Original Publication Date: 1990
Ghostwriter? No, and Ann wrote the one just before this, too
Synopsis:
We open with the resolution of last book's cliffhanger: Mary Anne catches Sharon's bouquet. Dawn tries not to be upset by it, focusing instead on the excitement of having a sister. Their parents spend the night at a hotel while the girls spend one last night at the Spiers' house. The next day, they all move in to the Schafers'.
Things are tense. Richard is a neat freak and Sharon does things like putting shoes in the vegetable crisper; the Schafers are vegetarian and the Spiers are omnivores. While the parents are usually painfully polite about things, Dawn and Mary Anne have several spats in their shared--and cramped--bedroom. We get to see lots of Mary Anne cattiness, like her boasting about having a boyfriend and implying that Dawn's fat. Things get so bad that Dawn realizes her idea of their sharing a room was a bad one. But how to get Mary Anne out of Dawn's room and into the guest room? A reasonable discussion perhaps?
Don't be silly. Use the secret passage to terrify Mary Anne into leaving! With her brother's help, Dawn comes up with an elaborate plan and succeeds in making Mary Anne believe the ghost of the secret passage is out to get her. Mary Anne moves into the guest room, the family decides to be more open with each other and not try to change each other's habits, and life goes much more smoothly.
And the moment you've all been waiting for. From the last entry: ...Dawn surprises Mary Anne with a silver hair clip, as a "Now We're Sisters" present. I repeat, DAWN gives it to MARY ANNE. Stay tuned for what may be the most famous continuity fail...
And in this book, Dawn is looking for extra sitting jobs to earn money to buy Mary Anne a "Now We're Sisters" present because MARY ANNE surprised DAWN with one at the wedding. But in a bit of continuity win, Dawn gives Mary Anne a cat pin that she knew she'd like. The pin was one of Mary Anne's ideas for a birthday present for Sharon.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: pretzels in her closet, Tootsie rolls and pretzel sticks in her desk
I think this is the first time that Claudia is described as actively not liking sports, rather than just not being on a team. Mary Anne hates sports, too, but I think that's been mentioned.
Their Families:
When Mary Anne comments that she and Dawn are stepsisters, Dawn corrects her "Just sisters." My mom has several varieties of siblings (full, step, half; and some of them adopted) but she's always just called them her brothers and sisters.
Dawn's parents were married 16 years ago, which is about when Stacey's parents got married. Must have been a bad year.
Dawn's mom doesn't drink coffee.
Dawn's dad is dating Carol in this book.
The Club:
Mary Anne recalls the Phantom Phone caller storyline from RS#2, including the burglar alarms she set at the Thomas house. Dawn recounts the Mother's Day surprise from RS#24.
"Mary Anne has not made a single scheduling mistake." Well, she did forget to write down a job in RS#27 until Dawn reminded her to. Dawn also gives the wrong reason for Mary Anne's being the secretary, but since Dawn wasn't in Stoneybrook when the BSC first formed I'll let it pass.
Dawn also says Kristy has never missed a meeting, but she missed a few in the first four books and another when Louie died.
Mallory leaves a meeting sick, which is a first for any BSC member. She turns out to have chicken pox for the second time. This is the book in which every Pike has something: the triplets share a case of viral pneumonia, Nicky breaks three fingers, Vanessa ends up with a badly sprained ankle and some abrasions, Claire and Margo get bronchitis, Mrs. Pike hurts her knee and is on crutches, and Mr. Pike burns his hand badly. Mallory, by the way, ends up with chicken pox scars in "unmentionable places."
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
Dawn seems to think that time zones are a miracle of modern science (that's the term she uses when describing the time difference between the East and West coasts). Someone needs to explain to her how Earth revolves and rotates around the sun. Hint: it's not that modern.
Misc:
No one thinks to keep Tigger out of the way of the movers. Idiots. Although, it taught me to be sure the cat was safely stowed in a bathroom with a litter box, water, and food when I moved.
I find it bizarre that Dawn thinks dividers for silverware drawers (Richard's idea) are weird. What did they do before, just throw all the forks, knives, and spoons in a drawer haphazardly? She also criticizes Richard for going over their phone bill. But that makes perfect sense: what if they were overcharged?
Mom, if you read the bit about chicken pox scars and start to feel bad about the almost-invisible one on my chin again, don't. I like it.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 37 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, 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)
7/26/10
Mary Anne and the Great Romance (RS#30)
Original Publication Date: 1990
Ghostwriter? Nope, all Ann
Synopsis:
Mary Anne's dad suggests to her and Dawn that they plan a small surprise birthday for Dawn's mom. While at dinner, he proposes by having an engagement ring slipped over a candle on the birthday cake. Mary Anne and Dawn are thrilled: they'll be stepsisters!
Their parents plan a small wedding, but the girls talk them into a slightly larger one: a brief ceremony at a church with a few guests (including, of course, the BSC) then a dinner reception. There are a few hiccups along the way; for example, Mary Anne is the last to find out that she and her dad will move to the Schafers' house. She's worried that Dawn's mom won't get along with Tigger since she doesn't like cats, and not thrilled about leaving the only home she's ever known, but things work out. (Of course, had their parents discussed things with their children a little more, things would have been a little smoother)
By the time the wedding rolls around, most things are smoothed out. Mary Anne's still concerned about combining a vegetarian household with an omnivore one, and a little worried about the Tigger issue, but mostly it's a happy day. Since Mary Anne and Dawn have learned nothing from the book's subplot about the Arnold twins fighting because they're forced to share a room, they plan for Mary Anne to move into Dawn's room rather than the Schafer's guest room.
As many of you know, this book ends with a cliffhanger, with Dawn's mom's bouquet being thrown right toward the two girls. But just before that, Dawn surprises Mary Anne with a silver hair clip, as a "Now We're Sisters" present. I repeat, DAWN gives it to MARY ANNE. Stay tuned for what may be the most famous continuity fail.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: M&Ms under her bed, crackers in her desk
Mary Anne gives a recap of who has pierced ears and how many holes they have, and the counts all match what they were in Mallory and the Trouble with Twins. She and Kristy still plan to never pierce their ears.
Mary Anne also confirms that, due to her diabetes, Stacey has to test her urine. Stacey mentioned that Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation, but why would she tell her friends? Not that she should be ashamed of her diabetes, but what kind of conversation were they having that that would come up?
Mallory and Jessi are still making gum-wrapper chains.
These last few books have been really good about letting us know that Jessi is black without being awkward about it, none of this "But we'd still be friends with her if she were purple!" weirdness.
Claudia's leg still aches before rain.
Stacey's diabetes has been a little harder to control lately.
Mary Anne recently grew a few inches, but Dawn's still taller.
This will be important to know for the next book: sharing a room was Dawn's idea and she pushed Mary Anne into accepting it.
Their Families:
Dawn's mom doesn't like having big surprises thrust upon her (like a surprise birthday party) or waiters singing to her. Smart lady.
Charlie buys the Rust Bucket (his "new" car).
Mary Anne's dad puts off telling her about their impending move to the Schafers' because he knows it will be hard for her to hear. She must have inherited that trait from him.
Mary Anne thinks it's tacky that her Dad and Sharon invited (a small group of) people to the wedding over the phone rather than sending out mailed invitations. I'm with her on this, but at least they didn't do on Facebook.
Jeff still collects free things on the airplane ride (salt and pepper packets, that sort of thing). He is also noticeably awkward around his step-father-to-be, but tries to offer suggestions of what they can do by mentioning that he enjoys going to baseball games. Mary Anne's dad should probably have noted that and made it a point to find a sports game to go to on the family trip they take in the next book.
