“Liza, I think we ought to take turns being the leader of the discussion,” said Judy who liked to control things too. “For example, will there be a punishment if someone hasn’t read the book?”

“The person who doesn’t read the book would have to write a summary of it for the next meeting,” suggested Sylvia. We decided the first book would be Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, and that Molly would be the leader at the first meeting since she had suggested the book.

Everything was going well, but at the third meeting, we ran into a problem. Judy, the leader for the day, said, “What do we do if other girls want to join? Jennifer asked me if she could join.”

Sylvia said, “I think we ought to keep it just for us five. That makes it more special.”

“Let Jennifer join us,” said Molly. “The only reason she didn’t start with us was because she was sick that first week.”

Then I said, “Suzie wants to join too.” I knew this might be a problem.

I heard a sigh from two girls. “Well, I think she won’t fit in.”

“What does that mean?” I asked. “What is wrong with her?”

“Well,” said Sylvia, “Think about it. Have you noticed her clothes. I mean, I know she is poor, but she just does not dress like we do.”

“But she is a good reader. You heard her today in class talk about that short story. She understood it a lot better than I did,” I said in defense of Suzie.

Then Mary, the one with the strongest opinions, said “I don’t like to say anything bad about Suzie, but you do know where she lives. We would never want to meet in that neighborhood.”

The conversation went on for a while. We couldn’t decide. Finally, I said, “Let’s vote on it. Let’s be democratic.”

We voted on the two girls who wanted to join. All of us voted to bring Jennifer into the group. Then came the vote about Suzie. Molly, Judy and I said yes to Clara joining us. Sylvia and Mary voted against her.

Yesterday I asked Suzie to join us. I didn’t tell her that there were two girls who did not want her to join. I wonder how it will work out. I wonder if everyone will have good hearts and be accepting.

ACTIVITIES

Vocabulary

Write a new sentence with these words: orderly; punishment; would have to; sigh; fit in; in defense of; opinion

B. Role Play: Create dialogs for the following situations.

1. Lily, Judy, Molly: they introduce and plan the idea of the club.

2. Jennifer, Judy: they talk about Jennifer joining the club.

3. The five Super Girls: they talk about the ‘problem’ and vote on it.

4. Liza, Sylvia, Mary: Liza is talking to them about being tolerant and accepting Clara.

C. Writing

1. Write a letter from Clara asking Liza why Sylvia and Mary don’t like her.

2. Write a description of the next club meeting with Jennifer and Clara there.

3. Write a letter from Liza to a friend about why she believes the way she does.