Friday, September 5, 2008

“I had more friends in Stoneybrook than I did in New York"…..BSC # 28: Welcome Back Stacey

Memory Reaction

This is another one of those books that is so clear in my head I could probably summarize the whole thing without reading it. I think I was glad Stacey was moving back to Stoneybrook because it meant the whole BSC was together. But I also thought Stacey was annoying in this book because all she did was whine about her parent’s splitting up and she wouldn’t talk to them for days. I know she SHOULD be upset about that, but I didn’t want to read about it. I even vividly remember how Stacey wore some crazy outfit to try and compensate for feeling so bad.

Revisited Reaction

This is one of those books where the title gives away the end. The conflict in the story is supposed to be about whether Stacey will choose to come back to Stoneybrook or not, but since the title of the book is “Welcome Back, Stacey!” she obviously comes back. Way to reveal a spoiler, cover people. I always hated when books did that. It is like when websites puts a TV spoiler in the heading of an article so you can’t avoid reading it.

Anyway, Stacey’s parents are fighting a lot and have decided to get a divorce. Stacey is angry and upset and in denial, the usual. They tell her she gets to pick who she wants to live with: her dad who is staying in NYC, or her mom, who is moving back to Stoneybrook. That is kind of a tough decision to put on a kid. So, Stacey ponders it and debates it, and makes the BSC trademarked pro-con list, and decides to return to Stoneybrook and the BSC.

High/Lowlights

  • So, this is interesting. Stacey talks about going away to summer camp, which she did in one of the super specials. Now, that was after she moved to NYC. So, explain to me how she moved away from Stoneybrook at the beginning of eighth grade, went to summer camp but is still in eighth grade.
  • Well, Laine apparently dresses “sophisticated” too. “She was wearing this amazing black pants suit. It was made from stretchy cotton. The bottoms were cuffed, and the top was short-cropped. She was wearing a leopard-skin leotard under the top.”
  • After she hears about her parents, Stacey tries to dress cheerfully to help her mood: “Short red pants with purple suspenders over a bright yellow and black sweat shirt. On my feet, I put on my purple push down socks and a pair of red high top sneakers.” That is the ugliest combination of clothes I can imagine.
  • Stacey talks about how three kids in her class have had parents split up “this year” and the other kids all got special treatment in school. Man, I wish I went to her school. When my parents got divorced no one let me show up to school late or not do my homework.
  • Stacey considers Judy, the homeless woman who lives on the street by her building, a “friend.” Stacey tells her that her parents are splitting up and wonders if Judy is being sarcastic when she replies “crying shame.” I hope she was – why would a homeless person care about some rich girls parent’s breaking up?
  • Stacey wants to get her parents back together, but she comes up with really lame ways to do it. Like going to the movies together then making sure they sit alone together. Obviously, none of these work.
  • Stacey gets all worried at the last minute cause she thinks her mom won’t be able to mow the lawn and her dad won’t be able to do laundry. Way to stereotype.
  • Her parent’s have all these fights over who gets the car, paintings, stereo, etc. Now, wouldn’t valuable stuff like that actually be worked into the divorce agreement? Stacey is all, “Mom and Dad were arguing and I settled the fight and decided who got the cordless phone.”
  • So, of course the BSC and all the kids in town have a banner for Stacey when she arrives. These girls love their banners.
  • Claudia outfit: “She was wearing a long, oversized black and white sweater, skin-tight black leggings, pink and black socks, and black ballet slippers.”
  • Stacey mentions how it takes her and her mom a whole week to finish unpacking. That sounds ridiculously fast. Last time I moved it took me months to unpack everything.
  • Mallory gets in on the clothes action: “a sequined sweat shirt, a short skirt, and pink leggings.” She had to buy them herself. But if she was allowed to wear that once, why not any other time?

8 comments:

Kait W. said...

You're right about the spoiler title. Over on the BSC Snark blog, they were mentioning that "Stacey's Choice" would probably have been a better title for this book!

nikki said...

What I remember about this book is that the outfit Claudia is wearing to welcome Stacey back actually is what she's wearing on the cover of the book. So unusual in BSC world.

Anonymous said...

This was (and maybe still is) my favorite BSC book growing up. I read it a zillion times, and could probably tell you every little plot point, including the Santa Claus those neighbors put on top of the roof that goes "Ho ho ho" all Christmas season. I think I liked it because it really talked about divorce - which was something I never experienced.

colleenn said...

Auto-updated posting while you're on vacation--very dedicated. :) I've been scrambling since my move to get my updates done, and I just started taking a class once a week in addition to working full-time, so I'm going to be going even more crazy in the months to come. woo.

Maybe it's just the leopard-print leotard, but Laine's outfit sounds prostitute-ish to me. I picture her wearing it with too much mascara and bright red lipstick.

Anonymous said...

Short red pants with purple suspenders over a bright yellow and black sweat shirt. On my feet, I put on my purple push down socks and a pair of red high top sneakers.”

Stacey: taking fashion lessons from Steve Urkel, I presume! When I was a kid I already knew that Stacey moved back when I read this book, so I guess to me this story was more about Stacey dealing with her parents divorce than anything else.

BSC Snarker, aka Kristen said...

Yea, my auto update worked!

Colleenn, now that you mention it Laine's outfit does seem a little prostitute-ish. But I can also see Laine becoming a prostitute...you know, her rich father cuts her off and she can't handle losing the lifestyle or something.

Anonymous said...

oh i thought the same about the spoiler. i thought the book would be about stacey's coming back, not wheter she'll go back or not. whoever chose that title is lame.

Haids said...

"...now that you mention it Laine's outfit does seem a little prostitute-ish. But I can also see Laine becoming a prostitute...you know, her rich father cuts her off and she can't handle losing the lifestyle or something."

My first thought when I read about Laine's outfit was, "How does she pee in a leotard? She'll have to take all her clothes off!"