Marvelous Middle Grade Monday # MMGM Book Review: The Secret Winner's Club by Donna Galanti

 

Three friends, Sunny, Vee, and Trev, start a secret club in order to reach their goals. They all have a common goal of winning. Trev wants to get the lead role in the upcoming musical, Vee wants to beat her nemesis in swimming, and Sunny wants to build the best junkbot and win the upcoming competition. Each of them has their reason for wanting to win, part of which is having others see them without their autoimmune conditions. They come up with plans to reach their winning goals. They agree that they’ll stop at nothing and tell no one. When a new girl named Josie asks to join their club, she tells them that she has an autoimmune disease just like they all do. Soon something seems amiss and their winning plans have a few hiccups. Is winning everything?  If you do whatever it takes, will getting what you want really make you happy? You’ll have to see what happens to this group of friends on their journey to win.

The Secret Winners Club by Donna Galanti is one of many books that I’ve read by her. I like how the story was told from different viewpoints, so we got to see what each of the main characters were thinking. Sunny, Vee, and Trev seemed very real because they had their good qualities, but they also had their flaws. I know a lot of kids that have a variety of autoimmune conditions, and I think this would be a book where they could see themselves. Two of my friends have alopecia, and there aren’t a lot of books with kids who are going through the same thing. Learning about vitiligo, psoriasis, and alopecia will help other kids learn about what life is like for some people and may answer some of their questions. It was interesting to see what each person did to try to reach their goal and how they felt afterwards. It makes you think about what you'd do to win. I would recommend this book to anyone in fourth grade and up who likes books about friendship. 

Has anyone else read The Secret Winners Club? Or have you read another book by Donna Galanti?

We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~L

For other MMGM posts, please visit Greg Pattridge's blog.

Margo's Musings: Feeling Comfortable

Margo saw this book and the penguin was wearing the same hat she was donning. Of course, we had to borrow it! Clive Penguin by Huw Lewis Jones and illustrated by Ben Sanders was on display as a new winter read. So glad we picked it up and read about Margo's "twin".

Clive Penguin does the same thing, in the same place, day after day. He's also freezing. He doesn't want to be cold anymore in a place he isn't happy, so he decides to look for somewhere better. Somewhere warmer!

Clive sees amazing things on his journey! Amazing sights are around every corner. But will Clive be happy once the journey is over? Will the new place he finds be better than where he started from? 

The style of the illustrations was just perfect for this story. I love how we got to really see and feel Clive's expressions. 

We enjoyed this book- and Margo thought Clive was funny. We just had a snowstorm, with about two feet of snow- so we could easily relate to Clive's unhappiness with the frigid temperatures!

This was a great book to read more than once because there is a lot to look at in the pictures, and the words make you think. 

Has anyone else read Clive Penguin? Have you read another book written by Huw Lewis Jones? Or one illustrated by Ben Sanders? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy Reading!
~F

Views From the Pond: November and December 2025

2025 has come to a close, and I am thrilled to be actually wrapping up the Views from the Pond from the final two months of the year. I hope to stay on track in 2026 with two months per post. Fingers crossed!

In November, we got some more much needed rain, and the pond got back to a better level. The colors of fall were still mesmerizing, but the temperature was going down. We were able to get out and weed the brook, after it became overgrown during the drought. It was a lot of work- but worth it, as we got lots of rain right after we finished, and the water had somewhere to go. Fall went out with brilliance!

December was cold! There was some snow, which always looks beautiful. I do love the atmosphere of the pond and trees in the wintertime- there's a magical feeling for sure! We ended the month with super cold temperatures and lots of wind. I am ready for some warmer temps for sure. 

Sit back, relax, and enjoy some pond views of the end of 2025. 

November 2025

Still lots of colors to be seen!

Love the clouds in this one!

The sky and the trees look so beautiful together. 

Just look at that orange! Love it!

So vibrant!

The brook- overgrown with weeds from the drought.

The bottom of the brook still had a lot of weeds- just a different kind.

The colors and the reflection were so stunning. 

After the weeding!

So much better!

Finally, a place for the water to flow again. It started raining as we were

 finishing up. We didn't quite finish- but it is MUCH better!

Reflections in the rain.

So many stars out that night!

The leaves are mostly gone. Goodbye November. 

December 2025

The month began cold, damp, and some wet snow.

There's a nip in the air for sure!

The snow is calm and peaceful. 

Some water is back in the brook! Yay!

Chilly morning before work.

The snow gave a festive feel!

Brrrrrrrr

The last night of the year and the moon was out early. 

Goodbye 2025 and Hello 2026!

I have loved sharing pictures of my views from the last year. Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Cheers to a wonderful 2026!