'J.R. Silver Writes Her World' Book Club: Day 2

“You are going to make a real difference. I see your spark.”

Welcome back to day 2 of our Book Club Read-Along for J.R. Silver Writes Her World by Melissa Dassori. J.R.'s changing reality with each story, but is she making the right choices? Read on to find out!

Remember, this is a spoiler discussion for pages 83 - 164, so if you aren’t quite there yet, look away! You have until Friday, August 26 to get caught up and join in on the discussion questions below. Anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate Jr box, one per post!

The Story Continues  . . .

J.R. tries her best to find the courage to tell Violet about the incredible events over the last few days, but can’t quite manage it. On the day of the soccer match, J.R. feels full of nervous energy — will her story about scoring come true? The game progresses normally until J.R. takes an opportunity to score a game-winning goal in the last two minutes of the game. J.R. is thrilled but also notices how crushed the other team’s goalie is.

That night, J J.R. tries writing a story on her own to re-strengthen her friendship with Violet. Only, nothing seems to happen. Ava returns to school, and when J.R. tells Violet how the Met is going to allow kids to sleep over (something they’ve both dreamed of forever), she learns from Adelaide that Ava already has tickets. J.R. is invited to join them, which she (somewhat) gloomily accepts.

Not wanting to feel left out any further, in J.R.’s next Gothamite story, she writes about how a girl convinces her parents to get her a phone. The next morning, her parents surprise her with a brand-new phone — exactly as she had hoped.

The night of the Met sleepover, J.R. is pleased to find she’s actually having fun with Violet. Ava, Adelaide, and Aria, even though Adelaide takes every opportunity she can to be miserable. On the following Monday, J.R. learns that Violet already has plans to go Halloween costume shopping with Ava, even though it’s something they’ve done together every year. After school, J.R. resolves to speak with Ms. Kline and discovers a cryptic letter addressed to her teacher from Eleanor Mendell which specifically references the Gothamite covers.

When Ms. Kline returns to class, J.R. first dances around the magic she’s been able to use from her stories, but eventually cuts to the chase. Ms. Kline confirms J.R.’s suspicions that only the stories written for class assignments come true. She warns J.R. that although it’s tempting to use the stories as a magic wand, she needs to be thoughtful in what she chooses to do.

For the next Gothamite story, J.R. writes a dialogue between two friends. Against Ms. Kline’s warning to avoid using the stories as shortcuts, she forces the Violet character to completely apologize to the other. The next day, she and Violet pick out their Halloween costumes together as if it was always planned that way.

J.R. arrives at the Halloween party in her flapper costume and quickly discovers that Violet, Ava, Aria, and Adelaide are having a sleepover afterward. She tries to shake off the hurt and is surprised that Tommy showed up in a similarly themed costume as J.R. The next day as J.R. and her family attend her grandmother’s 75th birthday party, J.R. tries to distract herself from the photos from Violet's sleepover and pulls out her Gothamite folder to re-read Ms. Kline’s latest notes.

Ms. Kline comments how the characters J.R. wrote to stand in for herself and Violet come off as whiny and imbalanced. She reminds J.R. to re-examine her instructions as “there are always opportunities to put what you’ve learned into practice.” J.R. suddenly realizes the ballerina Gothamite cover Ms. Kline had put on her folder could be meaningful. Looking up the image, she discovers its title: “Leap of Faith in Herself.”

Discussion Questions:

1. For the dialogue Gothamite assignment, do you think J.R. made the right choice in having the Violet character apologize? If not, what would you have done differently?
   
   
2. Ms.Kline informs J.R. that only she can write her stories into reality because “someone noticed that you have something to say, but you’re struggling to say it.” Who do you think alerted Ms. Kline?

Join us again on Monday to discuss the heartfelt conclusion to J.R. Silver!

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