“I knew my friends would be incredibly envious of the experience”……BSC Mystery # 9: Kristy and the Haunted Mansion

Memory Reaction

This was one of the times I was jealous of a mystery and not annoyed by it. I think it is because it isn’t really a mystery…it is just Kristy and some kids exploring some old house. I thought the BSC was so lucky for all the little adventures they have.

Revisited Reaction

Kristy and Bart have a game with their joint softball team versus a team in another town (the “Krashers” previously mentioned in another Mystery). It is about 30 minutes away by car, and, for some reason, they drive to it in a van (driven by Charlie) with the nine starters (for lack of a better word) of the team. Besides Charlie, Kristy, and Bart, this includes Karen, David Michael, Jackie Rodowsky, Buddy Barrett, and a few Basher kids whose names aren’t really important.

Anyway, on the drive back to Stoneybrook. It starts to rain and Charlie gets a little lost – they end up stuck on some road between two washed out bridges, where the only house in site is this big mansion on a hill. They talk to the caretaker, Will, (who lives in a separate cottage out front), who tells the kids to spend the night in the mansion.

The kids are all a little spooked, because they are kids and in a big empty house. Then they snoop around and find out that it is the “Sawyer House,” some mansion that is rumored to be haunted. They snoop some more and find the diary of a girl named Dorothy who lived there back in the 1930s, as well as a bunch of newspaper articles. It turns out that Dorothy was planning to elope with a guy her father didn’t approve of when she disappeared during a rainstorm and was assumed dead. They also realize that Will is the guy the father didn’t approve of, and he has never really gotten over it. That is pretty much the whole story, and the next day the bridges are fixed and the head home.

However, a while later we find out that Karen stole a photo of the girl from the mansion. She tells Kristy she thinks it looks like the woman who runs a knitting/sewing shop in town. Mary Anne backs this up, so the girls all go to the store and confront this old lady. She confirms she is Dorothy and back when she disappeared, she just decided she didn’t want to go from a controlling father to a husband, so she just ran away. And apparently never felt guilty about letting her family or the man she loved think she was dead. At the end she is even all, “maybe I’ll give him a call now that I know where he lives.”

The “haunted” in the title is a bit misleading. They heard a couple weird noises while they are there, but the term really just comes from the fact that the kids had heard stories about the house. And the caretaker explains all the stories away, saying he just made the house looked lived in and people let their imaginations run away with them.

High/Lowlights

• Fun fact: Kristy is scared of lightning.

• Mixed in with the chapters of the kids in the mansion, we get to read about the concerned parents calling each other. And Watson apparently keeps calling the BSC to see if they heard from Kristy.

• Stacey outfit: “Lacy purple leggings with big floral tops, or black miniskirts with little cowboy shoes.”

• Claudia outfit: “A hand-painted silk scarf to top-off a polka-dotted jumpsuit . . . or two handmade paper-mache earrings that look like donuts, with a third that looks like a cup of coffee.”

• Nicky Pike was one of the kids riding in the van to the game, but ended up riding home with his parents. It really comes off like a plot-devise. I think it was just done so that when Mallory and Mary Anne are baby-sitting job at the Pikes, Mr. and Mrs. Pike don't look like horrible parents for going out while their kid is missing.
  

• In Dorothy’s diary, she mentioned how she has argued with the caretaker/boyfriend about not wanting to be just a housewife. Now, why would she plan to elope with this guy if she knew he didn’t support it? If all she wanted to do was run away, she should have just run away.

• Kristy knocks on Will’s door, and he is a little hesitant about telling them to stay. She just thinks that he should respond to her with, “Oh, you poor kids, please come in and let me take care of you.” I think most people would be a little weirded out about inviting strangers in – even if they are kids.

• As soon as I read this, I remembered it – a Claudia outfit: “White knee-length shorts, white Keds, and a tie-dyed T-shirt she’d made the weekend before…with spirals of yellow and green and purple.” Then the rain makes it all run and turn her skin purple and green.

• Janine brings a new set of clothes to Claudia when she is at the Newtons (because of the rain ruining them), and Claudia asks her to watch Lucy while she changes. And Janine gets all nervous, it is kind of cute/funny.