How awkward must this be for Jeff? He barely knows Mary Anne's dad at all.
The Club:
So, the girls are supposed to read the BSC notebook, right? Meaning they all read about the "Superbrat" back when Jessi was sitting for Derek Masters? Then why do none of them suspect that Marilyn Arnold's friend Gozzie Kunka is fake?
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
Dice is plural; die is singular (meaning, for the game pieces).
Misc:
Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad have a friend named Stu, like the McGills do. But I think it's a different Stu. This must be in vein with so many dads in the series being named John and working as attorneys; they also have friends named Stu.
When Mary Anne notices the Pike triplets laughing at scantily-clad angel in the church's stained glass window, she thinks she should tell Mallory not to let them into any museums until they're 20. I remember being at a museum with my younger brother when he was about 8...and eye-level with the statues' waists. When we saw the statue of Cupid and Psyche, he remarked, "So, Cupid's a boy, then."
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, 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)
Ghostwriter? Nope, all Ann
Synopsis:
Mary Anne's dad suggests to her and Dawn that they plan a small surprise birthday for Dawn's mom. While at dinner, he proposes by having an engagement ring slipped over a candle on the birthday cake. Mary Anne and Dawn are thrilled: they'll be stepsisters!
Their parents plan a small wedding, but the girls talk them into a slightly larger one: a brief ceremony at a church with a few guests (including, of course, the BSC) then a dinner reception. There are a few hiccups along the way; for example, Mary Anne is the last to find out that she and her dad will move to the Schafers' house. She's worried that Dawn's mom won't get along with Tigger since she doesn't like cats, and not thrilled about leaving the only home she's ever known, but things work out. (Of course, had their parents discussed things with their children a little more, things would have been a little smoother)
By the time the wedding rolls around, most things are smoothed out. Mary Anne's still concerned about combining a vegetarian household with an omnivore one, and a little worried about the Tigger issue, but mostly it's a happy day. Since Mary Anne and Dawn have learned nothing from the book's subplot about the Arnold twins fighting because they're forced to share a room, they plan for Mary Anne to move into Dawn's room rather than the Schafer's guest room.
As many of you know, this book ends with a cliffhanger, with Dawn's mom's bouquet being thrown right toward the two girls. But just before that, Dawn surprises Mary Anne with a silver hair clip, as a "Now We're Sisters" present. I repeat, DAWN gives it to MARY ANNE. Stay tuned for what may be the most famous continuity fail.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: M&Ms under her bed, crackers in her desk
Mary Anne gives a recap of who has pierced ears and how many holes they have, and the counts all match what they were in Mallory and the Trouble with Twins. She and Kristy still plan to never pierce their ears.
Mary Anne also confirms that, due to her diabetes, Stacey has to test her urine. Stacey mentioned that Baby-sitters' Summer Vacation, but why would she tell her friends? Not that she should be ashamed of her diabetes, but what kind of conversation were they having that that would come up?
Mallory and Jessi are still making gum-wrapper chains.
These last few books have been really good about letting us know that Jessi is black without being awkward about it, none of this "But we'd still be friends with her if she were purple!" weirdness.
Claudia's leg still aches before rain.
Stacey's diabetes has been a little harder to control lately.
Mary Anne recently grew a few inches, but Dawn's still taller.
This will be important to know for the next book: sharing a room was Dawn's idea and she pushed Mary Anne into accepting it.
Their Families:
Dawn's mom doesn't like having big surprises thrust upon her (like a surprise birthday party) or waiters singing to her. Smart lady.
Charlie buys the Rust Bucket (his "new" car).
Mary Anne's dad puts off telling her about their impending move to the Schafers' because he knows it will be hard for her to hear. She must have inherited that trait from him.
Mary Anne thinks it's tacky that her Dad and Sharon invited (a small group of) people to the wedding over the phone rather than sending out mailed invitations. I'm with her on this, but at least they didn't do on Facebook.
Jeff still collects free things on the airplane ride (salt and pepper packets, that sort of thing). He is also noticeably awkward around his step-father-to-be, but tries to offer suggestions of what they can do by mentioning that he enjoys going to baseball games. Mary Anne's dad should probably have noted that and made it a point to find a sports game to go to on the family trip they take in the next book.
How awkward must this be for Jeff? He barely knows Mary Anne's dad at all.
The Club:
So, the girls are supposed to read the BSC notebook, right? Meaning they all read about the "Superbrat" back when Jessi was sitting for Derek Masters? Then why do none of them suspect that Marilyn Arnold's friend Gozzie Kunka is fake?
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
Dice is plural; die is singular (meaning, for the game pieces).
Misc:
Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad have a friend named Stu, like the McGills do. But I think it's a different Stu. This must be in vein with so many dads in the series being named John and working as attorneys; they also have friends named Stu.
When Mary Anne notices the Pike triplets laughing at scantily-clad angel in the church's stained glass window, she thinks she should tell Mallory not to let them into any museums until they're 20. I remember being at a museum with my younger brother when he was about 8...and eye-level with the statues' waists. When we saw the statue of Cupid and Psyche, he remarked, "So, Cupid's a boy, then."
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, 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)
7/19/10
Baby-sitter's Winter Vacation (SS#3)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
As part of the long-standing SMS tradition of long breaks and extravagant school outings, the entire school is going to spend a week at Leicester Lodge in Vermont. It's a mandatory trip, but some students are excused...most notably Logan, whose family had already planned a trip to Aruba. (He calls Mary Anne long distance during the week. Aww.)
Other schools are attending the lodge for the week, including sixteen underprivileged elementary students from Conway Cove in Maine. On the way to the lodge, their bus crashes in the snow. The bus driver ends up in the hospital. Their two teachers can stay with them, but have a broken arm and some cracked ribs between them. The students nearly have to head back home until the BSC steps in to help watch them for the week.
Mary Anne pines for Logan, naturally. She's insecure and worries he'll find a cute Aruba girl. She has also volunteered to be the trip historian, and winds up investigating a legend of a ghost at the lodge. She also finds out that her seventh-grade gym teacher didn't hate her, but admired her for trying so hard.
Kristy is captain of one team for the Winter War, and pushes everyone to participate. She talks several inexperienced kids into cross country skiing (the fifth event, best three out five wins, the teams are tied two-two). One newcomer breaks his ankle and Kristy feels awful about it, but she recovers by the end of the book (the boy with the broken ankle ends up okay, too).
Claudia is on the opposite team. She competes in several events and also judges one (a snow sculpture contest). Of course, Kristy's team calls foul when Claudia's team wins. I don't understand why the judges didn't leave during the sculpting and come back when it was all finished to decide on winners without the sculptors anywhere around them. Then it would have been easy to be fair. She also thinks she has a thing with her French ski instructor, Guy, but finds out he's married and has a family.
Stacey resolves to enter every event in the Winter War that she can (she's on Kristy's team). She also falls in "luv" with Pierre D'Amboise, visiting the lodge from upstate Vermont.
Dawn (on Kristy's team) also tries to enter several events, but has some clumsy moments that build on each other, which sounds like no fun at all. She looks to Mary Anne for some sympathy, but she's too busy missing Logan.
Mallory spies around the lodge, like she did in the first Super Special. She has a crazy-overactive imagination. She also worries about the dance that will be at the end of the week. What will she do about THE BOYS? Of course, she ends enjoying herself, and a classmate even asks her to dance.
