Original Publication Date: 1996
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner
Synopsis:
Mary Anne's English class is divided into groups to study Shakespeare. Her group includes Gordon Brown, Amelia Freeman, and Barbara Hirsch. Theirs is one of the those rare group project where the work is actually split evenly and they all get along great.
Then, while Amelia and her family are on their way to dinner, their car is hit by a drunk driver. Amelia is killed instantly.
The rest of the book shows how different people deal with their grief. Kristy is spurred into action and organizes a chapter of SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving) for SMS. Mallory and Jessi are unsure how to act around Amelia's younger brother, who's in their grade. Stacey is similarly awkward around Amelia's friends. The death brings up painful memories for Claudia, who thinks of Mimi, and especially for Abby, whose father was killed by a drunk driver. Mary Anne returns to Dr. Reese, a therapist she's visited in the past (see the Chain Letter book). She, Gordon, and Barbara decide to dedicate their Shakespeare project to Amelia. Mary Anne's visits with her therapist also give her the idea of planting a memory garden at SMS for Amelia, which helps her come to terms with the loss. It's hard to summarize the rest of the plot, but I really do think this book does a good job showing the different ways people heal.
There's also a wholly unnecessary subplot of Dawn, the We ♥ Kids Club, and the California sitting charges cleaning up an abandoned lot and making it into a community garden. Frankly, I think it takes away from the seriousness of the main plot.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: pretzels, home-made cookies
Dawn doesn't like kids using toy guns, but says nothing against toy swords.
If I were Abby, with all my allergies, I would never buy school lunch. I'm not sure if she follows Kosher, but if she does that might also make school lunches tricky.
Their Families:
Before Richard and Sharon married, Mary Anne was used to putting up the Christmas tree a week before Christmas and taking it down before the New Year. Now they put it up the day after Thanksgiving and leave it up into early January. I lean toward the latter myself: I like to get a tree at the start of Advent (four Sundays before Christmas-between November 27 and December 3) and leave it up until Epiphany (January 6). But like Richard, when I do put the ornaments away it's done very neatly: each one in a specific slot in the box. Otherwise I might leave one on the tree.
The Schafer-Spier house didn't have an adequate number of smoke detectors until Richard insisted.
Dawn visited for Christmas, but not Jeff.
Claudia's Aunt Peaches is almost six months pregnant with a healthy baby.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
Obviously, I'll be subtracting one from my count of SMS students.
There are a lot of people mentioned from previous books, and a lot of teachers in the right classrooms. Pete Black is still eighth grade president. Good continuity.
New-to-us students: sixth-grader Josh Freeman, eighth-graders Jeff Cummings and Barbara Hirsch (no mention if she's related to Irv Hirsch)
New-to-us SMS staff: Mr. Seitz, a guidance counselor.
PSA Time:
Who hasn't had a TDaP shot in the last years? Raise your hands. Okay, GO GET THE SHOT NOW. Any doctor office or drug store will give it to you. Tetanus is all over our soil and can cause horrible life-long issues, it would be nice to keep diphtheria at bay, and there are pertussis outbreaks happening in many areas of the country because people don't vaccinate. Babies can't be fully vaccinated against pertussis (also known as whooping cough) until they're six months old at the youngest. And if they contract it, they can die from it. They, and people whose medical issues prevent them from receiving vaccines, rely on the rest of us to be vaccinated so that we don't pass it on to them. Oh, and in case you haven't heard: the study that linked autism to vaccines was faked. There is no link. Even if there were, wouldn't you rather have a child with austism than a dead one? GO GET YOUR VACCINATIONS UP-TO-DATE.
And obviously, never drive impaired. It's just selfish and stupid to not ask for a ride when you're unsafe to drive.
Misc:
Hey, there's a grammar-nut bonus on page 48: "What if the dead student were Kristy?" If the situation you're posing is hypothetical, you use "were" as in "I wish I were taller." You're not, so you use were instead of was. Since Mary Anne uses were, it's a giveaway to any grammar-nut that Kristy is fine. Had she said was, then we'd still be wondering.
This book has some good points about what to say to grieving people: I'm sorry for your loss and I'll miss [the deceased] are suggestions. Abby and Claudia acknowledge that it may be awkward to say, but the person you say it to will appreciate it. Furthermore, you don't want to not say anything and give the impression that you don't care.
A good friend of mine died suddenly and unexpectedly in her early twenties. My other friends and I had a similar dilemma to Mary Anne's: do we own anything that's appropriate to wear to a funeral? I hadn't been to one in almost ten years, and only once for someone my age.
I like the idea of the memory garden. A little girl at my school (I went to a K-12 school) died of a ruptured appendix while camping. By the time she was airlifted to a hospital, it was too late. There's a little garden of flowers on the school grounds dedicated to her memory.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 55
Students (other than the BSC): 179; 114 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 6 7th graders, 43 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
7/2/12
Mallory's Christmas Wish (RS#92)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
In response the commercial insanity that Christmas brings, Mallory proposes that her family have a low-key Christmas with as much things homemade as possible, including the gifts. Sounds pretty nice. Nice enough that when Vanessa enters the Pikes' holiday plans in a contest, they win the privilege of having their Christmas season filmed for broadcast next year. The BSC also helps the retirement home put on a holiday boutique, selling hand-made gifts.
