4/27/10

What's in store...

Mallory and the Trouble with Twins will be up Saturday or Sunday, but here's an idea of what's to come:



That's all of 'em, except for The Summer Before, which I don't have (yet). The normal-size books are in publication order with the two chain letter books at the end. Behold the glory of eBay and thriftbooks.com!

4/25/10

Kristy and the Walking Disaster (RS#20)

Original Publication Date: 1989

Ghostwriter? No

Synopsis:

Sorry for not posting last week. This is just about my least favorite book (I find it boring). Also I was coaching (so you'd think this would interest me, but you'd be wrong) at a high school track meet last weekend and one of my high jumpers missed the mat when he landed. While he did make the height, he ended up in the hospital with a concussion. He's okay now, but no more track this season. I also gave a friend a baby shower. Mostly it's because I don't like this book, though. Anyway...

Kristy notices that several kids, including her younger siblings, need a lot more baseball practice. Most are old enough for T-ball or Little League, but don't have the confidence. Kristy starts a team for them (Kristy's Krushers) and the kids gradually get better. They even play a game against Bart's Bashers, coached by one of Kristy's neighbors...one she has a crush on. It's a very high scoring game: 16-11, Bashers. The Krushers are proud they held their own against the other team, which is comprised of older, stronger, better players.

The "walking disaster" bit in the title refers to Jackie Rowdowsky, whose clumsiness makes it hard for him to play. But he gains confidence, which helps.

This is just a really boring book to me. Clearly, most of the kids just need coaching (Matt Braddock needs an interpreter). I'm not sure why an already-existing team wouldn't work, but whatever. Then we wouldn't have this glorious plot.


Established or continued in this book:


The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Cheese Doodles and mini candy bars under her bed; unspecified candy in her pants pocket; Twinkies, Doritos, Mallomars, and Gummi Bears.

Jessi declines helping Kristy coach because "I'm a dancer, not an athlete." I understand that ballet is different from baseball, but ballet is also a pretty athletic endeavor.

Claudia's spelling is starting its downhill slide. She and Mallory are co-writing a notebook entry and Mallory doesn't seem to even understand what some the words are supposed to be.

There's some nice Kristy-Watson bonding.


Their Families:

Karen and Andrew's custody arrangement seems almost like National Guard duty. They're at Watson's every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. "One weekend a month, two weeks a year."

The story of how Kristy first met Karen and Andrew remains intact.

Kristy's mom is still talking about wanting another kid and "she's at least 37."

Watson is "a huge baseball fan," which will pop up in later books.

Karen is so spoiled. I don't care that you know how to spell, your shirt will have the same name as the rest of your team or you don't need to be a part of it. The Krushers (not Crushers) would still have 19 players which is more than enough. Coaches don't need entitled brats on their teams. And I say that having coached my own brother in three different sports (but he IS a team player).

Claire Pike only throws tantrums related to baseball. I can't imagine that won't cause continuity issues.


The Club:

Suspiciously absent from a list of the BSC's expenses is paying Charlie to drive Kristy to and from meetings.

The Kuhns are introduced.


SMS: Nothing new.


PSA time: nothing, really.

Misc:

Wow. Kristy actually uses "us sitters" as the object of the sentence, i.e.; in the correct manner.

But then she screws it up a couple chapters later.

And again.

Archie Rodowsky is left-handed. But...so is Kristy. That's why she plays first base and uses a left-hander's glove (this will be confirmed in Kristy's Portrait Book). She claims it's harder to pitch to Archie, but it should be easier. FOUL.

Close but not quite, Kristy. Waving is "Hello" in sign language not "Hi." For the latter, just sign the letters "H" and "I" in a fast and fluid manner.

Bart Taylor has a rottweiler.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 1

Halloweens in 8th grade: 1

BSC Fights: 4

SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)

Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders

Clients: 18

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 32 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Gummi Bears, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)

Crushes: Claudia-3 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)

4/11/10

Claudia and the Bad Joke (RS#19)

Original Publication Date: 1988

Ghostwriter? No

Synopsis:

In one of my favorite books, Claudia goes to sit for a new kid, Betsy Sobak, the "practical joke queen." Betsy was recently energized by a slap-stick film festival, and hits the ground running: fake fly ice cube, dribble glass, pepper gum, and a broken swing. The latter ends up breaking at such a time that Claudia breaks her leg, badly. She ends in the hospital for a week, and stuck at home for another two. She's scared enough that she considers dropping out of the BSC: it's too dangerous.

Meanwhile, the BSC is trying to stop Betsy from playing jokes. Mallory, Dawn, then Kristy play jokes on her, which finally succeeds when Kristy embarrasses Betsy in front of her classmates at a movie. Betsy agrees to cut back, and goes to apologize to Claudia in person (seriously, her parents thought a letter was sufficient?).

Claudia ends up deciding to stay in the club, provided she never has to sit for Betsy again.