Jessi organizes the SMS Talent Show. She also worries about getting hurt and ruining her chances at a ballet career and overreacts to the way an injured Conway Cove student lashes out at her, assuming she's racist. I can see how she would be sensitive to that, though. She and Mallory are on Claudia's team, which wins the Winter War.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: nothing, since they're away (there's also no real "Chapter Two" in this book)
Stacey says she's been dealing with her diabetes for "several" years even though she was just diagnosed in sixth grade. I bet it feels like several years because by this point, she's already started eighth grade twice.
Dawn compares the lodge to the hotel in The Shining, which makes sense because she's into scary stories. But the way she phrases it: "Remember the Overlook Hotel, where all the scary stuff happened?" Dawn, remember the Overlook Hotel, where almost the ENTIRE PLOT happened?
It's fitting that Stacey would have bad memories of Camp Mohawk, given her experience there.
Stacey finds the idea of being snowed in exciting, because she never saw much snow in New York City. I'm kinda with her on this; we don't have dependable snow in the Seattle area and I always get excited when we have some. And in case you're wondering, yes, I had fun when we got the ten inches in 2008.
Mallory puts her journal under her bunk mattress while at the lodge, just like at home.
Mary Anne can't stand adults missing teeth. She is "a firm believer in dentures."
Claudia still exchanges letters with Will Yamakawa from summer camp. They also talk on the phone.
Their Families:
Stacey's parents are still "in the middle of a divorce" which makes sense because those can take a while.
There's foreshadowing to Dawn and Mary Anne's becoming stepsisters.
The Club: Nothing new
SMS:
SMS students attend the Winter Carnival for the cost of a donation to the fund. I wonder how high a donation the school requires. Even though Mary Anne says the owners of the lodge cover the remaining amount, they can't afford to cover THAT much.
I hope the SMS buses have the kind of snow chains that drop down with the push of a button. I have never had to drive a bus in the snow (came close once), but it was a relief to know the chains would be easy to access. Along similar lines, it sounds like the Conway Cove bus that crashed followed protocol about setting up flares. Good job remembering your CDL manual!
Staff: Ms. Halliday (7th gym)
Students: Justin Price (sixth grade), Alvin Hopper (8th grade), Shawn Benedict, Jay Marsden, Lindsay McManus, Ethel Tines, and Miranda Elliot (grade not mentioned)
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
This book belonged to Sara Kuehl.
One night, a teacher tells a scary story the ends with the reveal that a woman's guard dog was choking on the would-be robbers fingers. I had a computer teacher in elementary who was missing a few knuckles of one finger, because he was messing around when his sister was chopping wood...and their dog ate the part that got cut off.
I gripe about misusing "us" as the subject of the sentence, so I'll take a moment here to be very, very happy that Mary Anne knows to write "if Logan were going." Because he's not, using "were" is appropriate. For example, I wish I were taller is correct over I wish I was taller, because I'm not taller. (But a few chapters later she uses "effect" instead of "affect")
Mary Anne describes the sky as "the color of mercury" which confused me, because I thought of Mercury the planet rather than mercury the element.
On the way to the lodge, the SMS boys sing (among other things) John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Once, we drove a friend back from Cle Elum to Seattle, and he sang that song at the top of his lungs.
Whoa, anachronism. The fifty-yard dash? Middle school uses meters to measure running races. That's also about the oldest age you'd have people competing in such a short distance, although indoor track and field has a sixty-meter dash.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, 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)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
As part of the long-standing SMS tradition of long breaks and extravagant school outings, the entire school is going to spend a week at Leicester Lodge in Vermont. It's a mandatory trip, but some students are excused...most notably Logan, whose family had already planned a trip to Aruba. (He calls Mary Anne long distance during the week. Aww.)
Other schools are attending the lodge for the week, including sixteen underprivileged elementary students from Conway Cove in Maine. On the way to the lodge, their bus crashes in the snow. The bus driver ends up in the hospital. Their two teachers can stay with them, but have a broken arm and some cracked ribs between them. The students nearly have to head back home until the BSC steps in to help watch them for the week.
Mary Anne pines for Logan, naturally. She's insecure and worries he'll find a cute Aruba girl. She has also volunteered to be the trip historian, and winds up investigating a legend of a ghost at the lodge. She also finds out that her seventh-grade gym teacher didn't hate her, but admired her for trying so hard.
Kristy is captain of one team for the Winter War, and pushes everyone to participate. She talks several inexperienced kids into cross country skiing (the fifth event, best three out five wins, the teams are tied two-two). One newcomer breaks his ankle and Kristy feels awful about it, but she recovers by the end of the book (the boy with the broken ankle ends up okay, too).
Claudia is on the opposite team. She competes in several events and also judges one (a snow sculpture contest). Of course, Kristy's team calls foul when Claudia's team wins. I don't understand why the judges didn't leave during the sculpting and come back when it was all finished to decide on winners without the sculptors anywhere around them. Then it would have been easy to be fair. She also thinks she has a thing with her French ski instructor, Guy, but finds out he's married and has a family.
Stacey resolves to enter every event in the Winter War that she can (she's on Kristy's team). She also falls in "luv" with Pierre D'Amboise, visiting the lodge from upstate Vermont.
Dawn (on Kristy's team) also tries to enter several events, but has some clumsy moments that build on each other, which sounds like no fun at all. She looks to Mary Anne for some sympathy, but she's too busy missing Logan.
Mallory spies around the lodge, like she did in the first Super Special. She has a crazy-overactive imagination. She also worries about the dance that will be at the end of the week. What will she do about THE BOYS? Of course, she ends enjoying herself, and a classmate even asks her to dance.
Jessi organizes the SMS Talent Show. She also worries about getting hurt and ruining her chances at a ballet career and overreacts to the way an injured Conway Cove student lashes out at her, assuming she's racist. I can see how she would be sensitive to that, though. She and Mallory are on Claudia's team, which wins the Winter War.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: nothing, since they're away (there's also no real "Chapter Two" in this book)
Stacey says she's been dealing with her diabetes for "several" years even though she was just diagnosed in sixth grade. I bet it feels like several years because by this point, she's already started eighth grade twice.
Dawn compares the lodge to the hotel in The Shining, which makes sense because she's into scary stories. But the way she phrases it: "Remember the Overlook Hotel, where all the scary stuff happened?" Dawn, remember the Overlook Hotel, where almost the ENTIRE PLOT happened?
It's fitting that Stacey would have bad memories of Camp Mohawk, given her experience there.
Stacey finds the idea of being snowed in exciting, because she never saw much snow in New York City. I'm kinda with her on this; we don't have dependable snow in the Seattle area and I always get excited when we have some. And in case you're wondering, yes, I had fun when we got the ten inches in 2008.
Mallory puts her journal under her bunk mattress while at the lodge, just like at home.
Mary Anne can't stand adults missing teeth. She is "a firm believer in dentures."
Claudia still exchanges letters with Will Yamakawa from summer camp. They also talk on the phone.
Their Families:
Stacey's parents are still "in the middle of a divorce" which makes sense because those can take a while.
There's foreshadowing to Dawn and Mary Anne's becoming stepsisters.
The Club: Nothing new
SMS:
SMS students attend the Winter Carnival for the cost of a donation to the fund. I wonder how high a donation the school requires. Even though Mary Anne says the owners of the lodge cover the remaining amount, they can't afford to cover THAT much.
I hope the SMS buses have the kind of snow chains that drop down with the push of a button. I have never had to drive a bus in the snow (came close once), but it was a relief to know the chains would be easy to access. Along similar lines, it sounds like the Conway Cove bus that crashed followed protocol about setting up flares. Good job remembering your CDL manual!
Staff: Ms. Halliday (7th gym)
Students: Justin Price (sixth grade), Alvin Hopper (8th grade), Shawn Benedict, Jay Marsden, Lindsay McManus, Ethel Tines, and Miranda Elliot (grade not mentioned)
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
This book belonged to Sara Kuehl.