Unfortunately (and predictably) the camera crew gets in the way of everything Mallory and her family are doing, boutique included. They decide together that the substantial check they'd receive for sticking it out isn't worth it, and cancel. And give back the check for ten grand. What kills me though, is that they wait until Christmas Eve. They only had about 30 hours to go!
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Heath bars behind an easel, chocolate coins in her pants pocket (melted, as these are the pants she's wearing), Fritos
Kristy's still trying to get the BSC on TV.
Their Families:
The Pikes' finances haven't quite recovered from the time that Mallory's dad was laid off. Apparently they had to dip into their savings more than was comfortable.
Several of the Pikes know how to knit, although from the description of the hat Mr. Pike gets for Christmas, they don't know how to knit in the round. Should you ever want to knit things in tubes, like hats, sweaters, socks, and so on, I highly recommend learning to knit in the round, either with circular needles or double-pointed needles.
The Club (and clients):
The Robert issue is still a bit of a tense one.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Right now I have only one child. But reading about how Mallory stresses over picking gifts for all her siblings, I promise that if I end up having nearly a complete baseball team, the kids will draw names and each give to just one sibling.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I'm working on some big sewing and knitting projects. But I'm close to done, AND I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed later this summer, so I should able to put up a couple posts during my recovery.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
In response the commercial insanity that Christmas brings, Mallory proposes that her family have a low-key Christmas with as much things homemade as possible, including the gifts. Sounds pretty nice. Nice enough that when Vanessa enters the Pikes' holiday plans in a contest, they win the privilege of having their Christmas season filmed for broadcast next year. The BSC also helps the retirement home put on a holiday boutique, selling hand-made gifts.
Unfortunately (and predictably) the camera crew gets in the way of everything Mallory and her family are doing, boutique included. They decide together that the substantial check they'd receive for sticking it out isn't worth it, and cancel. And give back the check for ten grand. What kills me though, is that they wait until Christmas Eve. They only had about 30 hours to go!
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Heath bars behind an easel, chocolate coins in her pants pocket (melted, as these are the pants she's wearing), Fritos
Kristy's still trying to get the BSC on TV.
Their Families:
The Pikes' finances haven't quite recovered from the time that Mallory's dad was laid off. Apparently they had to dip into their savings more than was comfortable.
Several of the Pikes know how to knit, although from the description of the hat Mr. Pike gets for Christmas, they don't know how to knit in the round. Should you ever want to knit things in tubes, like hats, sweaters, socks, and so on, I highly recommend learning to knit in the round, either with circular needles or double-pointed needles.
The Club (and clients):
The Robert issue is still a bit of a tense one.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
Right now I have only one child. But reading about how Mallory stresses over picking gifts for all her siblings, I promise that if I end up having nearly a complete baseball team, the kids will draw names and each give to just one sibling.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I'm working on some big sewing and knitting projects. But I'm close to done, AND I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed later this summer, so I should able to put up a couple posts during my recovery.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
6/30/12
Baby-sitters Beware (SM#2)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Ugh, mysteries. Ugh, SUPER mysteries. I just don't like them! This one could have been suspenseful even, but the pacing is bizarre and a lot of the "scary" parts are told through third-person rather than first-person narration. So annoying! But I had my wisdom teeth removed Friday morning (uppers in my sinus cavities, lowers impacted and erupting) and I've taken my percocet, so I should be able to make it through. I blame any typos on the narcotics.
The BSC returns to Shadow Lake. Well, Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne do, with Abby coming along too, while the rest stay behind for various reasons. Before they leave, the mysteries start. Kristy and Abby witness a breaking-and-entering (turns out to be the home-owner's son having money troubles), Mary Anne and Logan seem to be passing each rude notes but neither of them actually authored any...and then things get weirder.
Kristy is threatened with a rock thrown through a downstairs window, the rock reading "You're next." Mary Anne sees a prowler outside her house. Someone starts a fire in Claudia's family's outdoor trash cans. There are threatening calls to the original four of the BSC. Stacey is almost run down by a car.
It gets really dicey later on: someone is stalking the four girls at Shadow Lake, and Shannon, Jessi, and Mallory discover they're in real danger. Turns out that Karl Tate, who was running that dog-napping ring back in Mystery #7, is back. The Shadow Lake girls get stranded on ski lifts, snow-bound with power outages (but not fun ones like in that Super Special), and unknowingly lead by the culprit through a blizzard. Also, Stacey's insulin is stolen, which is just creepy (she has an emergency kit though).
Then the twist: Karl Tate IS at Shadow Lake, but the protect the BSC. His son is after the girls, seeking revenge. Things are revealed and solved just in the nick of time, and the book sort of fizzles out. Again, could have been good. But the extraneous plot points, the poor pacing, the illogical narrations, the outright STUPID notebook enteries...this is a hard book for me to get through.
So...did I throw up from a combination of swallowed blood and anesthesia, or from the overwrought melodrama of this book?
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Abby knows some Yiddish.
Logan's main sports are baseball and track. Football's come up a lot too, though. In fact, his being on the team is mentioned in chapter 4.
Claudia lends Mary Anne a pair of earrings. Claudia has clip-ons? Or Mary Anne suddenly has pierced ears? Chapter 2 is silent on the matter.
A line of Kristy's narration reveals that she might not think of herself as such a bossy personality as others do; she might think that some things she states as commands are suggestions. (page 154)
Their Families:
Sam Thomas breaks up with his girlfriend early in the book. Stacey, are you paying attention? Leave Robert.
