Designed by Lucy

The Kindness Club #2

by Courtney Sheinmel, Brittany Pressley (Narrator)

Creative and fashion-forward Lucy Tanaka was thrilled when Chloe Silver moved to town. Together with Theo Barnes, they formed The Kindness Club, testing different acts of kindness on their friends, neighbors, and siblings. One day, Lucy learns that their classmate, Serena, recently lost her mother. On top of that, it's Serena's birthday next weekend. Lucy is determined to lift Serena's spirits, and she knows the perfect way to do it - rallying the Kindness Club to throw Serena the best birthday party ever at her family's bowling alley.

But as unexpected complications arise that threaten to ruin the party, can Lucy find another way to help her new friend during this hard time?

Inspired by kindness projects and anti-bullying campaigns across the country, award-winning author Courtney Sheinmel's delightful series will have all listeners thinking kind!

Genres: Middle Grade, Fiction, Audiobook, Childrens

MP3 CD

First published November 7, 2017

About the author

Born in California. Raised in New York. Went to law school, now write full time. Love: long walks, fresh notebooks, the smell of brownies, pomegranate seeds. Don't love: yogurt, spam (the email kind, and the food kind), deep water, deserted city streets.

Newest book: THE SECRETS OF LOVELACE ACADEMY, co-written with Marie Benedict, available on April 22, 2025.

I love to hear from readers! Email me! Ask a question! I promise to reply.

Reviews

[Steven R. McEvoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read in a wonderful series. My oldest read most of this to my youngest two and me as family reading time for part of our summer reading challenge. We all Loved it! Our once sentence reviews are:

8 year old - that they all came together to make the quilt and provide a good memory for Serena.
11 year old - that they always strive to show kindness to everyone.
13 year old - Courtney is one of my favorite authors ( specially Stella Batts Books) and the books endings always make me happy.
50 year old - a great read by one of our favorite Middle Grade/YA authors.

Full review to follow soon.
...

My oldest and I have read and reviewed all the Stella Batts books by Courtney Sheinmel at least twice. This was the second book that my oldest read to my youngest two and me. It was the first book of our family summer reading challenge. And all four of us loved it. We each gave it 5/5 stars. Our first reactions were:

A great read in a wonderful series. My oldest read most of this to my youngest two and me as family reading time for part of our summer reading challenge. We all Loved it! Our once sentence reviews are:

8 year old - that they all came together to make the quilt and provide a good memory for Serena.
11 year old - that they always strive to show kindness to everyone.
13 year old - Courtney is one of my favorite authors ( specially Stella Batts Books) and the books endings always make me happy.
50 year old - a great read by one of our favorite Middle Grade/YA authors.

My kids have come to realize that I make predictions about what is going to happen in a book. And far more often than not I am correct. The kids wonder how I can do it, and I just say with the number of books I have read you start to see things coming. My oldest is starting to do it as well now. And that was the case with this story. Both my oldest and I Realized that Lucy’s father and grandmother were under a lot of stress. Their changed behaviour. Not having the money to fix or replace the dishwasher. Working longer and longer hours. But this story is about much more than just the trials the Tanaka’s are undergoing. Lucy really wants to keep the kindness club going. And she is striving to find projects, so they have things to do. She does not want her newfound friendships with Chloe and Theo to end. To that end she undertakes two projects, the first is helping out in her gran’s place at an after-school program, and the second planning a birthday party for a girl at school who just lost her mother.

Unfortunately, the IT girls seem to squash one. And the other does not work as planned. And Lucy is devastated. But friends and family come together and a whole lot of people being kind might lead to a little magic! Lucy is committed to trying to do three kind things every day. And she admires that kindness comes so naturally to Chloe. But she soon realized that sometimes you need to accept the help and kindness of others also.

This is a great second book in a series, and our family desperately hope there will be a at least a third volume focused on Theo. An excellent read for middle grade readers, preteens, or really anyone who loves a good wholesome story. Another excellent read from the masterful pen of Courtney Sheinmel.

Read the review on my blog Book Reviews and More and reviews of other books by Courtney.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another super cute and inspiring tale of a group of friends doing kind things!

[Mary T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! So often, the female main character of books for this age are drama queens or less-than-ideal role models. My fourth graders love DORK Diaries, but the main character isn't necessarily someone I want them emulating. But a book about kindness walked out in real life? Not always done perfectly, but attempted? I loved the thought processes of Lucy, even when she messed up. I found her to be very relatable. And I loved the little lessons woven throughout, mostly through Theo, but also from others, like the difference between introverts and extroverts. I read these out of order because I saw this one at my public library on the "new" shelf and wanted to try it out. I'll go back and read the first one, from Chloe's perspective. I hope this author continues to add to the series!

Literary Escapes Challenge 2018 - Maryland

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

My girls really got a kick out of this story and I enjoyed it as well. We didn't read the first book in the series but will probably grab a copy at some point. Lucy is a great character. We are a Christian family and put a huge emphasis on living in kindness. Any book that is fun to read and relevant in the ways of living correctly are OK by me. Mom approved!! :)

[Alex Hallatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice idea, but a bit too cute for me. Maybe more for an American audience.

[T.J. Burns]

I received a copy of this book from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicole]

The Kindness Club: Designed by Lucy (The Kindness Club #2) by Courtney Sheinmel is taken from Lucy's side of the story. The first book (The Kindness Club #2) was taken from Chloe's point of view. Lucy is struggling a bit at home; her older brother Ollie is off at college, her grandmother is oddly over scheduled, and her father is either working or distracted when he is home. Her mother died when she was very young, so she doesn't really miss her.

In addition to working at the community center on a quilt with some of the younger children, the club is looking for other projects. When Lucy finds out that a classmate's mother just died, and that Serena and her mother always made a big deal out of birthdays, Lucy starts a project to plan a surprise party at her father's bowling alley for Serena. She does check with Serena's aunt, and asks around to find out who her friends are to invite, but her planning otherwise lacks some focus; for instance, she does not ask her father if she can have the party at the bowling alley! When Lucy realizes that she can't have the party there, she does manage to relocate it, but then hears from Serena herself that it's too soon to be celebrating. Crushed, Lucy talks to her neighbor, Mrs. G., and the two retrieve some of Serena's mother's clothing from the local thrift store and make a quilt for Serena instead. Lucy finds out that her father's business is struggling, but will be okay, with some modifications.

This is a  solid middle grade title for readers who like realistic fiction. 

I received this ARC from NetGalley via Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and Bloomsbury USA Childrens in exchange for an honest review.

[Cici Hilliard · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the best they are so kind.