One night, a teacher tells a scary story the ends with the reveal that a woman's guard dog was choking on the would-be robbers fingers. I had a computer teacher in elementary who was missing a few knuckles of one finger, because he was messing around when his sister was chopping wood...and their dog ate the part that got cut off.
I gripe about misusing "us" as the subject of the sentence, so I'll take a moment here to be very, very happy that Mary Anne knows to write "if Logan were going." Because he's not, using "were" is appropriate. For example, I wish I were taller is correct over I wish I was taller, because I'm not taller. (But a few chapters later she uses "effect" instead of "affect")
Mary Anne describes the sky as "the color of mercury" which confused me, because I thought of Mercury the planet rather than mercury the element.
On the way to the lodge, the SMS boys sing (among other things) John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. Once, we drove a friend back from Cle Elum to Seattle, and he sang that song at the top of his lungs.
Whoa, anachronism. The fifty-yard dash? Middle school uses meters to measure running races. That's also about the oldest age you'd have people competing in such a short distance, although indoor track and field has a sixty-meter dash.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 15
Students (other than the BSC): 35 8th graders, five sixth-graders, five unspecified
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, 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)
7/7/10
Mallory and the Mystery Diary (RS#29)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Mallory, Stacey, and Claudia explore the attic in Stacey's new house. It's full of things previous owners have left behind, including a trunk which Mallory is allowed to keep. It's mostly full of antique clothes, but Mallory also finds the diary of a twelve-year-old girl written in 1894. She's fascinated reading about it, and becomes more intrigued when she reads about the titular mystery.
Sophie (the diary's author) discovers in March that her mother is expecting a second child, but will have to be on bedrest until October, when the baby's due. She gives birth to a son named Edgar (like my husband's cat), but dies three days later. Sophie's grandfather, who we later learn is Old Hickory, is furious with Sophie's father, Jared, who he believes selfishly got his daughter pregnant when she was too weak. He's so upset that he write Jared, Sophie, and Edgar out of his will, though he does allow them to continue living their home, which he owns (and later, Stacey's mom owns). Then a painting of Sophie's mother disappears from Old Hickory's house, and the blame falls on Jared. He's essentially blacklisted. Sophie vows to clear her father's name, but the diary ends without resolution.
Meanwhile, the BSC is helping tutor Buddy Barrett in reading. Mallory does most of the work, and helps make reading fun for him. He too is intrigued by the mystery and reads Sophie's diary. He finds nothing helpful there, but searches the trunk, in which he finds Old Hickory's confession: he had the portrait of his daughter painted over but was too embarrassed to admit it, so he let the town think Jared stole it. Mallory and Buddy go back to Stacey's attic and find the painting. Stacey's mom has it restored and hangs over the mantle in the McGill's.
But one piece of the mystery is unsolved: is Sophie's father, Jared, the same Jared who supposedly haunts Dawn's secret passage? Cue Twilight Zone theme music...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Ring Dings
Mallory thinks a diary is something you write in daily, listing what happened. A journal is something you write when you feel like it about what you're feeling. I...always considered them the exact reverse. She hides her journal under her mattress.
Mallory inherited her nose from her grandfather and still think 11 is old enough for elective plastic surgery (a nose job).
Stacey and her mom moved in a week ago in this book, and we know that it's not late autumn, winter, or early spring since Mallory isn't sure if she'll be able to see into the McGill's back windows "when the trees are bare."
Dawn's "never rude." Just wait...
There's nice continuity regarding how Stacey got the moving boxes from the grocery store, and how the manager got sick and tired of seeing her.
Mallory calls Jessi every few diary entries (or should that be journal entries?) to discuss what she's read. She calls her WAY too much, which is what sparks some trouble between them in Mallory and the Dream Horse.
Dawn is "the world's neatest person." Remember that for RS#31 (Dawn's Wicked Stepsister) when Dawn thinks it's ridiculous to have separators in the silverware drawers.
Dawn's mom has been on twenty-five dates with Mary Anne's dad. Yes, you read that right, a whole 25 dates. Things are going to be moving awfully fast a moment here...
Their Families:
Mallory hates it when Vanessa speaks in rhyme. Fortunately, she hasn't for some time. (Sorry)
Bedtime is 10:00 for nine-year-old Pikes.
Emily Michelle has "another earache." I vaguely remember a Little Sister book in which Emily Michelle gets ear tubes because of her frequent ear infections, but I'm not sure if it got mentioned in any of the other series.
David Michael is still a champion whiner. And...hey, he and Emily have basically the same second name.
Mallory's brothers read Archie comics.
The Club:
Mallory says Mary Anne has yet to make a scheduling mistake, but she recently forgot to write down a job until Dawn reminded her (RS#27). Foul!
Mallory knows that Dawn called the Barretts "The Impossible Three" which means that either the BSC talks about it a lot or that Mallory's read the club notebook cover-to-cover. I wouldn't be surprised by either one.
Charlotte Johanssen pretty much gets in on the ground floor of helping solve mysteries. She's involved quite a bit in the Mystery series, and this as well.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Really, Mallory, of all people, shouldn't the aspiring writer know the "Us babysitters have discovered..." is grammatically wrong? I know writer doesn't have to mean editor, but a writer should know the subject of a sentence from the object. Especially given that just a few pages later, you know enough to write "...a girl a few years older than I" [am] rather than "...a girl a few years older than me."
Mallory also can't do math. She says the events in the diary happened over a hundred years ago. That's true now, in 2010, but 1989-1894=95, not more than 100. She should have said decades ago, because that's less specific and would still work today.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Mallory, Stacey, and Claudia explore the attic in Stacey's new house. It's full of things previous owners have left behind, including a trunk which Mallory is allowed to keep. It's mostly full of antique clothes, but Mallory also finds the diary of a twelve-year-old girl written in 1894. She's fascinated reading about it, and becomes more intrigued when she reads about the titular mystery.
Sophie (the diary's author) discovers in March that her mother is expecting a second child, but will have to be on bedrest until October, when the baby's due. She gives birth to a son named Edgar (like my husband's cat), but dies three days later. Sophie's grandfather, who we later learn is Old Hickory, is furious with Sophie's father, Jared, who he believes selfishly got his daughter pregnant when she was too weak. He's so upset that he write Jared, Sophie, and Edgar out of his will, though he does allow them to continue living their home, which he owns (and later, Stacey's mom owns). Then a painting of Sophie's mother disappears from Old Hickory's house, and the blame falls on Jared. He's essentially blacklisted. Sophie vows to clear her father's name, but the diary ends without resolution.
Meanwhile, the BSC is helping tutor Buddy Barrett in reading. Mallory does most of the work, and helps make reading fun for him. He too is intrigued by the mystery and reads Sophie's diary. He finds nothing helpful there, but searches the trunk, in which he finds Old Hickory's confession: he had the portrait of his daughter painted over but was too embarrassed to admit it, so he let the town think Jared stole it. Mallory and Buddy go back to Stacey's attic and find the painting. Stacey's mom has it restored and hangs over the mantle in the McGill's.
But one piece of the mystery is unsolved: is Sophie's father, Jared, the same Jared who supposedly haunts Dawn's secret passage? Cue Twilight Zone theme music...
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Ring Dings
Mallory thinks a diary is something you write in daily, listing what happened. A journal is something you write when you feel like it about what you're feeling. I...always considered them the exact reverse. She hides her journal under her mattress.
Mallory inherited her nose from her grandfather and still think 11 is old enough for elective plastic surgery (a nose job).