Neither the Kishis nor the Schafer-Spiers have regular answering machines (although Claudia does).
The Club (and clients):
This book sees the advent of the mystery notebook. Mallory compiles it.
Claudia gets to fill in as president when both Kristy and Abby miss a meeting due to being interviewed by police after witnessing a potential buglary.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Once upon a time, Mary Anne warned us that many cats are lactose intolerant, especially the males, and that milk should only be a small occasional treat. Here she gives Tigger milk with no such warning.
Misc:
I think it's weird that Super Specials have pictures, but Super Mysteries don't.
If you're in the Seattle area and need dental work, I highly recommend the UW School of Dentristy. I had a consult Thursday morning at 10, a nice low insurance quote by 2:00 pm, set up surgery for Friday at 9, and was home recovering before noon.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Ugh, mysteries. Ugh, SUPER mysteries. I just don't like them! This one could have been suspenseful even, but the pacing is bizarre and a lot of the "scary" parts are told through third-person rather than first-person narration. So annoying! But I had my wisdom teeth removed Friday morning (uppers in my sinus cavities, lowers impacted and erupting) and I've taken my percocet, so I should be able to make it through. I blame any typos on the narcotics.
The BSC returns to Shadow Lake. Well, Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne do, with Abby coming along too, while the rest stay behind for various reasons. Before they leave, the mysteries start. Kristy and Abby witness a breaking-and-entering (turns out to be the home-owner's son having money troubles), Mary Anne and Logan seem to be passing each rude notes but neither of them actually authored any...and then things get weirder.
Kristy is threatened with a rock thrown through a downstairs window, the rock reading "You're next." Mary Anne sees a prowler outside her house. Someone starts a fire in Claudia's family's outdoor trash cans. There are threatening calls to the original four of the BSC. Stacey is almost run down by a car.
It gets really dicey later on: someone is stalking the four girls at Shadow Lake, and Shannon, Jessi, and Mallory discover they're in real danger. Turns out that Karl Tate, who was running that dog-napping ring back in Mystery #7, is back. The Shadow Lake girls get stranded on ski lifts, snow-bound with power outages (but not fun ones like in that Super Special), and unknowingly lead by the culprit through a blizzard. Also, Stacey's insulin is stolen, which is just creepy (she has an emergency kit though).
Then the twist: Karl Tate IS at Shadow Lake, but the protect the BSC. His son is after the girls, seeking revenge. Things are revealed and solved just in the nick of time, and the book sort of fizzles out. Again, could have been good. But the extraneous plot points, the poor pacing, the illogical narrations, the outright STUPID notebook enteries...this is a hard book for me to get through.
So...did I throw up from a combination of swallowed blood and anesthesia, or from the overwrought melodrama of this book?
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Abby knows some Yiddish.
Logan's main sports are baseball and track. Football's come up a lot too, though. In fact, his being on the team is mentioned in chapter 4.
Claudia lends Mary Anne a pair of earrings. Claudia has clip-ons? Or Mary Anne suddenly has pierced ears? Chapter 2 is silent on the matter.
A line of Kristy's narration reveals that she might not think of herself as such a bossy personality as others do; she might think that some things she states as commands are suggestions. (page 154)
Their Families:
Sam Thomas breaks up with his girlfriend early in the book. Stacey, are you paying attention? Leave Robert.
Neither the Kishis nor the Schafer-Spiers have regular answering machines (although Claudia does).
The Club (and clients):
This book sees the advent of the mystery notebook. Mallory compiles it.
Claudia gets to fill in as president when both Kristy and Abby miss a meeting due to being interviewed by police after witnessing a potential buglary.
SMS: nothing new.
PSA Time:
Once upon a time, Mary Anne warned us that many cats are lactose intolerant, especially the males, and that milk should only be a small occasional treat. Here she gives Tigger milk with no such warning.
Misc:
I think it's weird that Super Specials have pictures, but Super Mysteries don't.
If you're in the Seattle area and need dental work, I highly recommend the UW School of Dentristy. I had a consult Thursday morning at 10, a nice low insurance quote by 2:00 pm, set up surgery for Friday at 9, and was home recovering before noon.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-2, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-1
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 117
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
6/5/12
Claudia and the First Thanksgiving (RS#91)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Claudia's short takes class is assigned to write and direct a play for the third-graders at Stoneybrook Elementary. They choose a Thanksgiving theme, and in doing the research, learn that they've been viewing the origins of the holiday through rose-colored glasses. They mention how life was actually pretty difficult for the Pilgrims, trying to eke out a living on a land totally alien to them, and how women were subservient to men. They also talk about how some native tribes today mark Thanksgiving as a solemn time of mourning rather than a celebration. Because of this, several parents and teachers protest the script as un-American (well, it wasn't the USA yet...) and demand it be changed to the "traditional" story. Claudia's class relents, but the playbills, publicity, and buttons they wear at the performance make it clear that this is not the original play. They also put on the original at SMS, complete with the original complainers picketing it.
But...as someone who had finished third grade a couple years before this book came out and who attended a teeny tiny private conservative Christian school for it...I have a hard time seeing this protest happening. We learned about the things that were "un-American" and it was a non-issue. Still, the book shows some good ideas for dealing with censorship.
