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Cover of The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

Historical Fiction · Free kit

The Calamity Club

Kathryn Stockett

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur scrapes by at the county orphan asylum under a cruel chairlady’s thumb. Unmarried bookkeeper Birdie Calhoun arrives seeking help from her socialite sister — and finds a town of secrets, hypocrisy, and women with almost no good options. When their fates converge with Charlie, Meg’s fierce mother, an audacious plan is born: reclaim what’s theirs, even if calamity is the only way forward.

“If you give a girl a taste of fresh air and then take it away, she will grow fierce and wild to get that fresh air back again.”

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Plan your meeting

Reading schedule · Book vote

The Calamity Club This or That

Answer in under three seconds. No wrong answers — only revealing ones.

1 / 40

or

Rapid fire (60 seconds)

Read these aloud as fast as the group can shout answers.

  1. 1. Oxford or Footely?
  2. 2. Idlewilde or The orphan asylum?
  3. 3. Meg or Birdie?
  4. 4. Birdie or Charlie?
  5. 5. Bookkeeping or Running a bold new venture?
  6. 6. Mississippi Delta or Oxford town life?
  7. 7. Southern biscuits or Iced tea?
  8. 8. A sharp comeback or A perfectly timed silence?
  9. 9. Sneak out or Talk your way out?
  10. 10. Be underestimated or Be underestimated on purpose?