Stacey and her mom moved in a week ago in this book, and we know that it's not late autumn, winter, or early spring since Mallory isn't sure if she'll be able to see into the McGill's back windows "when the trees are bare."
Dawn's "never rude." Just wait...
There's nice continuity regarding how Stacey got the moving boxes from the grocery store, and how the manager got sick and tired of seeing her.
Mallory calls Jessi every few diary entries (or should that be journal entries?) to discuss what she's read. She calls her WAY too much, which is what sparks some trouble between them in Mallory and the Dream Horse.
Dawn is "the world's neatest person." Remember that for RS#31 (Dawn's Wicked Stepsister) when Dawn thinks it's ridiculous to have separators in the silverware drawers.
Dawn's mom has been on twenty-five dates with Mary Anne's dad. Yes, you read that right, a whole 25 dates. Things are going to be moving awfully fast a moment here...
Their Families:
Mallory hates it when Vanessa speaks in rhyme. Fortunately, she hasn't for some time. (Sorry)
Bedtime is 10:00 for nine-year-old Pikes.
Emily Michelle has "another earache." I vaguely remember a Little Sister book in which Emily Michelle gets ear tubes because of her frequent ear infections, but I'm not sure if it got mentioned in any of the other series.
David Michael is still a champion whiner. And...hey, he and Emily have basically the same second name.
Mallory's brothers read Archie comics.
The Club:
Mallory says Mary Anne has yet to make a scheduling mistake, but she recently forgot to write down a job until Dawn reminded her (RS#27). Foul!
Mallory knows that Dawn called the Barretts "The Impossible Three" which means that either the BSC talks about it a lot or that Mallory's read the club notebook cover-to-cover. I wouldn't be surprised by either one.
Charlotte Johanssen pretty much gets in on the ground floor of helping solve mysteries. She's involved quite a bit in the Mystery series, and this as well.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Really, Mallory, of all people, shouldn't the aspiring writer know the "Us babysitters have discovered..." is grammatically wrong? I know writer doesn't have to mean editor, but a writer should know the subject of a sentence from the object. Especially given that just a few pages later, you know enough to write "...a girl a few years older than I" [am] rather than "...a girl a few years older than me."
Mallory also can't do math. She says the events in the diary happened over a hundred years ago. That's true now, in 2010, but 1989-1894=95, not more than 100. She should have said decades ago, because that's less specific and would still work today.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
6/29/10
Welcome Back, Stacey! (RS#28)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Remember how Stacey's parents have been fighting? Well, they're divorcing now. Stacey takes the news hard, as I imagine anyone would. She's mad they won't try to work things out, and that they've put her in the position of dealing with the fact that parents are splitting up. Both parents decide to move to new places, her dad to the East Side and her mom back to Stoneybrook. They tell Stacey she will decide where (and with whom) to live, which seems like an incredibly difficult position for her. She ends up choosing Stoneybrook over New York, which means living with her mom rather than her dad. Even though she's confident she's picked the PLACE that's best for her, she can't deny that she'll miss being in New York with Laine, her baby-sitting charges, and, most of all, her dad. The book ends with her acknowledging that: she's going to be happy in Stoneybrook, but something will always be missing.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Oreos in her closet, Lifesavers, Twinkies, and taco chips
Stacey describes Kristy as "wiry."
Dawn is vegetarian in this book rather than just eschewing red meat.
Stacey makes a brief reference to the fad doctor she had to see in RS#3, and we see Judy again a few times.
Stacey's a grade ahead in math, like I was.
Laine (who we learn has brown eyes) gives Stacey half of a best friends necklace.
Stacey impresses herself by moving beds from one room to another with Claudia and her mom's help. I've moved beds all by myself as a teenager; it's not that hard. But then, I don't have THE DIABETES (but I do have asthma).
Their Families:
Becca plays a make-believe game that she's working in an office, which gets recalled in a later book.
Stacey's dad proposed to her mom in Central Park on a carriage ride.
The Club:
Kristy's Krushers have yet to beat Bart's Bashers.
Charlotte Johanssen has tonsillitis.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
"The divorce rate is 50%." That's misleading; it's for all marriages, not first marriages. So, not half of everyone who marries will divorce. (Still is a lot of divorce, though)
Misc:
Again with the Brontosaurus garbage (and not capitalizing the Latin names). Stacey's baby-sitting charge wants to know if one could beat a Stegosaurus in a fight. At least diplocids and stegosaurids are from the same time period (Jurassic).
What kind of terrible real estate agent would show someone the crummy homes first then the nice one in a good neighborhood which is still in the client's price range? Stacey's mom ends up taking, too: behind the Pikes' house. It's the one that was owned by the foreign neighbors who the Pike kids spied on while playing Secret Agents.
I used to think living in a big apartment building sounded glamorous, going off Stacey's descriptions. Now that I've lived in dorms and apartments (not in New York's Upper West Side, though)...I can't wait to move to the new duplex tomorrow and then to a house down the road.
Stacey's mom asks her to open the envelope Laine gave her (to keep her entertained on the trip back to Stoneybrook), saying "Open it before I have an accident. I'm dying of curiosity!" When I read that as a kid, I didn't realize she meant a CAR accident.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
Remember how Stacey's parents have been fighting? Well, they're divorcing now. Stacey takes the news hard, as I imagine anyone would. She's mad they won't try to work things out, and that they've put her in the position of dealing with the fact that parents are splitting up. Both parents decide to move to new places, her dad to the East Side and her mom back to Stoneybrook. They tell Stacey she will decide where (and with whom) to live, which seems like an incredibly difficult position for her. She ends up choosing Stoneybrook over New York, which means living with her mom rather than her dad. Even though she's confident she's picked the PLACE that's best for her, she can't deny that she'll miss being in New York with Laine, her baby-sitting charges, and, most of all, her dad. The book ends with her acknowledging that: she's going to be happy in Stoneybrook, but something will always be missing.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Oreos in her closet, Lifesavers, Twinkies, and taco chips
Stacey describes Kristy as "wiry."
Dawn is vegetarian in this book rather than just eschewing red meat.
Stacey makes a brief reference to the fad doctor she had to see in RS#3, and we see Judy again a few times.
Stacey's a grade ahead in math, like I was.
Laine (who we learn has brown eyes) gives Stacey half of a best friends necklace.
Stacey impresses herself by moving beds from one room to another with Claudia and her mom's help. I've moved beds all by myself as a teenager; it's not that hard. But then, I don't have THE DIABETES (but I do have asthma).
Their Families:
Becca plays a make-believe game that she's working in an office, which gets recalled in a later book.
Stacey's dad proposed to her mom in Central Park on a carriage ride.
The Club:
Kristy's Krushers have yet to beat Bart's Bashers.
Charlotte Johanssen has tonsillitis.
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time:
"The divorce rate is 50%." That's misleading; it's for all marriages, not first marriages. So, not half of everyone who marries will divorce. (Still is a lot of divorce, though)
Misc:
Again with the Brontosaurus garbage (and not capitalizing the Latin names). Stacey's baby-sitting charge wants to know if one could beat a Stegosaurus in a fight. At least diplocids and stegosaurids are from the same time period (Jurassic).
What kind of terrible real estate agent would show someone the crummy homes first then the nice one in a good neighborhood which is still in the client's price range? Stacey's mom ends up taking, too: behind the Pikes' house. It's the one that was owned by the foreign neighbors who the Pike kids spied on while playing Secret Agents.
I used to think living in a big apartment building sounded glamorous, going off Stacey's descriptions. Now that I've lived in dorms and apartments (not in New York's Upper West Side, though)...I can't wait to move to the new duplex tomorrow and then to a house down the road.