Also, everyone in the BSC starts out with grandiose Thanksgiving plans involving relatives and trips, and all the plans fall through (worst is Mallory's family has to miss the Macy's parade again, just like the last Thanksgiving book when she had mono). So the BSC gets all their families together to celebrate and have a good time anyway. Even Dawn flies in for a surprise visit. Of course, Shannon's and Logan's families aren't part of it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: potato chips, pretzels, candy corn, chocolate
Stacey likes the Marx Brothers. Smart girl.
Logan likes pecan pie, a traditionally southern dish.
Their Families:
Claudia's family is all dressed in navy blue on the same day. Did they coordinate?
The Pike triplets are all going to dress as Groucho Marx, rather than two of them being Harpo and Chico (maybe Nicky could be Zeppo?). In a past Halloween of the same school year, they were considering the Three Stooges. How long before they let Nicky trick-or-treat with them and be Abbott and Costello AND Laurel and Hardy? Byron would have to be Costello or Hardy since his character trait is eating.
Kristy mentions some of her extended family, and the descriptions fit with the ones she gave way back in Kristy's Big Day.
Mimi used to take Claudia and Janine to the library. I do that with my daughter, too. I hope she likes reading more than Claudia...
The Club (and clients):
The BSC still sits for Betsy Sobak. In case you've forgotten, her practical joke broke Claudia's leg.
Claudia lets us know that Kristy does understand BSc members missing a meeting if they're at a sitting job. How gracious of her.
SMS:
New teacher: Ms. Garcia teaches a short takes class.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
It's Thanksgiving for the second time. Halloween is also briefly mentioned, but seems to be the same one from the last book, as it's mostly past tense.
A couple things I would have included in the history bits: it wasn't just that only men could vote, it was only white male land-owners. The Pilgrims first settled in Denmark, but still didn't find the freedoms they wanted there. The illness that killed Squanto's tribe was widespread across the Americas, similar to the Bubonic Plague of the Middle Ages, and wiped out up to ninety percent of the native population, which is why the European settlers had so much space to settle.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
Claudia's short takes class is assigned to write and direct a play for the third-graders at Stoneybrook Elementary. They choose a Thanksgiving theme, and in doing the research, learn that they've been viewing the origins of the holiday through rose-colored glasses. They mention how life was actually pretty difficult for the Pilgrims, trying to eke out a living on a land totally alien to them, and how women were subservient to men. They also talk about how some native tribes today mark Thanksgiving as a solemn time of mourning rather than a celebration. Because of this, several parents and teachers protest the script as un-American (well, it wasn't the USA yet...) and demand it be changed to the "traditional" story. Claudia's class relents, but the playbills, publicity, and buttons they wear at the performance make it clear that this is not the original play. They also put on the original at SMS, complete with the original complainers picketing it.
But...as someone who had finished third grade a couple years before this book came out and who attended a teeny tiny private conservative Christian school for it...I have a hard time seeing this protest happening. We learned about the things that were "un-American" and it was a non-issue. Still, the book shows some good ideas for dealing with censorship.
Also, everyone in the BSC starts out with grandiose Thanksgiving plans involving relatives and trips, and all the plans fall through (worst is Mallory's family has to miss the Macy's parade again, just like the last Thanksgiving book when she had mono). So the BSC gets all their families together to celebrate and have a good time anyway. Even Dawn flies in for a surprise visit. Of course, Shannon's and Logan's families aren't part of it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: potato chips, pretzels, candy corn, chocolate
Stacey likes the Marx Brothers. Smart girl.
Logan likes pecan pie, a traditionally southern dish.
Their Families:
Claudia's family is all dressed in navy blue on the same day. Did they coordinate?
The Pike triplets are all going to dress as Groucho Marx, rather than two of them being Harpo and Chico (maybe Nicky could be Zeppo?). In a past Halloween of the same school year, they were considering the Three Stooges. How long before they let Nicky trick-or-treat with them and be Abbott and Costello AND Laurel and Hardy? Byron would have to be Costello or Hardy since his character trait is eating.
Kristy mentions some of her extended family, and the descriptions fit with the ones she gave way back in Kristy's Big Day.
Mimi used to take Claudia and Janine to the library. I do that with my daughter, too. I hope she likes reading more than Claudia...
The Club (and clients):
The BSC still sits for Betsy Sobak. In case you've forgotten, her practical joke broke Claudia's leg.
Claudia lets us know that Kristy does understand BSc members missing a meeting if they're at a sitting job. How gracious of her.
SMS:
New teacher: Ms. Garcia teaches a short takes class.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
It's Thanksgiving for the second time. Halloween is also briefly mentioned, but seems to be the same one from the last book, as it's mostly past tense.
A couple things I would have included in the history bits: it wasn't just that only men could vote, it was only white male land-owners. The Pilgrims first settled in Denmark, but still didn't find the freedoms they wanted there. The illness that killed Squanto's tribe was widespread across the Americas, similar to the Bubonic Plague of the Middle Ages, and wiped out up to ninety percent of the native population, which is why the European settlers had so much space to settle.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 2
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 54
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
5/19/12
Stacey and the Haunted Masquerade (M#22)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
Stacey joins the decorating committee for the latest SMS dance: the Mischief Night Masquerade (held the day before Halloween, called Mischief Night in some areas). But while she and the committee are working hard, strange things keep happening. Some are harmless pranks, like switching the contents of adjacent lockers, while other are destructive or downright scary. A heretofore unknown group calling themselves the Michief Knights claims responsibililty for the harmless stuff, but not the rest. What is going on?
