I can’t imagine why I didn’t see these problems before they got married….BSC #31: Dawn’s Wicked Stepsister

Memory Reaction

Is it wrong that the first thing I remember is a glaring error in this book? The previous one was the lead up to the Dawn’s Mom/Mary Anne’s Dad wedding and it was from Mary Anne’s perspective. In that one, Dawn gave Mary Anne a “now we are sisters gift.” And I am sure in this one, Dawn does again, saying she does it because Mary Anne did it before the wedding. But she totally DIDN’T. I think the ghostwriters just got mixed up because they switched who the “I” was.

Actually, this book was continued from #30 with a cliffhanger and everything. The first one ended in the middle of the wedding. I remember how upset I was when #30 ended and did not have a conclusion. It is kind of like how I react now when some TV show airs a cliffhanger season finale and I sit on my couch screaming, what do you MEAN Vaughn’s married/Jack’s flashback is really a flashforward/Locke’s in the coffin?

Revisited Reaction

So, the cliffhanger I was remembering was that Dawn’s mom (I am just going to call her Sharon from now on) threw her bouquet and Mary Anne and Dawn are in front of everyone trying to catch it. Mary Anne does, and Dawn is pissed. She pretty much stays pissed for the rest of the book, but not just about the stupid wedding bouquet. Mary Anne and Richard move into Dawn’s house and things get a little awkward because they are all used to having different lifestyles: Richard is a neat freak, Sharon is a slob, Mary Anne and Richard eat meat, Dawn and Sharon don’t. Etc, etc, etc. Plus, Mary Anne and Dawn are fighting a lot because they are sharing a room – by choice, not because there is a lack of space. But by the end, they all talk things through and agree to start trying harder to compromise. Except Dawn who uses the secret passage to scare the crap out of Mary Anne and get her to move out of her room. Cause she is a passive aggressive bitch who does things like that. You know five years later Dawn is going to get drunk at a party and accidentally tell Mary Anne what happened, and they’ll have a huge fight. Too bad we won’t get to see that.

Also, because the Pikes aren’t pathetic enough, the subplot is the “Pike Plague.” Everyone gets sick: Mallory gets the chicken pox, the triplets get pneumonia, Vanessa sprains her ankle, Nicky breaks his finger, and Margo and Claire get bronchitis. To top it off, Mrs. Pike hurts her playing tennis and Mr. Pike burnt his hand trying to cook for his sick family.

High/Lowlights

• The wedding is small, but the BSC does get to come. I think it is weird Sharon and Richard wouldn’t invite any of their parents. Maybe not all of them, but wasn’t Richard close with Mrs. Thomas when Mary Anne was growing up? She helped him out a lot with Mary Anne, right? Also, she married a millionaire, so if you were on the fence about inviting someone, and you know you’ll get a good gift….just kidding. But seriously. I call that a snub.

• The night of the wedding, Richard and Sharon “honeymoon” in a hotel and just let Dawn and Mary Anne stay alone in Mary Anne’s house. Two 13-year-olds. By themselves. Did anyone’s parent’s let them do that when they were kids? Mine sure as hell didn’t.

• No, Dawn, there is no rule that a girl has to catch her mother’s wedding bouquet. Think about what you are saying.

• The BSC is NOT a clique who has to dress alike, think alike, and have boyfriends all the time? Just one that thinks alike and is bitchy to each other when someone talks to anyone else, I guess.

• “Claudia wears funky stuff like pink sparkly high-topped sneakers, or short flared skirts, over skin-tight leggings or wild jewelry that she’s made herself.” BTW, there are many unneeded adjectives in that sentence.

• Flying to CA at night doesn’t make sense….if you land at nine, you won’t get home for a couple hours no matter how close to the airport you live. So a ten-year-old would not get a good night sleep at all.

• Damn, do not piss off Mary Anne. At the BSC meeting, she tells Dawn (who is wearing Mary Anne’s clothes) that they look tight on her.

• Why would Richard make bacon every morning for Sharon? It is really passive aggressive. And why would he make breakfast at 7:00, when she doesn’t wake up until 10:00 on Saturday. And what kind of newlyweds are they anyway?

• Dawn doesn’t want to go to a dance without a date. Because she is too much of an individual to go to a school dance alone, I guess.

• Claudia wears a short pink dress, globe earrings, and a necklace made of candy to the dance. That is an odd combo.

• This book has the first mention of Carol (I think), Dawn’s dad’s girlfriend. Only here she doesn’t want to get married and have to take care of a family.

• Anyone who sits for the Pikes has to wear a surgical mask because of all the germs. That is so weird.

• Did anyone ever really stay in bed all the time when they were sick? Like actually not be allowed to get up for anything and have all their meals taken to them on a tray?
• The Pikes don’t want anyone in the BSC getting sick, so they decide Vanessa has to bring drinks or whatever to the other kids when there are sitters around. It is really mean of them.

• Yeah, Stacey. You are the baby sitter, so you should be the one to talk to a doctor about Vanessa’s sprained ankle. That makes perfect sense.

• Speaking of a sprained ankle, since when is that an excuse to stay home from school? When I sprained mine, I missed one day of school. And that was my parents being nice and letting me stay home, I didn’t actually need to be home.

• Mary Anne and Dawn do their homework in their bedroom, sitting at their desk. I never studied like that. The only time I ever sat at a desk to do homework was when I needed a computer.

• Mallory has chicken pox scars in unmentionable places. Jessi knows where they are. …..Just saying.

• Who thinks Mr. Pike burned his hand on purpose? His wife had hurt her knee and his eight kids were sick. He burns the hand and then is allowed to hand all responsibilities over to the BSC.

• Also, the Pikes need a lot of sitters in this book considering how sick their kids are. If I had eight kids and five of them were sick, I think I might…..I don’t know….cancel my plans and take care of them myself?

• Dawn’s “haunting” is really mean. It is also stupid. Because her cover story for not being home is that she is sitting at the Pikes. But what would she have done if Mary Anne got creeped out and tried calling her at the Pikes?