Stacey's mom asks her to open the envelope Laine gave her (to keep her entertained on the trip back to Stoneybrook), saying "Open it before I have an accident. I'm dying of curiosity!" When I read that as a kid, I didn't realize she meant a CAR accident.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 36 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, taco chips, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
6/26/10
Jessi and the Superbrat (RS#27)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jan Carr
Synopsis:
Jessi is starstruck: she's just found out that Derek Masters, an actor on a popular TV show, is from Stoneybrook (one of many celebrities...). Not only that, his family (Mom, Dad, and brother Todd) is moving back to Stoneybrook while the show's on break, she gets to sit for him! She's still a bit dazed when she meets him, but quickly realizes he's a regular kid. Unfortunately, his classmates at Stoneybrook Elementary (where he re-enrolls) don't quite get this: the girls fawn over him and the boys are jealous. One boy in particular is giving him problems. John, the Superbrat as Jessi calls him, does things like tossing Derek's lunch out the window, throwing him baseballs coated in chewed gum, tying his shoelaces together, and so on. Of course, once Derek settles in, the Superbrat problem evaporates, because Derek was actually doing some of those things, and telling people someone else did was his was talking about it.
Also predictably, Derek gets a part in a TV movie and the family must move back to Los Angeles. Derek suggests Jessi try out for parts, too, so she can move to California with them. Jessi's been involved in a series of tryouts for a production of Swan Lake at the prestigious (?) Stoneybrook Civic Center, and thinks maybe ballet isn't her thing. She goes pretty far with the idea of becoming an actor, but ultimately decides to stay with ballet. Of course, she gets a part in the corps as a swan maiden for the production.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: M&Ms under her bed
While waiting to start a BSC meeting, Kristy chews on the TIP of a pencil. Not the eraser, which would be bad enough, but the graphite tip. Ew.
I think it would make sense for Mallory to get a little starstruck, as she does. In Super Special #11, she gets all flustered meeting her favorite author, and in other books she gets weird around famous people (Henrietta Hayes, her ideas about becoming a California girl, and so on).
Kristy's handwriting is messy in this book. I wonder why...did the person who wrote her notebook entries get hurt or something?
Jessi didn't have shoes for her first ballet class; her mom hadn't had the time to take her to buy any.
Hooray for Claudia the Peacekeeper! (She helps Derek make some friends when a group of boys shows up at a playground and things start out a little tense)
I really like the (tiny) bit about Claudia realizing that Todd Masters could use some one-on-one time since his brother's so famous. Given the Claudia-Janine dynamic, she would be the right person to notice that.
Their Families:
Becca still has a rock collection (not gemstones or anything; ones she thinks are interesting).
Karen's bossiness is showing more.
The Club:
New clients: the Masters family.
Mary Anne forgot to write down a baby-sitting job!
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Hannah Crawford was this book's original owner.
The BSC talks about "winning over" the Superbrat. Why would you want to be friends with such a jerk? I'd want him to leave me alone, but I wouldn't want to be all buddy-buddy with him.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? Yes, Jan Carr
Synopsis:
Jessi is starstruck: she's just found out that Derek Masters, an actor on a popular TV show, is from Stoneybrook (one of many celebrities...). Not only that, his family (Mom, Dad, and brother Todd) is moving back to Stoneybrook while the show's on break, she gets to sit for him! She's still a bit dazed when she meets him, but quickly realizes he's a regular kid. Unfortunately, his classmates at Stoneybrook Elementary (where he re-enrolls) don't quite get this: the girls fawn over him and the boys are jealous. One boy in particular is giving him problems. John, the Superbrat as Jessi calls him, does things like tossing Derek's lunch out the window, throwing him baseballs coated in chewed gum, tying his shoelaces together, and so on. Of course, once Derek settles in, the Superbrat problem evaporates, because Derek was actually doing some of those things, and telling people someone else did was his was talking about it.
Also predictably, Derek gets a part in a TV movie and the family must move back to Los Angeles. Derek suggests Jessi try out for parts, too, so she can move to California with them. Jessi's been involved in a series of tryouts for a production of Swan Lake at the prestigious (?) Stoneybrook Civic Center, and thinks maybe ballet isn't her thing. She goes pretty far with the idea of becoming an actor, but ultimately decides to stay with ballet. Of course, she gets a part in the corps as a swan maiden for the production.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: M&Ms under her bed
While waiting to start a BSC meeting, Kristy chews on the TIP of a pencil. Not the eraser, which would be bad enough, but the graphite tip. Ew.
I think it would make sense for Mallory to get a little starstruck, as she does. In Super Special #11, she gets all flustered meeting her favorite author, and in other books she gets weird around famous people (Henrietta Hayes, her ideas about becoming a California girl, and so on).
Kristy's handwriting is messy in this book. I wonder why...did the person who wrote her notebook entries get hurt or something?
Jessi didn't have shoes for her first ballet class; her mom hadn't had the time to take her to buy any.
Hooray for Claudia the Peacekeeper! (She helps Derek make some friends when a group of boys shows up at a playground and things start out a little tense)
I really like the (tiny) bit about Claudia realizing that Todd Masters could use some one-on-one time since his brother's so famous. Given the Claudia-Janine dynamic, she would be the right person to notice that.
Their Families:
Becca still has a rock collection (not gemstones or anything; ones she thinks are interesting).
Karen's bossiness is showing more.
The Club:
New clients: the Masters family.
Mary Anne forgot to write down a baby-sitting job!
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Hannah Crawford was this book's original owner.
The BSC talks about "winning over" the Superbrat. Why would you want to be friends with such a jerk? I'd want him to leave me alone, but I wouldn't want to be all buddy-buddy with him.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 22
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
6/16/10
Claudia and the Sad Goodbye (RS#26)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No, Ann took this on by herself
Synopsis:
Here's one of those really sad books. Mimi dies. Even though you know going into in what's going to happen, it's still a surprise when it does. Mimi's been doing worse, needing blood transfusions and being admitted to the hospital a couple of times, but the transfusions seem to help. The second time she's admitted she doesn't even need stay as long, but the night before she's about to go home she dies. Of course, Claudia and her family are heartbroken. Initially, Claudia seems to be taking things well, reminiscing with friends and so on (including Stacey, who comes for the funeral). But it seems so surreal to her that she can't quite come to grips with it. Claudia finds herself feeling upset with Mimi for leaving but is able to come to terms her death and remember good times she had with her.
During all this, Claudia and Mary Anne host a Saturday morning art class for some clients. Corrie Addison joins it, as her mom had the idea. She's always the first one dropped off and the last one picked up. Claudia gets fed up with the way her parents are always trying to get rid of their kids (her brother is Sean Addison) and finally tells Mrs. Addison that Corrie feels unwanted. Her parents make more of an effort to spend time with Corrie. Claudia doesn't think things will be perfect, but hopes they will be better.
The book ends with Claudia unveiling a collage she made for Mimi, full of things to remind her family of Mimi. The BSC and the Kishis think it's perfect, and it gets hung up in Mimi's old bedroom.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Oreos inside a hollow book, Cheetos under her bed
This books has pretty much the least-awkward mention of Jessi's race. Instead of "she's African-American, but we never notice" or "she could even be purple but we'd still be friends with her" it's just "Jessi and Mal are...different in some ways. The biggest difference is Jessi is black and Mal is white." That's it. Good job, book.
Claudia describes a row of Nancy Drews on her bookshelf...I thought she hid those.
Their Families:
The book specifies that Claudia's maternal grandfather died just after Janine was born (previously it was simply before Claudia was born).
Stacey's parents are fighting more.