Stacey and the BSC decide to investigate. It turns out that the reason there hasn't been a Masquerade in almost three decades is that at the last one there was a stampede of panicked students and a teacher died of a heart attack during it. Further investigation reveals that the teacher who's advising the committee was at that dance with a date that he was dared to take as a joke. Only she didn't know it was a joke. When she found out, the lights suddenly went out then the fire alarm went off, causing the panic. Despite the concern, SMS goes ahead with the Masquerade as planned. But who should come to the dance but the jilted date herself, by now filled with a crazy obsession about that night. Fortunately she's taken to a mental hospital without further incident. The next school day, the Mischief Knights are back to their old tricks. Is the new student Cary Retlin behind the group?
Subplot: the BSC clients are obsessed with the Ghostbusters movie.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Twizzlers
Okay, everyone knows Claudia can't spell and Claudia herself acknowledges it. So tell me, when she's creating artwork for whatever activity, why doesn't anyone write out the correct spelling on a scrap of paper for her? Then she could make it all artistic and it still have the right spelling.
Their Families:
Stacey narrates that it's impressive how Abby not only remembers all the names of the Pike kids but something specific about each one. But with the triplets, she asks Jordan how his piano lessons are going, and just says what's up to Adam and Byron. Because Byron's personality is that he's sensitive and Adam's personality is that his brothers are Jordan and Byron.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
Good continuity with teachers' jobs: Ms. Levine is still homeroom, and Mr. Fiske, Mrs. Simon, and Mrs. Hall are still English.
SMS's mascot is the Chargers. Horses, maybe? Cavalry?
Alan Gray shows a bit of maturity in this book. Just a bit, but it makes sense in retrospect if you've read the Friends Forever series (which I'll eventually get to for this blog).
New student: Cary Retlin (8th).
New teachers: Ms. Dwyer (art), Mr. Rothman (6th grade science). A substitute named Ms. Bryan also gets mentioned.
PSA Time:
If you're trying to keep a rodent out of somewhere even temporarily, cardboard won't help you. Rodents have crazy-strong jaws.
Misc:
This is the fifth Halloween Stacey and her friends have celebrated in her 8th grade year.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 53
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Ellen Miles
Synopsis:
Stacey joins the decorating committee for the latest SMS dance: the Mischief Night Masquerade (held the day before Halloween, called Mischief Night in some areas). But while she and the committee are working hard, strange things keep happening. Some are harmless pranks, like switching the contents of adjacent lockers, while other are destructive or downright scary. A heretofore unknown group calling themselves the Michief Knights claims responsibililty for the harmless stuff, but not the rest. What is going on?
Stacey and the BSC decide to investigate. It turns out that the reason there hasn't been a Masquerade in almost three decades is that at the last one there was a stampede of panicked students and a teacher died of a heart attack during it. Further investigation reveals that the teacher who's advising the committee was at that dance with a date that he was dared to take as a joke. Only she didn't know it was a joke. When she found out, the lights suddenly went out then the fire alarm went off, causing the panic. Despite the concern, SMS goes ahead with the Masquerade as planned. But who should come to the dance but the jilted date herself, by now filled with a crazy obsession about that night. Fortunately she's taken to a mental hospital without further incident. The next school day, the Mischief Knights are back to their old tricks. Is the new student Cary Retlin behind the group?
Subplot: the BSC clients are obsessed with the Ghostbusters movie.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Twizzlers
Okay, everyone knows Claudia can't spell and Claudia herself acknowledges it. So tell me, when she's creating artwork for whatever activity, why doesn't anyone write out the correct spelling on a scrap of paper for her? Then she could make it all artistic and it still have the right spelling.
Their Families:
Stacey narrates that it's impressive how Abby not only remembers all the names of the Pike kids but something specific about each one. But with the triplets, she asks Jordan how his piano lessons are going, and just says what's up to Adam and Byron. Because Byron's personality is that he's sensitive and Adam's personality is that his brothers are Jordan and Byron.
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
Good continuity with teachers' jobs: Ms. Levine is still homeroom, and Mr. Fiske, Mrs. Simon, and Mrs. Hall are still English.
SMS's mascot is the Chargers. Horses, maybe? Cavalry?
Alan Gray shows a bit of maturity in this book. Just a bit, but it makes sense in retrospect if you've read the Friends Forever series (which I'll eventually get to for this blog).
New student: Cary Retlin (8th).
New teachers: Ms. Dwyer (art), Mr. Rothman (6th grade science). A substitute named Ms. Bryan also gets mentioned.
PSA Time:
If you're trying to keep a rodent out of somewhere even temporarily, cardboard won't help you. Rodents have crazy-strong jaws.
Misc:
This is the fifth Halloween Stacey and her friends have celebrated in her 8th grade year.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 5 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 53
Students (other than the BSC): 177; 113 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
5/3/12
Welcome to the BSC, Abby (RS#90)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
This is Abby Stevenson's introductory book. She's just moved from Long Island to Stoneybrook, and is enjoying life so far. The plot centers around a funding problem with SMS, which will lead to cuts in the school's art and music programs. Since the only reason Abby attends SMS rather than Kelsey Middle School, whose district she lives in, is that her twin sister needs the more challenging orchestra of SMS, this could be a problem. Abby is spurred into action, organizing a fundraising fair. The whole town gets really into it, and it's a huge success.
