Original Publication Date: 1992
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
Logan gets a book! He's asked to temporarily replace Dawn as a regular member while she and her mom go to California for two weeks while Jeff recuperates from an appendectomy (his appendix burst, too). He agrees, even though some jobs conflict with his football practice. Frankly, I think it's really unfair of the BSC to expect him to miss practices for a team he's committed himself too, considering that Shannon could probably have filled in once or twice. Anyway, his teammates give him a hard time for it. When Logan is sitting and takes his charges to the health fair, some of his teammates even start teasing his charges (the Hobarts). It causes a big mess, and Logan decides he can't do the BSC and do sports, so he resigns. Of course, after a little while, he realizes that he misses sitting, so he goes back to being an associate member with the understanding that sports come first.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: chocolate marshmallow cookies behind her pillow, tortilla chips under her bed
Logan has blue eyes.
If Claudia remembers rights, she has type O blood (no mention of Rh factor).
Their Families:
Logan's dad manages a sporting goods manufacturer. He's also into traditional gender roles.
I understand that they live on opposite coasts, but isn't it weird that Jeff Schafer is rarely if ever described as Mary Anne's stepbrother?
Mary Anne's mom is back from the grave. She herself mentions "my mom" in the present tense. Presumably she meant Sharon, but why not just say "Sharon"?
The Club: nothing new
SMS:
Students: Lew Greenburg, Peter Hayes, Irv Hirsch, Clarence King, Harry Nolan, Jim Poirier, Steve Randazzo, Bob Stillman, Alex Turnbull (8th)
Okay, I've addressed the anachronism in the past (no pun intended) about SMS not converting to metric for its track and field team, but the track tryouts? No mention of any throwing or distance events and the coach selects all of SIX people for it. What?
PSA time:
Go donate blood if you're eligible. You'll get cookies.
Misc:
Stacey's partially right in calling people with type O blood universal donors. O+ can donate to all blood types with an Rh factor; O- can donate to everyone.
Ooh, very nice, Logan. Saber-tooth TIGER is a misnomer; it's more proper to call the animals saber-tooth cats, as done in the book.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 3
Halloweens in 8th grade: 2 (plus one in seventh)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 2
BSC Fights: 6
SMS Staff: 26
Students (other than the BSC): 84; 59 8th graders, 2 7th grader, 11 sixth-graders, 11 unspecified
Clients: 29
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 60 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, candy hearts, Cheese Doodles, Cheetos, a chocolate bar, chocolate-covered cherries, chocolate marshmallow cookies, Chunky bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers (unspecified and whole wheat), cupcakes, dark-chocolate caramels, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, Fig Newtons, Fritos, fruit pie, gumdrops, Gummi Bears (regular and sweet-n-sour), Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, jellybeans, Kit-Kats, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, malt balls, marshmallows, Mentos, Milky Ways, mini candy bars, Necco wafers, Oreos (Double Stuf and chocolate-dipped), Planter's Peanut bar, popcorn, potato chips, pretzels, pretzel sticks, red hots, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, tortilla chips, Triscuits, Twinkies, Yodels)
Crushes: Claudia-8 (Guy, Terry, Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Arthur Feingold, Woody Jefferson, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-5 (Travis, Lewis Bruno, Parker Harris, Price Irving, Richie Magnesi), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-7 (Toby, Kelsey Bauman, Pete Black, Ross Brown, Pierre D'Amboise, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor), Mallory-1 (Ben Hobart), Jessi-2 (Curtiis Shaller, Quint Walter)
ER 15.15, The Family Man: Step Up
3 days ago
6 comments:
I have long thought it odd that Jeff is never (that I remember) called MA's step-brother. Or even her brother, for Dawn and MA are often called sisters and not step-sisters. I would think that MA at least would think of Jeff as her brother (even if he does live in CA most of the time) because I got the impression that she wanted siblings so badly before her dad remarried. Also I believe one of the things she mentioned that she liked best about Kristy's house, when they were younger, was her brothers. (This is in The Truth about Stacey when the club was talking about what they like best about their friends' houses and why those things make Kid-Kits such a good idea.)
Perhaps other students who'd previously played on the track and field team were returning and there were only six openings on the team? (I hope this is so as it makes it less likely that my brain will implode from the sheer ridiculous-ness of trying to put logic into these books.)
I don't know about Shannon or Logan filling in as a full-time member but did Kristy really think they'd not be able to survive two weeks with only six full members?
Ooh, I just barely remember this one. I didn't get into it as a kid because of the whole 'Eww boys' thing. Silly me :D
Yeah, Laura, Logan thinks something along the lines of, "Ah, that's why Mary Anne's upset; her stepsister's upset." Not "her stepbrother's in the hospital." Weird.
Your idea about six openings actually makes perfect sense. Too bad the book didn't clarify! But that's how I'll interpret it from now on.
Michelle, I thought it strange, too. Boys?!
I snarked this one on BSCSnark on LiveJournal! I can't believe Dawn was allowed to miss two whole weeks of school bc her brother had minor surgery. Also, the girls expected Logan to skip Football practice for jobs, but said Jessi couldn't take the same jobs bc she had ballet practice. Ugh.
Well, to be fair, Jeff's appendix actually ruptured, which is potentially fatal. Still, while it would make sense for Sharon to stay in CA longer, why did Dawn need to be there once it was clear Jeff would be okay?
And good call on the double standard with Jessi.
Yeah, BSC AG, I know how you'd like them to be clear. I'm the same way and I know exactly how you feel. I just thought I'd offer a possible explanation. And you liked it. Yay!
I always thought it incredibly unfair that they asked Logan to skip football practice to take jobs (if he agrees, that's his own business) and don't remember ever catching the 'Jessi can't do it because of ballet' thing. Nice catch, Nikki. Off now to read your snark of this book. (Acutally I've probably already read it, so off to re-read.)
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