Established or continued in this book:


The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Doritos under her bed, Butterfingers in her jewelry box, pretzels and M&Ms under her bed, Tootsie Rolls under her pillow, Double-Stuf Oreos in a shoe box labeled "PANT BRUSHES"`

Apparently Kristy has long had a fascination with wearing food, "like a vest made of teabags." I had no idea, and I'm reminded of a particularly confusing and nonlinear MST3K movie wherein the audience says "Well, apparently the plot is none of our business."

Kristy gets mad that her father doesn't even send her birthday cards. That's really sad, and mean of Patrick.

Kristy still has had a broken ankle, good continuity.

Mary Anne has grown a few inches. She also likes to do needlework.

I miss the calm, practical, level-headed Mallory.

Jessi envies Claudia's wardrobe.


Their Families:

Hooray, Claudia's parents raised her right! She's going to write thank-you notes to the people who sent her flowers.


The Club:

"The club members are prompt. Kristy wouldn't have it any other way." It starts!

New clients: the Sobaks. Yes, they have the gall to call the BSC again. And, yes, the BSC is dumb enough to sit for Betsy again.

I cannot believe the BSC expects Claudia to pay dues from when she's injured due to babysitting and can't babysit.


SMS:

Claudia's English class is still reading the Newbery-Award winners, as it was in RS#12.

8th grade students: Gordon Brown, Diana Roberts


PSA time: nothing, really.

Misc:

I'm glad Claudia didn't quit the BSC. I think she would make an awesome real-life sitter, and I recently found out that I'm pregnant.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 1

Halloweens in 8th grade: 1

BSC Fights: 4

SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)

Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders

Clients: 17

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 29 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Gummi Bears, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, peanut M&Ms, regular M&Ms, marshmallows, Oreos (Double Stuf), pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)

Crushes: Claudia-3 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas)

4/4/10

Stacey's Mistake (RS#18)

Original Publication Date: 1988

Ghostwriter? No

Synopsis:

The adults in Stacey's apartment building are meeting to discuss how to help the homeless in their neighborhood. That means the BSC is coming to New York to help Stacey watch ten kids (Mallory, Jessi, Logan, and Shannon stay behind). Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn succeed in embarrassing Stacey by talking too much, being jealous of Laine, acting like a guidebook, and being terrified of everything that moves plus some stuff that doesn't respectively. Stacey plans a party with her New York friends, which doesn't go well at all. The BSC manages to pull together to have a good time with the kids at the American History Museum and Central Park. That evening, Laine scores the BSC and her tickets to a Broadway show. All is well.


Established or continued in this book:


The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Sadly, none.

How on Earth can this be Dawn's first trip ever, if it's supposed to be her first without her parents (the sentence is unclear)? Are we to believe her mom or dad accompanied her and Jeff when they visited him last summer?

Stacey has stopped getting her hair permed.

Kristy is hilarious in this one. "Then, someone fell down an open manhole and was attacked by alligators..." "There ARE alligators in the sewers. And pickpockets--" "In the sewers?"

While most of Dawn's fears are overreactions, her having a problem with elevators makes sense: her mom got trapped in one with Sunny's mom (but we don't know that until reading her Portrait Collection book).

Stacey's parents went to church. I'm surprised to see religion mentioned. Though, it is Easter (as I write this).


Their Families:

Stacey claims to not know about Jeff's moving back to CA, but in the Chapter 2 rundown she mentioned it.


The Club:

I kind of like that Stacey doesn't tell the BSC origin story exactly right, because she would have heard it second- or third-hand.


SMS: In New York!


PSA time:

You had to, didn't you, Stacey? Not only did you fail to capitalize the dinosaur names (they're the proper Latin names), you had to call it Brontosaurus. It was a Camarasaurus skull on an Apatosaurus body, and it's been fixed for decades. If you really like the name "Brontosaurus" go look up Eobrontosaurus. I also submit that the most interesting fossil in that museum is the REAL skeleton of a Deinonychus, the 1954 discovery of which started people thinking that dinosaurs could have active creatures and possibly warm-blooded. Think Jurassic Park's raptors. While I love that movie and book (watched it today, in fact), if you really want to hear me go off on dinosaur stuff, ask me about the accuracy there.


Misc:

Ugh, cockroaches. Here's another reason to live in the Pacific Northwest: cockroaches stick to forests here. Annoying invertebrates are basically limited to mosquitoes, slugs, bees if you're allergic, and (if you like to go in basements), yes, the occasional brown recluse. There is also a toxic octopus, but people don't come into contact with it that often.

Wow, Stacey. Having allergies (especially something as pervasive as wheat) is not the same as being picky. I know because I AM picky; no allergies for me!

Stacey spells the plural of "hero" (sandwich) two different ways: heros on page 57 and heroes on page 63. Spellcheck says the latter is correct.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 1

Halloweens in 8th grade: 1

BSC Fights: 4

SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)

Students: thirty 8th graders, six sixth-graders

Clients: 17

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 28 (bubble gum, butterscotch candy, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Gummi Bears, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, peanut M&Ms, regular M&Ms, marshmallows, Oreos (Double Stuf), pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)

Crushes: Claudia-3 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas)