“Logan has nothing to worry about…..he’s my boyfriend and always will be”…….BSC # 34: Mary Anne and Too Many Boys

Memory Reaction

I already told you why I liked the Sea City books, and I actually liked this one even more than the Stacey book. Or at least I remember it better. I do know it was when it became blatantly obvious that they were screwing with the timeline. Before then, the girls had stopped mentioning time, but I don’t think they had had a “summer” after starting 8^th grade. There were a couple super specials that took place in the summer, but you can’t really tell where they fit in the time line, so it is less obvious.

Revisited Reaction

In this book Mary Anne and Stacey go on their second trip to Sea City, as mother’s helpers for the Pikes. They actually explain Mallory not being a second sitter, by saying her parents actually want her to enjoy the vacations. The Pikes being considerate of Mal? Shocking.

Pretty soon after arriving, they run into Alex and Toby, they guys they met last year, on the beach. For Stacey, this is cool, because she loves boys. For Mary Anne, it is a little awkward because of Logan. But, they still hang out on the beach, and make plans to go out to dinner. They go out as separate couples, not a double date, so first it is even more awkward. But Mary Anne and Alex do end up having fun.

Meanwhile, Stacey is acting like a bitch, wanting to go out two nights in a row, even though she and Mary Anne are supposed to alternate nights off. Then, at the end of the trip, she gets bitchy again, but admits it is cause Toby dumped her. He didn’t want to be “tied down” or something. When Mary Anne and Alex go out again, she lets it slip that she has a boyfriend. Alex is all, “that’s cool, I have a girlfriend too.” So, they decide to just be friends and have a nice evening.

While all this has been going on, Vanessa has developed a crush on this guy who works at the ice cream parlor. He is supposed to be about twelve, so I don’t know how he got this job. Even on “Secret Life of the American Teenage”, they reference needing working papers. (Not that I watch it). Vanessa leaves him poems, but he thinks they are from Mallory – who he likes. But by this point it is time to go home, and so Vanessa just writes a good-bye note without saying who she is. It is rather anti-climactic.

High/Lowlights

• In the standard Chapter 2, Mary Anne talks about how when Dawn came to town, she had to reassure Kristy that she wouldn’t affect their friendship. But….Dawn does affect Mary Anne and Kristy’s friendship.

• The girls talk about how great the pizza is in Sea City. Um, really? Stacey, Miss New York City, thinks pizza is better at the Jersey Shore than NYC?

• Dawn’s outfit for flying to California (which she does while Mary Anne is in Sea City): “A beautiful Laura Ashley dress and had swept her long blonde hair back in pearl barrettes.” This is for a 6-hour plane ride?

• Do the Pikes have any rules for their kids (other than Mal)? They take two cars to the beach, and on the trip down the triplets and Nicky keep taking turns posting mean signs to each other from the window. This is only possible because Mr. and Mrs. Pike keep passing each other on the highway. It is like they are encouraging them.

• I wonder what the Pikes would do if they ever got a hold of the internet….

• They stop to get ice cream on the drive and Claire disappears. Mary Anne finds her at the counter trying to get a new ice cream because it all leaked out from the bottom. And the guy working there just gives her a new cone for free.

• So, while reading this I started thinking about what happened with Mary Anne and Alex the first year they met. Mary Anne tells us they exchanged rings from some place on the boardwalk. We know Stacey had her first kiss with Toby then, so I wonder if Mary Anne did too. We never really heard her say for sure that Logan was her first kiss. And a lot of the other girls make a point of telling us when theirs happens.

• Isn’t Vanessa a little young to be “eyeing” a guy?

• When we are introduced to the cute ice-cream parlor guy, he and Mal actually bump heads. Then, he loses control of the whipped cream machine and ruins her sundae. Romantic.

• I don’t believe this. Claire spills her ice cream soda and they just give her new one. It doesn’t say for sure that it is for free, but it seems like it. She is way to lucky.

• As soon as I started reading this chapter I remembered it. Kristy takes the Rodowski’s to the local pool, and makes the mistake of letting Jackie buy a huge cookie - which he then proceeds to drop in the pool. When I picture that scene, I picture it happening in the community pool where I grew up.

• This pool has a height restriction for the diving board. This seems kind of mean. I can understand an age restriction, but not a height one.

• Kristy keeps asking for trouble. She lets Jackie go up to order their lunch by himself.

• When Mal asks her about Logan, Mary Anne is all, “he is my boyfriend and always will be.” Do some people really think that about their middle school boyfriends?

• Jessi thinks Squirt is some kind of genius – after watching some Sesame Street type show about “which one of these things doesn’t belong?” – he takes the Pike’s hamster (which Jessi is taking care of) and puts it in the Ramsey’s hamster cage.

• Is it that shocking a 13-year-old guy wouldn’t want to commit to someone who doesn’t live anywhere near them? Why would he even think it is expected of him? Stacey went out with other guys after meeting him.

• The way Mary Anne slips to Alex that she has a boyfriend is that she wants to pay the check – apparently she and Logan alternate.

• Mallory fun fact: She talks in her sleep. Not just talks, she sits up and starts yelling at people. Vanessa just let it roll off her shoulders, so it must happen a lot.

• Vanessa talks about how she has left notes for the ice cream guy several times…um, how did she do this without Mary Anne and Stacey knowing? I don’t think the Pikes would actually do something with their child, like take them to an ice-cream parlor.

• Mary Anne agrees to keep the Vanessa think private, but I wonder if she will tell Mal. I mean, Mallory is supposed to be one of her best friends, and she would probably appreciate knowing a guy liked her.