My Erudite Sweet Sixteen

To be fair to myself, I did offer Eldest the option of celebrating her 16th birthday in whatever manner she chose. I gave a few options- rent a party room, invite family members from all over the country and see how many brave Ohio in February, go someplace, do something... she was tempted by the family but thought the showing might be scarce. In the end, she elected to have a party at home. She wanted a theme- as she has chosen in the past. I thought it should reflect one of her passions. Since they currently total 2- Marching Band and Reading- the choice wasn't too difficult. I couldn't make a Marching Band party happen in my brain. So, we settled on a Literary theme.
She decided on 14 guests- including younger sister, Middlest. We created invitations- a favorite thing to dream up, not always so easy to implement.  We created imitation Harry Potter books, using the text, but modifying it to be about the party, and changing the title to accommodate the occasion. Each book was fitted with a bookplate of the guest's name.



The top one is the invitation. We made 13 of these, all in different colors.


Then came the creation of a cake. This can't just be simple around here, we go for elaborate cakes. This year the cake, in order to reflect the theme was- books.

The guests were to dress as a book character of their choosing. Eldest's parties have often including playing dress up in some manner, and most of the girls have a fun time planning and implementing. Last year's Greek Party featured togas...
This year we had everything from Dr. Seuss' Things 1 and 2 to Vampire Diaries and Maid Marion from Robin Hood. The best costume was pulled off by Kendra, who went all out and became "The Frizz", Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus series- including having Lizzie the Lizard on her shoulder.

Eldest, dressed as Kate Wetherall from Mysterious Benedict Society and three friends.

Middlest as Nancy Drew

THE FRIZZ!

Youngest as Greg from Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Middlest and Eldest decorated the rooms with even more books than usual- we are bibliphiles, all. And hung the chandelier with ribbons, glitter pens and the bookmarks we made for the occasion.
After the girls arrived, they split into three teams for a Literary Trivia Bowl. Each girl had a spoon, and each team had a pot to bang in and get a chance to answer. The easier questions had some really LOUD bangs. Try these; I'll name books, when you know the author, bang in. Okay: Here is New York.......Stuart Little....Charlotte's Web BANGBANGBANG- It's E.B. White. Get it?
Or, I'll give you the first line of the book, when you know it, bang in. Okay: "He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish." BANGBANGBANG! Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway.
Well, this game was fun, and loud, and the guest's got better and spot on guessers.
While this was going on, Huz was busily working away on filling the buffet table. As part of the party, Eldest and I had assembled a list of books that I then hunted used book stores for until I had a group of 15, one for each guest and the Birthday Girl. Each guest received a book, and in the book is a ladder with the names of the partygoers. Each girl hands the book down to the next girl on the ladder when they finish the title, eventually getting the book back after it has passed through each guests hands, and maybe into their brains.  For the menu, we matched a food item to each book. Here is the menu:
Totally Wicked Punch- Wicked
Help Yourself! Sweet Tea - The Help
Iocane Powder Pastries- The Princess Bride
The Thornbird, Roasted Turkey with Rose Petal Sauce- The Thornbirds
Dragon Drummies with T-Eragon Fire Sauce- Eragon
Miss Havisham's Wedding Cakes- Great Expectations
Pride and Preju-Diced Carrots- Pride and Prejudice
Yippy Skippy Zippy Chippies- A Girl Named Zippy
Mendelian F1 Peas- Gregor Mendel
Mini Chee-Asburgers- Look Me in the Eye- My Life with Asberger's Syndrome
Fried Green Tomatoes- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Peeled Potato Pie- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Mohican's Last Cornbread- The Last of the Mohicans
Three Musketeers- Yep, you got it.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle There's Nothing to Eat in March Napkins-Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Huz slices The Thornbird as the guests cruise around the buffet.

They tucked into the buffet, The Thornbird being the clear winner, with girls coming back for fifths.
We then had a rousing game of Eldest's favorite: Candystop
On to cake, presents and a few more games, including a creative writing game that brought out some wonderful, crazed, creativity, and showed a few real writing stars.

Happy Birthday To YOU!!
We Love you, Eldest One.