Scarlett Ingram is a member of “Charlie Kids,” an online-based book club for kids and teens. In this interview, Scarlett discusses how the group, which now includes over 45,000 members in 26 countries, organizes chapter meetings in different communities. She also talks about a unique activity in which she and her group participate, involving one of their favorite authors.

Q: Does your group have a name and/or a theme? How long has your group been in existence?

A: Our group started out informally, but has grown via the Internet. We don't really have a name, but we sometimes refer to ourselves as “Charlie Kids” or “Charlie Girls.” We just review books online by a mail forwarding system.

Q: How many members do you have? How many men, how many women? What age are most of your members?

A: We have about 45,000 members now, most of them under the age of 15.

Q: How often do you meet? Where do you meet?

A: We forward emails to each other and meet in small groups of about 20 kids each in different communities.

Q: Do you eat at your meetings? What do you eat? Who brings the food?

A: We love food! Everyone munches on their own snack at the meetings.

Q: Who leads the discussion? Do you use reading group guides?

A: We take turns alphabetically. If a person is not there, the next person in the alphabet runs the meeting.

Q: What kind of books do you read?

A: We read books by Rae Lowery, Judy Blume and Shel Silverstein, mostly.

Q: How do you choose your books? Do you choose one new book at each meeting, or do you choose the books for a number of meetings ahead of time?

A: We hold a vote. Whenever Rae Lowery has a new book out, we always read it instantly.

Q: What were some of the best discussions or favorite books the group read?

A: We often discuss what the next book by Rae Lowery should be about.

Q: How do you keep things fun?

A: We have contests to see how many storylines we can come up with for mysteries and send them to Rae Lowery for a chance to get the story published.

Q: What advice would you give to other reading groups?

A: Read the author you like the best. They tend to be consistent, and if you like one of their books you will probably like them all.

Q: Do you have any horror stories, amusing anecdotes, or other special tales to tell?

A: One of our Read It Forward books got around to 26 countries!

Q: Is there anything else unique or noteworthy about your group that you would like to share?

A: We started out with only two kids and grew from there.

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