There was again no mention of Russ and Peaches visiting Mimi in the hospital (they do come to the funeral).
Nannie has officially moved in with Kristy's family.
The Club:
Claudia says that she and Mary Anne decided to hold the art class in the Kishis' basement after some planning, but Claudia suggested that right when the idea came to her.
The Perkins girls still have a doll named Caroline Eunice.
SMS:
Dori Wallingford's name is now spelled Dorrie.
Claudia's back in school, and camp was in the summer...hello, round two of eighth grade!
PSA time:
When I read this book as a child, it taught me that if I defrost meat, I need to cook it and I can't just stick it back in the freezer.
Misc:
Claudia gets Mimi a teddy bear instead of flowers when she's in the hospital in case she wants "something to hug" which I think is a really sweet thought.
While she takes a little far, I think Claudia has a point about Mimi not really being in the casket. Her body is. It's like C. S. Lewis said, "You don't HAVE a soul; you ARE a soul. You have a body."
I wonder if Ann M. Martin would have kept Mimi alive longer if she'd known the series would go on as long as it did.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 21
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No, Ann took this on by herself
Synopsis:
Here's one of those really sad books. Mimi dies. Even though you know going into in what's going to happen, it's still a surprise when it does. Mimi's been doing worse, needing blood transfusions and being admitted to the hospital a couple of times, but the transfusions seem to help. The second time she's admitted she doesn't even need stay as long, but the night before she's about to go home she dies. Of course, Claudia and her family are heartbroken. Initially, Claudia seems to be taking things well, reminiscing with friends and so on (including Stacey, who comes for the funeral). But it seems so surreal to her that she can't quite come to grips with it. Claudia finds herself feeling upset with Mimi for leaving but is able to come to terms her death and remember good times she had with her.
During all this, Claudia and Mary Anne host a Saturday morning art class for some clients. Corrie Addison joins it, as her mom had the idea. She's always the first one dropped off and the last one picked up. Claudia gets fed up with the way her parents are always trying to get rid of their kids (her brother is Sean Addison) and finally tells Mrs. Addison that Corrie feels unwanted. Her parents make more of an effort to spend time with Corrie. Claudia doesn't think things will be perfect, but hopes they will be better.
The book ends with Claudia unveiling a collage she made for Mimi, full of things to remind her family of Mimi. The BSC and the Kishis think it's perfect, and it gets hung up in Mimi's old bedroom.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: Oreos inside a hollow book, Cheetos under her bed
This books has pretty much the least-awkward mention of Jessi's race. Instead of "she's African-American, but we never notice" or "she could even be purple but we'd still be friends with her" it's just "Jessi and Mal are...different in some ways. The biggest difference is Jessi is black and Mal is white." That's it. Good job, book.
Claudia describes a row of Nancy Drews on her bookshelf...I thought she hid those.
Their Families:
The book specifies that Claudia's maternal grandfather died just after Janine was born (previously it was simply before Claudia was born).
Stacey's parents are fighting more.
There was again no mention of Russ and Peaches visiting Mimi in the hospital (they do come to the funeral).
Nannie has officially moved in with Kristy's family.
The Club:
Claudia says that she and Mary Anne decided to hold the art class in the Kishis' basement after some planning, but Claudia suggested that right when the idea came to her.
The Perkins girls still have a doll named Caroline Eunice.
SMS:
Dori Wallingford's name is now spelled Dorrie.
Claudia's back in school, and camp was in the summer...hello, round two of eighth grade!
PSA time:
When I read this book as a child, it taught me that if I defrost meat, I need to cook it and I can't just stick it back in the freezer.
Misc:
Claudia gets Mimi a teddy bear instead of flowers when she's in the hospital in case she wants "something to hug" which I think is a really sweet thought.
While she takes a little far, I think Claudia has a point about Mimi not really being in the casket. Her body is. It's like C. S. Lewis said, "You don't HAVE a soul; you ARE a soul. You have a body."
I wonder if Ann M. Martin would have kept Mimi alive longer if she'd known the series would go on as long as it did.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 2
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 21
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
6/6/10
Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation (SS#2)
Original Publication Date: 1989
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
The BSC (except Shannon, of course. Sigh) is going to Camp Mohawk in New York, as are several charges. The older ones will be counselors-in-training (CITs) and Mallory and Jessi are Junior CITs. Here's what happens:
Stacey gets a cold, poison ivy, impetigo, pinkeye, and lots of mosquito bites.
Kristy has to comfort Charlotte Johanssen, who's in her cabin (and really is acting like a baby: she cries watching a nature film when a bullfrog's puffing out its throat scares her). She also gets made over by the other three CITs who are watching the eight-year-olds with her, in preparation for the dance with the boy CITs (the boys stay on the other side of the camp's lake).
Claudia gets pretty close to a Will Yamakawa, one of the boy CITs. His grandmother also lived with his family, like Mimi, but she died the month before camp. They talk about that some, which is interesting given the book that's coming up next.
Dawn ends up counselor for her cabin briefly when the regular counselor's mother suddenly becomes ill. She also takes her group of eleven-year-olds on an overnight camping trip, during which the quiet girl who keeps to herself is revealed to be a nature expert who saves the day when they're lost (I know, I'm shocked, too).
Mary Anne's three co-CITs are very sophisticated and don't believe that Mary Anne has a boyfriend. She earns their respect by attempting to sneak around the lake one night to deliver Logan a note, and later by allowing them to attempt to pierce her ears (but they don't go through with it).
Jessi and Mallory end up in a cabin with four other stuck-up eleven-year-olds. Among other nasty deeds, they other girls call Jessi and Mallory Oreos (yes, it makes no sense, but it's clear they meant to be racist). As Junior CITs, Jessi and Mallory help the eight-year-olds, including Becca and Charlotte, put on a rehearsal for Parents' Day. Mallory and Jessi cast Becca and Charlotte as twins in their play to teach their cabinmates a lesson (because Becca's black and Charlotte's white). They think the other girls will be mortified, angry, or apologetic. It's a book, so of course things work out (three apologize, the fourth doesn't say a word), but I think in real life the other girls wouldn't have even noticed.
Logan mostly has to deal with his co-CITs teasing him about Mary Anne. She wrote an overly sappy letter, not intending to send it but hoping her co-CITs would finally believe her about her having a boyfriend. Fortunately, all the strangers Mary Anne and Logan will never see are impressed with them to stop questioning their relationship.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none (she buys some at the camp, but it's not the same)
Dawn watches The Parent Trap every week (which is how she got the idea the BSC should go to camp).
When Charlotte Johanssen is crying, it's Mary Anne who has Kleenex to offer her. That makes sense.
Stacey isn't getting perms anymore, but body waves.
Claudia shouldn't have the top bunk. This is the second Super Special in which she's stepped on the hand of the person in the bottom bunk.
Dawn has trouble finding north. So do I. I can kind of figure it out by the sun if I know what time it is, or by where certain constellations are, but I don't just know like some people. Unless I'm in Canada; I can find you anything you want in Canada.
Claudia expresses an interest in learning to knit, from Mimi if possible.
Mary Anne swears off ever having her ears pierced after her co-CITs aren't able to go through with the ice-cube-and-needle routine.
Ah, this is the book. Stacey lets us know she has to test her urine as well as her blood every day.
Their Families:
So formal with the postcards! They're addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. [father's first and last name]." When I send mail to my parents--even my wedding invitation--the mail's addressed to "Mom and Dad."
There's some hinting at Stacey's mom doing too much shopping, at least partially out of boredom.
Stacey's mom continues to say "Have fun and be careful."
Mimi's mind is continuing to fail.
