Twinkle star lights, chalk nebulae, liverwurst sandwiches, and a jello brain were just some of the interesting things that made up our A Wrinkle in Time Book Club this month.

Twinkle star lights, chalk nebulae, liverwurst sandwiches, and a jello brain were just some of the interesting things that made up A Wrinkle in Time Book Club this month. #bookclub
A Wrinkle in Time Book Club Discussion
This month our book club was about the book, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. This award-winning book is a story about accepting who you are and good triumphing over evil. It is also one of the most controversial children books and has been banned in multiple locations. And, it was one of my favorite books as a kid, though it took me a while to remember why.
This book appealed so much to me as a middle schooler -- something about the "good vs. evil" wrapped up in science fiction and fantasy pulled me in. But as an adult reading it, I saw so much more and, quite honestly, it made me uncomfortable. What was the author trying to say? What was moral to this story?
I came to the slow realization that as a kid, I enjoyed it for its face value. I wanted to be Meg. I wanted to be brave, but scared. I wanted to save the world and discover I was so much more than my preteen, angst-ridden, self could imagine. I didn't dwell on the science or the mystery or the allusions to religion. I'm sure I read that, but I was more interested in how much I related to feeling awkward and alone as a preteen. And so this book has lived in my mind as one of my favorite books from 7th grade.
A Wrinkle in Time Book Club Snacks

Sometimes I have a hard time deciding on snacks, but this month they were pretty easy. Because IT was a brain, the jello brain-mold was a "no-brainer" (hee hee, I crack myself up). I just happened to have a brain mold lying around the kitchen (no seriously, I did) for those times when only a wiggly somewhat-disgusting-flesh-colored-brain will suffice. I used watermelon jello with a few drops of green food coloring and evaporated milk to make the brain. It was delicious and mostly all eaten by a bunch of cannibalistic preteen girls.




The sandwiches were taken from the first chapter of the book where the Murrys enjoy a nighttime snack and meet Mrs. Whatsit. Charles Wallace preferred a sandwich of bread and jam (we chose raspberry). Mrs. Murry’s favorite sandwich was liverwurst, onion salt, and cream cheese. I’ll be honest and tell you that I had no idea what liverwurst was until the book club. Its name leaves something to be desired, as well as its looks and smell, but the taste wasn’t too bad. It reminded me of bologna.
Would you like a liverwurst-and-cream-cheese sandwich? I’ll be happy to make you one. ~ Charles Wallace
Meg chose to replace the liverwurst from her mother’s sandwich with tomato instead. After being convinced that she could not have caviar, Mrs. Whatsit settled for a tuna fish salad sandwich.
A Wrinkle in Time Book Club Activities

After the kids finished their snacks, we talked a bit about the and whether or not they liked the book. There were mixed feelings in the group. Most liked it, but didn't understand all the aspects of math, science and religion. Some, including my daughter, didn't care for it at all. But, book club isn't always about loving the book. It's about opening our minds to new types of literature and experiencing new worlds through the written word.

Next, we pulled out our chalk pastels, black construction paper and this really cool nebula tutorial from Hodge Podge. We had so much fun creating our nebula, that we also decided to paint some spiral galaxies and get into the whole space and stars atmosphere.

We also decided to build a tesseract. I gave each student a tub of play doh and some toothpicks. I let them work for several minutes, but alas they could never figure out how to get a cube into the 4th dimension. But they did create some pretty awesome designs.
We finished our book club with a basketball game à la Calvin. The kids had a blast at their Out of This World book club.
A Wrinkle in Time Online Book Club
For years we have enjoyed book clubs. I began them as a way to add joy, excitement, and adventure to our homeschool. Recently, I began sharing these with others and it has evolved into an online book club where I add rabbit trails of discovery and a sprinkle of magic dust.
I have created an online book club for A Wrinkle in Time. It has all the elements of a full, rich literature unit study, but I've done all the work for you.
Want a preview of the online book club? Click the following link.
If this is your first book club....
Adding adventure to education in A Wrinkle in Time book club.
Hi, I’m Dachelle. I’m a homeschooling mom of 3 in the South. I love chocolate and have been known to hide it from my children. I can often be found reading a good book (or even sometimes just an okay book) and enjoying a jar of Nutella — don’t judge. I blog, here, at HideTheChocolate.com when I’m not creating book clubs and making lists…lots and lots of lists (it’s an addiction). Learn more…
That sounds as total hoot!
It was a lot of fun!
I used a lot of your ideas for our book club this month, and we all had a blast! Thanks for posting!
Oh that’s fantastic!! I would love to see pictures! Feel free to post them to the facebook page.