Original Publication Date: 1993
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
It's summer (again). Jessi and Mallory are going to do the sitting at the Pikes' beach house in Sea City, and everyone else has plans, too:
Jessi tries to be be a Super Sitter. She worries her chances might be blown when Claire and Margo decide to enter a sand castle contest against pros. She agrees to take them , despite fears they will be heartbroken. But the contest is cancelled for weather. Crisis averted.
Mallory flirts back and forth with Toby, who you might remember as the guy Stacey had a crush on a while back. Stacey's all insanely jealous of Mallory, which is just awesome of her. But Mallory ends up canceling the date she had with Toby, remembering that Ben Hobart is back in Stoneybrook, which is good as Toby reveals himself as a cad. She and Stacey patch things up. By the way, Mallory gets a letter from Toby after they get, asking after Jessi.
Claudia goes to summer school.
Kristy goes looking for subs for her softball team, as most of the Krushers are on vacation. She scrapes together enough players, but her team loses 34-1. Guess there's no mercy rule for the Krushers.
Shannon goes to drama camp. It was nice seeing you for a few pages Shannon!
Stacey also goes to Sea City to sit, but for the Barretts (and, you guys, while Mrs. Barrett is driving them there SHE SAYS A SWEAR). She's still sore over being dumped by Toby last year, and at first seems genuinely concerned for Mallory, but it quickly spirals into jealousy.
Dawn runs a mini-camp with Mary Anne at their house. It's wild, but they have fun. At Sea City, she helps out the DeWitt family.
Logan is jealous of Alex, Mary Anne's old flame, but quickly sees that he has nothing to worry about.
Mary Anne has fun both with running the camp and showing Logan around Sea City.
Everyone except Shannon ends up meeting at Sea City to help with the Pikes, Barretts, and DeWitts (who are called the Harrises here). Since the BSC learned nothing from Snowbound! they ignore all the warnings about a developing tropical storm and are surprised by Hurricane Bill (Logan has gone home by this point). It washes out the road back to the mainland, but that's quickly repaired. There's no report of any serious injuries or deaths. The BSC members all make it home safely.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Heath and Skor bars for a taste test (Skor wins), Twinkies in her closet, gum in her backpack
Shannon's activities now include singing and drama, which she has combined at least once by being in a musical.
Their Families:
Stacey's dad grew up in NYC and didn't get his driver's license until he was in his twenties.
The Club:
The Dewitts are called the Harrises in this book.
SMS:
8th grade students: David Gabel, Barbara, Carly, Fran, and Theresa
Faculty: Mrs. Wegmann (unspecified)
PSA Time:
Good job, Kristy! She's made sure to get permission from the elementary school to use its baseball field for practice, which is important to do.
Misc:
Is it insanely easy to spot out-of-state license plates in New England? Here in the Seattle area we're a little further from other states than Connecticut is.
I just realized something: Kristy's Krushers are playing baseball, not softball. Softball has ten positions in the field; the Krushers play with nine (softball has right and left center instead of just center if you're wondering).
Apparently, Margo and Mallory have seen a puffer fish in Sea City. It seems they do sometimes get that far north, but rarely.
There couldn't have been a Hurricane Bill in 1993, The names are on a six-year cycle; Bill was used in 1991 and 1997. The B name for 1993 was Bret (a tropical storm in Central and South America that killed 184 people, crossed into the Pacific, and became Hurricane Greg).
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 4
Halloweens in 8th grade: 2 (plus one in seventh)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 4
BSC Fights: 8
SMS Staff and Faculty: 32
Students (other than the BSC): 111; 78 8th graders, 2 7th graders, 18 6th graders, 12 unspecified
Clients: 29
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 74
Crushes:
Claudia-8
Stacey-8
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
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6 comments:
Do we know that Mrs. Wegmann is SMS staff? I got the impression that she was a sub-like teacher who just teaches summer school (or maybe also actually subs during the year) that just happened to be teaching Claudia's grade or class but could have taught any grade in summer school.
It's interesting that the Krushers are playing baseball in this book because I remember Kristy saying in another book, when one of her kids got beaned by the ball, that there's a reason they play SOFTball.
I like that Dawn and Mary Anne acknowledge that there are other things important to them than sitting. Not that sitting isn't also important but I like that they both intend to enjoy their vacations in Sea City, with Dawn even thinking of her REAL vacation as starting AFTER the Harrises/DeWitts leave.
The way Claudia talks about teachers having to stay in school over summer break too makes it pretty likely Mrs. Wegmann is employed regularly by SMS, though not totally clear.
Kristy still tells us the kids are playing softball. But when she mentioned needing nine players in the field instead of ten, it dawned on me that they're playing baseball rules with a softball.
Yeah, Dawn and Mary Anne get to be normal people with varied interests!
Yeah, I wasn't clear on Mrs. Wegmann. I just thought that's the kind of thing Claudia would assume - that anyone who is in school automatically hates it (especially summer school) and that extends to teachers missing summer vacation, too, whether they're regular (full-time) teachers or otherwise.
Oh, and there must be something in the water in Sea City, 'cause Stacey turns into a super mega beyotch every time she goes there. (Not that she's not one other times too but she was awful to MA, MA and Mal each time she was there.) I thought it was really cool that she wanted to invite Mal to NY with her but think it's slightly wierd that she'd tell her dad about Toby hitting on Mallory.
Stacey + New Jersey = evil
After living in Texas for a few years and having gone through THREE hurricanes, it amazed me how everyone just ... you know...waited until THE VERY LAST MINUTE to try and leave. (Or board up the house). They were hearing reports of the hurricane...and should have had plenty of warning from the "cone of uncertainty" that they should move more inland BEFORE the outerbands started to lap at the coast.
Don't get me started on how long the hurricane in "Karen's Hurricane" lasted. Hurricane Ike was fucking massive and it was in and out in twelve hours or so. Hurricane Karen was moving inland for what seemed like at least 36 hours. THere were two nights of the damn thing. (Hurricane Harvey last fall just decided to hang out for awhile. Had that been the case, there would have been a helluva lot more devastation).
Needless to say, after Hurricane Ike, I was through with hurricanes, and moved back home to Missouri.k
I know some things kinda sneak up on you without warning (earthquakes, for example, have little if any warning). But if you know a disaster is coming or you live in an area prone to them...maybe prepare a bit? We get big windstorms here in the winter that knock out power for a few days, so we keep flashlights, candles, extra blankets, and food that can be eaten without cooking it on hand.
I would have moved back home after a hurricane like that too!
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