Jessi's dad is named Alex (but it will later change to John). EDIT: Alex is a funny first name, considering his son is John Phillip Ramsey, JR. Thanks, Nikki!
Claudia thinks her parents will want her to marry a Japanese man.
Hmm. Stacey's parents call her when she's in the infirmary, wanting her to come home. First Stacey talks to her mom, then her dad gets on the other phone and says they think it's a good idea for her to come home. Stacey's mom immediately says that Stacey's probably fine. I wonder...Welcome Back, Stacey is just a few books away. If her parents hadn't been fighting, would her mom have so readily agreed with Stacey? That is, is she saying Stacey should stay just for the sake of disagreeing with her dad?
The Club: Nothing new
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Are you supposed to pick nail polish based on how well it matches your eyes? Because that's what Kristy's co-CITs do, and it seems odd to me.
The camp's doctor is only there certain days. That seems really dumb.
Who else, when reading this, was confused by the sentence "Heather is an Iroquois, which means she can't swim"? It's not really clear that campers are assigned different tribes based on swimming ability...I thought it meant that people descended from the Iroquois were bad swimmers or didn't swim because of a cultural taboo.
Claudia and Will exchange addresses. I wish we could have seen mention of her writing him a letter in the next book (Claudia and the Sad Goodbye) to talk about losing a grandmother.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 1
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 20
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
Ghostwriter? No
Synopsis:
The BSC (except Shannon, of course. Sigh) is going to Camp Mohawk in New York, as are several charges. The older ones will be counselors-in-training (CITs) and Mallory and Jessi are Junior CITs. Here's what happens:
Stacey gets a cold, poison ivy, impetigo, pinkeye, and lots of mosquito bites.
Kristy has to comfort Charlotte Johanssen, who's in her cabin (and really is acting like a baby: she cries watching a nature film when a bullfrog's puffing out its throat scares her). She also gets made over by the other three CITs who are watching the eight-year-olds with her, in preparation for the dance with the boy CITs (the boys stay on the other side of the camp's lake).
Claudia gets pretty close to a Will Yamakawa, one of the boy CITs. His grandmother also lived with his family, like Mimi, but she died the month before camp. They talk about that some, which is interesting given the book that's coming up next.
Dawn ends up counselor for her cabin briefly when the regular counselor's mother suddenly becomes ill. She also takes her group of eleven-year-olds on an overnight camping trip, during which the quiet girl who keeps to herself is revealed to be a nature expert who saves the day when they're lost (I know, I'm shocked, too).
Mary Anne's three co-CITs are very sophisticated and don't believe that Mary Anne has a boyfriend. She earns their respect by attempting to sneak around the lake one night to deliver Logan a note, and later by allowing them to attempt to pierce her ears (but they don't go through with it).
Jessi and Mallory end up in a cabin with four other stuck-up eleven-year-olds. Among other nasty deeds, they other girls call Jessi and Mallory Oreos (yes, it makes no sense, but it's clear they meant to be racist). As Junior CITs, Jessi and Mallory help the eight-year-olds, including Becca and Charlotte, put on a rehearsal for Parents' Day. Mallory and Jessi cast Becca and Charlotte as twins in their play to teach their cabinmates a lesson (because Becca's black and Charlotte's white). They think the other girls will be mortified, angry, or apologetic. It's a book, so of course things work out (three apologize, the fourth doesn't say a word), but I think in real life the other girls wouldn't have even noticed.
Logan mostly has to deal with his co-CITs teasing him about Mary Anne. She wrote an overly sappy letter, not intending to send it but hoping her co-CITs would finally believe her about her having a boyfriend. Fortunately, all the strangers Mary Anne and Logan will never see are impressed with them to stop questioning their relationship.
Established or continued in this book:
The Girls (and Logan):
Claudia candy: none (she buys some at the camp, but it's not the same)
Dawn watches The Parent Trap every week (which is how she got the idea the BSC should go to camp).
When Charlotte Johanssen is crying, it's Mary Anne who has Kleenex to offer her. That makes sense.
Stacey isn't getting perms anymore, but body waves.
Claudia shouldn't have the top bunk. This is the second Super Special in which she's stepped on the hand of the person in the bottom bunk.
Dawn has trouble finding north. So do I. I can kind of figure it out by the sun if I know what time it is, or by where certain constellations are, but I don't just know like some people. Unless I'm in Canada; I can find you anything you want in Canada.
Claudia expresses an interest in learning to knit, from Mimi if possible.
Mary Anne swears off ever having her ears pierced after her co-CITs aren't able to go through with the ice-cube-and-needle routine.
Ah, this is the book. Stacey lets us know she has to test her urine as well as her blood every day.
Their Families:
So formal with the postcards! They're addressed to "Mr. and Mrs. [father's first and last name]." When I send mail to my parents--even my wedding invitation--the mail's addressed to "Mom and Dad."
There's some hinting at Stacey's mom doing too much shopping, at least partially out of boredom.
Stacey's mom continues to say "Have fun and be careful."
Mimi's mind is continuing to fail.
Jessi's dad is named Alex (but it will later change to John). EDIT: Alex is a funny first name, considering his son is John Phillip Ramsey, JR. Thanks, Nikki!
Claudia thinks her parents will want her to marry a Japanese man.
Hmm. Stacey's parents call her when she's in the infirmary, wanting her to come home. First Stacey talks to her mom, then her dad gets on the other phone and says they think it's a good idea for her to come home. Stacey's mom immediately says that Stacey's probably fine. I wonder...Welcome Back, Stacey is just a few books away. If her parents hadn't been fighting, would her mom have so readily agreed with Stacey? That is, is she saying Stacey should stay just for the sake of disagreeing with her dad?
The Club: Nothing new
SMS: Nothing new
PSA time: Nothing new
Misc:
Are you supposed to pick nail polish based on how well it matches your eyes? Because that's what Kristy's co-CITs do, and it seems odd to me.
The camp's doctor is only there certain days. That seems really dumb.
Who else, when reading this, was confused by the sentence "Heather is an Iroquois, which means she can't swim"? It's not really clear that campers are assigned different tribes based on swimming ability...I thought it meant that people descended from the Iroquois were bad swimmers or didn't swim because of a cultural taboo.
Claudia and Will exchange addresses. I wish we could have seen mention of her writing him a letter in the next book (Claudia and the Sad Goodbye) to talk about losing a grandmother.
The numbers:
Starting 8th grade: 1
Halloweens in 8th grade: 1
Summers after 8th grade: 1
BSC Fights: 5
SMS Staff: 13 (2 6th grade, 3 7th grade, 4 8th grade, 2 elective, 1 vice-principal, 1 secretary)
Students: 32 8th graders, six sixth-graders
Clients: 20
Types of candy in Claudia’s room: 35 (bubble gum, Butterfingers, butterscotch candy, Cheese Doodles, a chocolate bar, cookies, Cracker Jacks, crackers, cupcakes, Ding-Dongs, Doritos, gumdrops, Fritos, Gummi Bears, Heath bars, Hershey's kisses, Ho Hos, jawbreakers, licorice, licorice whips, Lifesavers, M&Ms (regular and peanut), Mallomars, marshmallows, mini candy bars, Oreos (Double Stuf), popcorn, pretzels, Ring Dings, root beer barrels, salt water taffy, Snickers, Tootsie Roll Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Twinkies)
Crushes: Claudia-4 (Austin Bentley, Timothy Carmody, Trevor Sandbourne, Will Yamakawa), Dawn-1 (Parker Harris), Mary Anne-2 (Alex, Logan Bruno), Stacey-4 (Toby, Pete Black, Scott Foley, Sam Thomas), Kristy-1 (Bart Taylor)
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