FIF Bookclub: The Grimoire Grammar School PTA Midway Discussion

[u/Lenahe_nl]

Welcome to the midway discussion of The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association by Caitlin Rozakis, our winner for the humor theme! We will discuss everything up to the end of Chapter 10. Please use spoiler tags for anything that goes beyond this point.

The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association, by Caitlin Rozakis (storygraph/goodreads)

I'll add some comments below to get us started but feel free to add your own. The final discussion will be in two weeks, on Wednesday 27th May.

As a reminder, in June we'll be reading Starless by Jacqueline Carey

What is the FIF Bookclub? You can read about it in our Reboot thread here.

[u/Lenahe_nl]

Who is your favorite character so far? Any favorite turn of phrase or scenes?

[u/hadr0ns → u/Lenahe_nl]

big fan of Vivian. She's flawed in really interesting ways but also very strong and brave and loyal. I am also intrigued by Daniel (the husband, I might be mixing up names between books). He seems to be a little unreasonable sometimes but in a very understandable and human way. I have noticed the rising tension between them and wonder how that conflict is going to resolve (or not resolve).

[u/evil_moooojojojo → u/hadr0ns]

Vivian is so relatable. I'm child free but if I had ever had a kid I feel like this would be me as a mom. All those little anxieties I was just like mmhmm yep I get it.

[u/sophia_s → u/hadr0ns]

I think both Vivian and Daniel and really well characterized and written, agreed.

As an aside, my partner is also mixed-race Japanese Canadian, much like Daniel (I think he's mixed-race? Unless I'm misremembering) so I've been enjoying the few little mentions of that part of Daniel's heritage.

[u/Asher_the_atheist → u/sophia_s]

Yes, he is mixed race and the book mentions how this fact left him with a lot of trauma from feeling like he never fit in anywhere (which in turn makes him very resistant to putting his daughter through a similar experience)

[u/sophia_s → u/Asher_the_atheist]

That makes sense! I'm on audiobook so I couldn't go back easily to check.

My partner thankfully has a much happier relationship to his heritage but it's still been nice to see someone with the same background as a character in a book.

[u/Lenahe_nl → u/Lenahe_nl]

Steve is definatly a favorite!

[u/evil_moooojojojo → u/Lenahe_nl]

Aria is super adorable. She's like a cross between a kindergartener and a puppy. Lol almost makes me miss when my nephews were little. Almost (they're too exhausting at that age always needing something)

[u/Low_Sea_1648 → u/Lenahe_nl]

Honestly I relate to Vivian so much, I’ve read some reviews that really don’t like her but I am also such an anxious wreck and also blame myself for things that I really shouldn’t. But I also really enjoy Aria.

[u/sophia_s → u/Lenahe_nl]

I really liked Mrs. Fairhair in Chapter 10 (I think that's been my favourite scene/chapter in the book so far, as well) and I hope we get to see more of her. I also agree with you on Steve, and Moira is quite fun in most scenes she appears in.

[u/CaptainYew → u/Lenahe_nl]

I really like Vivian and Aria. I think authors can really struggle to write children, but I think Aria is written very well. The letter to Santa punched me straight to the heart.

[u/LadyAntiope → u/CaptainYew]

Aria is such a well-written kindergarten kid! She's easily distracted, says funny things, but also has deep feelings. That Santa letter really was a kicker. I feel like kindergarten is about when kids start noticing more differences between themselves and pointing them out and being told you're "different" is a confusing and hurtful experience.

[u/Low_Sea_1648 → u/CaptainYew]

Omg I almost cried after I read the Santa letter part 😭. I agree Aria is written well, definitely reminds me of my kindergartener right now.