Although it would seem Abby in integrating well, a particularly bad asthma attack concerns Kristy enough that she wonders if Abby should be sitting as much as she has. What if Abby has another bad attack during a job and can't get help? But Abby proves herself capable, and Kristy lets her worries drop.
There's also a very touching moment when Abby and Anna find a box of their late father's things while unpacking. They show their mom and bond over memories.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Dove chocolates, barbecue potato chips, and pretzels
Kristy and Mary Anne are both described as stubborn.
Mallory gets Abby's jokes better than the rest of the BSC. Perhaps because she's a writer?
Until this book, Shannon had never been in a food fight (Anna helped her out with that).
Their Families:
Anna Stevenson is more serious than Abby. Her passion is playing classical music, violin in particular. She has none of Abby's allergies or asthma, but needs corrective lenses like her twin. However, she prefers glasses to contacts. She ends up becoming good friends with Shannon.
Abby's mom is a widow, Abby's dad having been killed in a car crash four years before this book. She throws herself into her work as an editor. She commutes to New York every day for her job, about a two-hour trip on the train.
Abby and her family are Jewish, of eastern European descent.
The Club (and clients):
Abby is Dawn's official replacement as alternate officer.
SMS:
Two new SMS students: Abby and Anna Stevenson.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc: nothing stood out
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 176; 112 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
Ghostwriter? Yes, Nola Thacker
Synopsis:
This is Abby Stevenson's introductory book. She's just moved from Long Island to Stoneybrook, and is enjoying life so far. The plot centers around a funding problem with SMS, which will lead to cuts in the school's art and music programs. Since the only reason Abby attends SMS rather than Kelsey Middle School, whose district she lives in, is that her twin sister needs the more challenging orchestra of SMS, this could be a problem. Abby is spurred into action, organizing a fundraising fair. The whole town gets really into it, and it's a huge success.
Although it would seem Abby in integrating well, a particularly bad asthma attack concerns Kristy enough that she wonders if Abby should be sitting as much as she has. What if Abby has another bad attack during a job and can't get help? But Abby proves herself capable, and Kristy lets her worries drop.
There's also a very touching moment when Abby and Anna find a box of their late father's things while unpacking. They show their mom and bond over memories.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Dove chocolates, barbecue potato chips, and pretzels
Kristy and Mary Anne are both described as stubborn.
Mallory gets Abby's jokes better than the rest of the BSC. Perhaps because she's a writer?
Until this book, Shannon had never been in a food fight (Anna helped her out with that).
Their Families:
Anna Stevenson is more serious than Abby. Her passion is playing classical music, violin in particular. She has none of Abby's allergies or asthma, but needs corrective lenses like her twin. However, she prefers glasses to contacts. She ends up becoming good friends with Shannon.
Abby's mom is a widow, Abby's dad having been killed in a car crash four years before this book. She throws herself into her work as an editor. She commutes to New York every day for her job, about a two-hour trip on the train.
Abby and her family are Jewish, of eastern European descent.
The Club (and clients):
Abby is Dawn's official replacement as alternate officer.
SMS:
Two new SMS students: Abby and Anna Stevenson.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc: nothing stood out
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC has celebrated it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 176; 112 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 116
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0
4/26/12
Kristy and the Dirty Diapers (RS#89)
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
With Dawn permanently in California, the BSC is busier than ever. Kristy is spread thin between her responsibilities there, the upcoming school year, and her Krushers softball team. She's also trying to help out Mrs. Porter's granddaughter (Kristy's next-door neighbor, AKA Mordbidda Destiny), whose parents are divorcing. When a businessman approached Kristy with an offer to sponsor her team, she jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, his business is a diaper service, and he expects the team to change its name to the Diapers. The kids are less than thrilled. Furthermore, he tries to take over the team, interrupting practices and games with unhelpful and discouraging advice. It isn't long before Kristy and the Krushers decide they don't need his sponsorship.
Meanwhile, a new family moves in two doors down from Kristy: a (widowed) mother and her twin daughters, the Stevensons. Kristy gets along better with the quieter twin, Anna, at first. She and the other twin, Abby, bond over the Krushers, Abby even becoming the assistant coach. The rest of the BSC likes Anna and Abby too, and invites the twins to join. Surprisingly, Anna declines, citing her music lessons. But Abby readily accepts, and becomes the newest full-time member.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: mini-Snickers and Candy Corn in her closet, Milk Duds
I keep forgetting that Logan plays volleyball too. In Washington (where I live), volleyball is only offered for girls.
Shannon is "energetic."
Abby's an inch and a half taller than I am (well, Anna too). Five-foot-seven.
One of the many things Abby's allergic to is tomatoes. My mom is allergic to them only when raw, but Abby can't eat the cooked ones either.
Their Families:
Emily Michelle's Engligh is improving.
The Club (and clients):
Abby is the new alternate officer. Stacey initially voices concern about the possibility of her having an asthma attack on the job, which Kristy dismisses by asking what if Stacey has a diabetic reaction. This will be important next book.
Kristy makes sure to explain the BSC rules to Abby and Anna when she invites them to join. Must have learned her lesson after the fiasco with Jessi's friend.
SMS:
School's back in session, for the eighth time. Abby and Anna attend SMS rather than Kelsey Middle School, which is the one in their district, because only SMS has a large enough orchestra for Anna.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
There are cicadas out. Yuck.
Abby and Anna were named by a reader in a contest, but I don't know if we ever find out who won.
