The kids’ graphic novel book club I started last fall is still going strong, with about 4-7 kids attending each month. This month we read Lucky Scramble by Peter Raymundo, about a kid named Tyler who goes to a Rubik’s cube competition. Our icebreaker question was “What’s your favorite kind of puzzle?” and a lot of the kids said “Rubik’s cube,” even though none of us could solve one. (I said word puzzles, like wordle, and it turns out all of the kids also do the NYT puzzles!)

We discussed the different characters and storylines, what we expected and what surprised us, parental pressure, and attitudes toward competition and winning. We each had a copy of the book for reference, and the kids are so good about citing page numbers so we can all be on the same page, literally.

I asked them what they thought they could do in six seconds – the length of time champion speed-cubers can solve a 3×3 – and that turned into “What can you draw in six seconds?” So we moved over to the tables, got paper and pencils, and tried it! Turns out, not much – but after having only six seconds to draw something, a minute feels like a long time! So we did a one-minute drawing, a two-minute drawing, and finally a five-minute drawing (during which one of the kids turned out a staggeringly impressive dragon drawing).

Last, the kids voted on which book to read next. The choices were Curveball by Pablo Cartaya, Pebble & Wren by Chris Hallbeck, and Puzzled by Pan Cooke. The first two got one vote each and Puzzled got two votes, so that will be our February book – but all three books got checked out. It was a good afternoon!