Mary Anne to the Rescue (RS#109)

Original Publication Date: 1997

Ghostwriter? Yes, Peter Lerangis

Synopsis:

While waiting at the airport for Dawn and Jeff's plane to land, Sharon saves a man's life by performing the Heimlich. Mary Anne is disturbed by the incident: she almost saw a man die, and she did absolutely nothing. It spurs the BSC to take a first aid class. Mary Anne is still unsure how she'll react in a real emergency, though. To further stress her, Logan's dad is pushing for Logan to attend a boarding school in the fall.

Then a child starts to drown during a sitting job (he flails, which isn't realistic, by the way; drowning victims all too often go unnoticed because people expect flailing). Mary Anne switches to autopilot and rescues him. This gives her a needed boost of confidence, which even inspires her to get Logan to try talking to his parents about boarding school. They agree that he's well-rounded enough in Stoneybrook and Logan can stay.


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Yodels and potato chips under her bed, Skors, Hostess cupcakes (with Mary Anne's name written in Alpha-Bits cereal to celebrate her quick thinking; very thoughtful of Claudia), yeastless seven-grain molasses bread and organic mint tabouli (for Dawn)

This is the second book of late to give Mary Anne pierced ears. Odd that such an event would have taken place "off stage" given how strongly she didn't want them pierced earlier.

A bit of insight into how Claudia can afford her vast wardrobe: most of her outfits come from flea markets and thrift stores.

Another mention of Stacey liking black because it sets off her blonde hair.

Abby has joined a soccer team comprised of Special Olympics athletes and neuro-typical athletes (is that the right term?). This is the bulk of the plot in #110.

Shannon's extra curricular activities extend into summer.

Dawn pushes Mary Anne into something she feels too shy for again (being a gory victim in the staged accident for an EMT class). Guess she didn't learn her lesson from Here Come the Bridesmaids.

I love how Logan doesn't take any of Dawn's pretentiousness about eating habits.


Their Families:

At one point, the Kishis had a star chart to record the girls' excellent test scores (Claudia never made it on the board before they abandoned it). They use yellow for Janine and pink for Claudia. While I don't know if I'll ever have a star chart, I do color-code certain things for my daughters, pink for the older and yellow for the will-be-born-in-about-four-months. For example, I have a little folder with medical and emergency contact information for each, because I plan ahead, and one is pink and one is yellow.


The Club (and clients): nothing new.


SMS: summer break.


PSA Time:

It's a good idea for ANYONE who cares for children to take a first aid class, or at least a CPR class.

Possibly it wasn't the case when this book was published, but in answer to a question asked in the first aid class, yes, they do make "lip cootie protectors" for performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

People make way to big a deal about poinsettias being poisonous. They are, don't get me wrong, but you'd have to eat a LOT to get sick and they taste so bitter that few people or animals will attempt that. Still a good idea to keep them out of reach of small children and the like, but potential allergies aside, one bite won't do much.

No, when you are in a situation where you need to perform CPR, you don't just yell randomly for help. You point to individual bystanders and give them jobs. "You! Call 9-1-1! You! Wait for the ambulance by the front door so you can tell them where we are!" People often freeze in emergencies and just wait around for someone else to fix it.


Misc:

This copy of the book used to belong to a Veronica M.

I can't remember for sure...before the Internet was wide-spread, you could call the airport or airline to see if a flight was on time, right? Why wouldn't Richard and Sharon have done that with Dawn and Jeff's flight? Especially Richard. ESPECIALLY since Logan suggests he and Mary Anne can keep in touch via email if he goes to boarding school.

How does the BSC take a first aid class and NOT learn the Heimlich manuever is named for a Mr. Heimlich? They think it's an organ in the torso. Probably near the "divestive" system.

My fifth grade teacher told us a story about her son being involved in a fake accident scene for a CPR class. He was late getting home, and covered in fake blood and bruises. Took his mom just a moment to remember where he'd been...


The numbers:

Starting 8th grade: 9

Halloweens in 8th grade: 6 (plus one in seventh)

Thanksgivings in 8th grade: 3

Winter holidays in 8th grade (that BSC members celebrate, not just reference): Christmas-3, Hanukkah-1, Kwanzaa-2

Valentine's Days in 8th grade: 3

Summers after 8th grade: 10

BSC Fights: 11

SMS Staff and Faculty: 67

Students (other than the BSC): 207: 118 8th graders (not including Amelia Freeman, who is deceased), 25 7th graders, 47 6th graders, 15 unspecified. Baby-sitters' Winter Vacation tells us that SMS has about 380 students.

Clients: 37 families

Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 128

Crushes:
Stacey-12
Claudia-10
Dawn-5
Jessi-3
Mallory-2
Mary Anne-2
Kristy-1
Abby-0