For some reason I'm making a million typos. Apologies if I didn't catch any before publishing this.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC celebrates it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 175; 111 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 114
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis
Synopsis:
With Dawn permanently in California, the BSC is busier than ever. Kristy is spread thin between her responsibilities there, the upcoming school year, and her Krushers softball team. She's also trying to help out Mrs. Porter's granddaughter (Kristy's next-door neighbor, AKA Mordbidda Destiny), whose parents are divorcing. When a businessman approached Kristy with an offer to sponsor her team, she jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, his business is a diaper service, and he expects the team to change its name to the Diapers. The kids are less than thrilled. Furthermore, he tries to take over the team, interrupting practices and games with unhelpful and discouraging advice. It isn't long before Kristy and the Krushers decide they don't need his sponsorship.
Meanwhile, a new family moves in two doors down from Kristy: a (widowed) mother and her twin daughters, the Stevensons. Kristy gets along better with the quieter twin, Anna, at first. She and the other twin, Abby, bond over the Krushers, Abby even becoming the assistant coach. The rest of the BSC likes Anna and Abby too, and invites the twins to join. Surprisingly, Anna declines, citing her music lessons. But Abby readily accepts, and becomes the newest full-time member.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: mini-Snickers and Candy Corn in her closet, Milk Duds
I keep forgetting that Logan plays volleyball too. In Washington (where I live), volleyball is only offered for girls.
Shannon is "energetic."
Abby's an inch and a half taller than I am (well, Anna too). Five-foot-seven.
One of the many things Abby's allergic to is tomatoes. My mom is allergic to them only when raw, but Abby can't eat the cooked ones either.
Their Families:
Emily Michelle's Engligh is improving.
The Club (and clients):
Abby is the new alternate officer. Stacey initially voices concern about the possibility of her having an asthma attack on the job, which Kristy dismisses by asking what if Stacey has a diabetic reaction. This will be important next book.
Kristy makes sure to explain the BSC rules to Abby and Anna when she invites them to join. Must have learned her lesson after the fiasco with Jessi's friend.
SMS:
School's back in session, for the eighth time. Abby and Anna attend SMS rather than Kelsey Middle School, which is the one in their district, because only SMS has a large enough orchestra for Anna.
PSA Time: nothing stood out.
Misc:
There are cicadas out. Yuck.
Abby and Anna were named by a reader in a contest, but I don't know if we ever find out who won.
For some reason I'm making a million typos. Apologies if I didn't catch any before publishing this.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 8
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC celebrates it--yet)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 175; 111 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 114
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
4/25/12
Portrait Collection: Dawn's Book
Original Publication Date: 1995
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jeanne Betancourt
Synopsis:
Although Dawn has moved back to California, she still gets assigned an autobiography. Her strongest memories include:
West Coast Beginnings: Dawn is born, gets a baby brother when she's three, and attends nursery school, where she builds block towers with her friend Ruthie. But soon her family moves to Palo City.
The New Girl on the Block: Dawn has fun playing with Jill and Maggie at school but has no friends in her neighborhood. Until a hippie family moves in, that is (and gets Dawn started with environmentalism). At first Dawn finds them incredibly bizarre and a little judgemental, but she gets to know them better, and they calm down a bit too. Dawn and Sunny end up best friends.
The Golden Anniversary: Dawn's parents fly her grandparents to San Francisco so all six can celebrate Granny and Pop-pop's fiftieth wedding anniversary (I'd find it odd that my kid was planning my anniversary, but whatever). Because her grandparents don't seem to enjoy the same things or want to spend as much time together as her own parents, Dawn surmises that they don't love each other. But as the trip continues, she sees that they are truly in love.
Fire!: In the midst of her parents' marriage troubles, Dawn deals with a bit of a fire phobia. She gets pretty obsessed thinking about fires and the damage they can cause. She worries that if a fire happens, she won't know what to do, and so plan and plans and plans. Then one day at a sitting job, there is a fire--for real. Dawn is able to stay level-headed and gets her charges (Clover and Daffodil) safely out, and call 911. The fire is confined to the kitchen, fortunately. Dawn receives a medal from the mayor, and, having seen how things turned out, stops panicking about fire. But there's another reason fire no longer weighs so heavily on her mind: her parents divorce soon after.
A New Life on the East Coast: Dawn relates some backstory about moving to Connecticut and joing the BSC. Then she talks about a client for whom she sat twice, and screwed up big time. She was sifting through some papers and saw that the daughter was going to have to be held back in school, and mentioned it to her. But her parents hadn't told her yet, and were going to wait until summer was ending so she wouldn't worry. They never call the BSC again, but in the summer rush, no one notices and Dawn has never told anyone until now.
Dawn ends on that note. She gets an A- for content and a B for presentation. The note her teacher writes doesn't mention that she did anything wrong, so her grade's a little confusing to me, but Dawn's happy with it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Jill Henderson reminds Dawn of Mary Anne. Dawn soon outgrows Jill, and also somewhat outgrows Mary Anne.
Dawn was born 8 days after her due date. I'd cite this as evidence of her being mean, but I was 15 days late myself (sorry, Mom).
Their Families:
Dawn and Carol have close enough shoe sizes that they can share rollerblades. I think that was mentioned before, even.