• So, Claudia tells Jamie Newton that the Krasher’s bus is missing and tried not to make it “too scary.” Then she lets him listen to her call hospitals to see if there was an accident.

• The kids all sleep on the floor of this mansion, and all they have are blankets. They complain about not having pillows, so Charlie tells them to put their sneakers in a blanket and use them. That seems like a really uncomfortable pillow.

• Dawn is nervous about where Kristy is, and her mom tells her to clean her room to take her mind off things. And Dawn is all, “I’m not that desperate.” But doesn’t Dawn like to clean?

• The day after the storm, Kristy and Co. have to wait for workmen to fix the bridges before they can leave. But, they are on a road where no one lives…why would the workmen be fixing a bridge like that so early? It can’t even be that the caretaker called them, since he doesn’t have a phone (which is also why Kristy and Co couldn’t call their families). I guess you could argue that people might use the road even if they don’t live on it. But, it still seems doubtful.

• Guess who made the welcome home sign? It said: “Wellcome Home, Krasherz!”

• Dawn spreads stories around school about how Kristy spent the night in a haunted house. Cokie Mason actually tells Kristy she is “awesome” for being in a house when a cold hand grabbed her a midnight. I can’t believe Cokie would believe that, let alone compliment Kristy about it.

• At a BSC sleep-over at Kristy’s, Sam pays the pizza guy a dollar to come up to Kristy’s room and tell her the pizza has anchovies all over it. I wish we got more of Sam’s point of view.

• No one, except maybe Karen, really thinks the house is haunted. They mention stories about it being haunted, and they hear a few weird noises. But they don’t seriously consider it being haunted.

• So, the stories apparently come from Will putting lights on in the house while he is cleaning it and stuff like that. I am not quite sure why he has to make the house looked lived in. No one lives there or plans to live there part time, and people know the house is empty, so it is not a security thing.

• Will gives Kristy flashlights, but it also seems like the house has electricity.

• Speaking of that….I guess it is lucky that not only did Kristy and Co. found a vacant house to crash in, but it had working electricity and water (and possibly heat). I am sure the owner pays all those utility bills for his empty house just in case something like that happens.

• Will also gives the kids a bag of apples and bread to eat. It seems little convenient that he has this food sitting around (at least enough that can at least partially feed 11 people.

• Will mentions he bought the house because he never really got over Dorothy. Is that supposed to be romantic? I probably thought it was back when I was a kid, but seeing it now makes him seem kind of pathetic.

• I still don’t even get why the kids are all in this van in the first place. The kids parents are all driving to the game, and it seems like a waste to have a select few go separate. I’m actually surprised that parents would let their kid ride with some 17-year-old they barely know.

• Kristy thinks it is cool that she is related to most people in the van….I think that is more favoritism at work than anything else.

• Dorothy really is kind of a bitch. She sneaks out of her house to elope with Will, then decides she just wants to be free to be on her own, so she just lets her parents think she is dead? And it doesn’t even occur to her over the next fifty-years to drop them a line and let them know she is okay.

“My friends and I could take care of the kids for the week”….BSC Super-Special # 3: Baby-sitters’ Winter Vacation

Memory Reaction

What I really remember about this book is how every time I read it I think of the continuity error. The BSC go on some school trip to Vermont, and tell us that they went in 6th and 7th grade too. But in the Disney World Super-Special (#1), Kristy says she has never left Connecticut.

Maybe a mind like this is why I am now working as an editor.

Revisited Reaction

Apparently, all of SMS goes on a mandatory trip to this lodge in Vermont every year. There is this couple in Vermont who let schools come stay there for almost nothing and the kids have this “Winter War” thing. It is essentially a series of competition in winter events like skiing, ice-skating, etc.

The first night there, they arrive during a huge snowstorm. Another bus of elementary school kids was on the way there, and crashed in the storm. The BSC volunteers to be part of the rescue mission to help the kids. They are allowed to do this, which is a little unbelievable, but whatever. Then, it turns out the kids’ teachers have to go to the hospital and everyone thinks the kids will have to go home. But, the BSC volunteers to be there sitters/chaperones for the week. Somehow, the adults agree to this.

