9/12/10

Mary Anne and Too Many Boys (RS#34)

Original Publication Date: 1990

Ghostwriter? Yes, Mary Lou Kennedy

Synopsis:

Mary Anne and Stacey get to help the Pikes at Sea City again, but this time we get to hear about it from Mary Anne's point of view.

The "too many boys" part refers to Mary Anne and Stacey running into Toby and Alex again, Mary Anne feeling bad about hanging out with Alex because of Logan (then don't. Problem solved), and Vanessa having a crush on a boy who works at the ice cream store...who has a crush on Mallory.

Stacey is smitten with Toby, and Mary Anne is shocked about it. 'Kay. Toby breaks it off with Stacey, though, and she's devastated. Mary Anne ends up discovering that Alex has a girlfriend, so she can relax and enjoy just being friends with him. Vanessa writes a secret admirer poem to the boy at the ice cream store, but phrased so he'll think it's Mallory saying goodbye, so that no one ends up embarrassed.

Considering this was the best-selling BSC book, there's not a whole lot to write about. At least, not that I could find.


Established or continued in this book:


The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Twinkies, Gummi Bears, and M&Ms in a box under her bed,

Stacey hates to iron.

Mallory talks in her sleep.


Their Families:

Dawn's dad is still seeing Carol. Dawn and Jeff are a little worried they might be getting serious.


The Club:

It's interesting to watch Kristy get more and more strict about being to the meetings RIGHT AT 5:30. In her defense, the meetings are short. But it's still funny.


SMS: Summer break


PSA time:

I find it odd that when Jackie gets stung by a bee, there's no mention that Kristy at least keeps an eye out for unusual swelling or already knows he's not allergic. These books usually throw in little tidbits like that. Guess I'll do it: if you're watching someone who gets stung by a bee, watch out for allergic reactions just in case. Most people will be fine, but the people who won't, really won't.


Misc:

This book was ghost-written, and it shows a bit. Some of the writing isn't quite as smooth as it usually is.

It's always bugged me that Mary Anne and Stacey can't explain where the sun "goes" after it sets. Rather than just telling Claire about Earth revolving and rotating around the sun (easily demonstrated with some beach balls), they come up with "It goes behind a cloud." I don't remember not knowing about rotation and revolution. Although, my dad's into space stuff.

The Ramseys and Pikes are lucky that they didn't end up with several more hamsters after Squirt put Frodo in Misty's cage. I know that rats can mate in under three seconds, and I assume hamsters don't take long either.


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 2

Halloweens in 8th grade: 1 (plus one in seventh)

Summers after 8th grade: 2

BSC Fights: 5

SMS Staff: 15

Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified

Clients: 24

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 38 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, Fritos, gumdrops, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, Mentos, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, pretzel sticks, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)

Crushes: Claudia-5 (Guy, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-5 (Toby, Pete Black, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor), Mallory-1 (Ben Hobart)

6 comments:

nikki said...

Am I right that this is the first ghost written book? I can't believe it was the best-selling! That's seems weird to me.

Also, my almost-four year old already knows about the earth rotating around the sun and it spinning. I'm not quite sure exactly how much he gets, but he knows when it's dark here, it's light on the other side of the globe.

SJSiff said...

The first ghost-written one was #23 (Dawn on the Coast). I'm not sure which were ghost-written between that and this one, but the writing style seemed off, so I checked.

And good for you and your four-year-old!

Unknown said...

This is one of my favorite Mary Anne books. Can't believe how bitchy Stacey was in this book. I mean just because Toby dumped you doesnt mean you have to take your anger out on Mary Anne.

Gotta love Vanessa Pike in this book. Despite the fact that that ice cream guy picked Mallory over her, she didnt act all cold and bitchy over it the way Stacey did. No wonder Vanessa is one of my favorite sitting charges. Vanessa Rocks.

great post by the way.

winstonegbert said...

Stacey: mega-bitch in this!
And LOL at the 38 types of junk food in Claudia's room. She should be fat with acne, it's just not fair!!

LauraTheWonderTart said...

Behind a cloud? Lolwut...?

How stupid are thirteen-year-olds supposed to be. I remember explaining to my first/second grade split class how the phases of the moon worked via rotation/revolution as a science report.

PS: Verification "word" is thsaga. Another lolwut moment for me

SJSiff said...

I know, right? How hard is it to say, "It goes to the other side of the world." Technically not right, since our solar system is heliocentrice, but a lot better than "behind a cloud."