanted to go under your covers when your parents were in their room and secretly read.”

When asked if a mom who reads books for a living would really get mad at her daughter for sneaking books, Hayley laughs. “No, she’s just glad I’m not under my covers playing with my iTouch. I’m really glad that my mom is what you’d call a Snoop because she’s picked out a lot of my favorite books”

The girls were thrilled when the Story Snoops asked their book club to interview Wendy Mass, author of 11 Birthdays and Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, in honor of Children’s Book Week. Their interview can be found at http://www.storysnoops.com/blog/?p=1515&cpage=1#comment-7403.

“We love her!” says Hayley. “She even told us, ‘If you keep on reading, I’ll keep on writing.’”

Better get to that keyboard, Ms. Mass. The Green Oompa Loompas are just getting started.