There's a picture of Dawn with her parents and newborn Jeff. NO WAY her mom would look that thin right after having a baby. Even if you only gain the baby weight, you come home from the hospital looking seven months pregnant because you just had a human being inside you. Takes a bit for your body to get back to how it was (if it ever does. Sorry again, Mom?).
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
There's some continuity weirdness here. Stacey and Claudia wrote their autobiographies "last" school year, and Dawn says that at her going-away party, the BSC was saying she decided to move to avoid the assignment. Dawn moved at the end of summer vacation, and her California school started one week before SMS. She was assigned the autobiography on the first day of school. I guess SMS let it be known about the assignment before school started back up?
PSA Time:
As a child, I was always told to not let callers know that there are no adults home. For example, if I were home alone with my younger brother and someone called asking for my mom or dad, I was supposed to say, "She's not available right. Can I take a message?" rather than, "She's not home right now." That way random callers don't know that the oldest person home is only 12.
Misc:
Interesting how few of the girls' most vivid memories from Super Special #11 make it in their autobiographies.
To this day, I can't figure out how to do Morse code with wooden blocks. What's the difference between a dot and a dash when banging blocks together?
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 7
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC celebrates it)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 175; 111 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 112
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jeanne Betancourt
Synopsis:
Although Dawn has moved back to California, she still gets assigned an autobiography. Her strongest memories include:
West Coast Beginnings: Dawn is born, gets a baby brother when she's three, and attends nursery school, where she builds block towers with her friend Ruthie. But soon her family moves to Palo City.
The New Girl on the Block: Dawn has fun playing with Jill and Maggie at school but has no friends in her neighborhood. Until a hippie family moves in, that is (and gets Dawn started with environmentalism). At first Dawn finds them incredibly bizarre and a little judgemental, but she gets to know them better, and they calm down a bit too. Dawn and Sunny end up best friends.
The Golden Anniversary: Dawn's parents fly her grandparents to San Francisco so all six can celebrate Granny and Pop-pop's fiftieth wedding anniversary (I'd find it odd that my kid was planning my anniversary, but whatever). Because her grandparents don't seem to enjoy the same things or want to spend as much time together as her own parents, Dawn surmises that they don't love each other. But as the trip continues, she sees that they are truly in love.
Fire!: In the midst of her parents' marriage troubles, Dawn deals with a bit of a fire phobia. She gets pretty obsessed thinking about fires and the damage they can cause. She worries that if a fire happens, she won't know what to do, and so plan and plans and plans. Then one day at a sitting job, there is a fire--for real. Dawn is able to stay level-headed and gets her charges (Clover and Daffodil) safely out, and call 911. The fire is confined to the kitchen, fortunately. Dawn receives a medal from the mayor, and, having seen how things turned out, stops panicking about fire. But there's another reason fire no longer weighs so heavily on her mind: her parents divorce soon after.
A New Life on the East Coast: Dawn relates some backstory about moving to Connecticut and joing the BSC. Then she talks about a client for whom she sat twice, and screwed up big time. She was sifting through some papers and saw that the daughter was going to have to be held back in school, and mentioned it to her. But her parents hadn't told her yet, and were going to wait until summer was ending so she wouldn't worry. They never call the BSC again, but in the summer rush, no one notices and Dawn has never told anyone until now.
Dawn ends on that note. She gets an A- for content and a B for presentation. The note her teacher writes doesn't mention that she did anything wrong, so her grade's a little confusing to me, but Dawn's happy with it.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none mentioned
Jill Henderson reminds Dawn of Mary Anne. Dawn soon outgrows Jill, and also somewhat outgrows Mary Anne.
Dawn was born 8 days after her due date. I'd cite this as evidence of her being mean, but I was 15 days late myself (sorry, Mom).
Their Families:
Dawn and Carol have close enough shoe sizes that they can share rollerblades. I think that was mentioned before, even.
There's a picture of Dawn with her parents and newborn Jeff. NO WAY her mom would look that thin right after having a baby. Even if you only gain the baby weight, you come home from the hospital looking seven months pregnant because you just had a human being inside you. Takes a bit for your body to get back to how it was (if it ever does. Sorry again, Mom?).
The Club (and clients): nothing new.
SMS:
There's some continuity weirdness here. Stacey and Claudia wrote their autobiographies "last" school year, and Dawn says that at her going-away party, the BSC was saying she decided to move to avoid the assignment. Dawn moved at the end of summer vacation, and her California school started one week before SMS. She was assigned the autobiography on the first day of school. I guess SMS let it be known about the assignment before school started back up?
PSA Time:
As a child, I was always told to not let callers know that there are no adults home. For example, if I were home alone with my younger brother and someone called asking for my mom or dad, I was supposed to say, "She's not available right. Can I take a message?" rather than, "She's not home right now." That way random callers don't know that the oldest person home is only 12.
Misc:
Interesting how few of the girls' most vivid memories from Super Special #11 make it in their autobiographies.
To this day, I can't figure out how to do Morse code with wooden blocks. What's the difference between a dot and a dash when banging blocks together?
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 7
Halloweens in 8th grade: 4 (plus one in seventh)
Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 1
Christmases in 8th grade: 1 (Hanukkah is also mentioned, but no one in the BSC celebrates it)
Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 2
Summers after 8th grade: 8
BSC Fights: 10
SMS Staff and Faculty: 48
Students (other than the BSC): 175; 111 8th graders, 6 7th graders, 42 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.
Clients: 33 families
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 112
Crushes:
Stacey-11
Claudia-9
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
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