Anyway, despite the baby-sitting, they all get their own little adventure.

Mary Anne: Volunteered to be the “trip historian” and do research on the trip. She is supposed to be writing a paper, which is the framework for the whole “write notes” thing.

Kristy: Is in charge of the whole “Winter War” and also a team captain. She gets super competitive and tries to get people on her team to play in more events.

Claudia: Is also competitive and apparently the best skier in the school. She is on the opposite team, so she and Kristy compete some.

Stacey: Meets some guy and spends the whole book disappearing to make out with him. Seriously, she has a chapter at the beginning on the bus, then another early chapter where she meets him skiing, and then we don’t hear from her again until she is saying good-bye to him. But everyone else spends the book talking about how Stacey keeps wandering off somewhere.

Dawn: Falls down during an ice-skating race and feels like an idiot. Then she lets people stop her from participating in other events. Then, gets over herself.

Mallory: Does her stupid spy thing. You’d think she would either get better at spying by now or stop doing it.

Jessi: Is in charge of running a talent show. She is worried that she’ll screw it up, but ends up doing okay. She also performs herself and thinks the school has “finally accepted her.”

The kids: We only really get personality out of one kid, Pinky. She is kind of a brat and the other kids don’t seem to like her. Jessi thinks she is racist, but it turns out she was homesick and embarrassed about it. She seems to cheer up at the end.

High/Lowlights

• I don’t really understand the way this school trip supposedly works. The parents are asked to make a donation to the “Winter Carnival Fund.” Then the Lodge covers whatever the school doesn’t fund. And they apparently do this with several schools just to give kids an “away from school experience.” If this is some charity, why not invite different schools each year to spread it around?

• They leave on a Monday and return on a Saturday….It seems like this is in place of a week of school, not a trip on vacation. My middle school had a trip like this, but it was on the weekend, and we really had to pay for it.

• This is the first time a sixth grader is in charge of the talent show…why would they let a sixth grade have that big a responsibility? Not that I think Jessi is incompetent, I am just surprised they would do that.

• The girls don't get paid, so it is even more unrealistic that they would volunteer to give up a vacation.
  

• Mary Anne finds out the lodge supposedly has a ghost, but we never really get the details. It is a rather lame attempt at adding a “mystery” – even the person who wrote a book saying there is a ghost doesn’t believe in it.

• It seems like there is no teacher involvement with this Winter War at all. The only teacher who gets any kind of face time is this gym teacher that Mary Anne is afraid of. But that part is boring.

• Mary Anne spends the whole trip mooning over Logan (who couldn’t go on the trip because he is in Aruba with his family). Mary Anne is worried Logan is going to cheat on her, but then he calls the lodge to tell her how much he misses her and was going crazy too. Ah, co-dependency at thirteen.

• Mallory sucks at the spy thing. She decides the cook is poisoning everyone (proven false), thinks a teacher is having an affair with some other teacher (proven false), and watches Stacey make out with her latest boyfriend (where she gets caught).

• When they first get to the room they are staying in (bunks where all the girls for a grade are together), Stacey and Claud pair up right away and Mary Anne and Dawn pair up right away. So poor Kristy is left without a bunk-mate (this is before they end up staying with the kids). It seems a little mean, but I guess someone had to be left out.

• I also can’t figure out if the schools are the only ones at this lodge or if it is a big hotel with lots of other guests. It is really not explained very well.

• The SMS teachers actually vouch for the BSC as being good with kids…but then do hesitate at the idea of the BSC being their primary chaperone for the week. That seems…realistic?

• I am surprised the kids parents would let them stay at the lodge when they find out the elementary school teachers are injured. These are elementary school kids.

• Claudia gets a crush on her ski-instructor, and thinks he is in love with her. Then he introduces her to his wife and kids.

• I feel old. I remember reading this and thinking how crazy Claud was for thinking her older ski instructor was into her, and how anyone old enough to be married with kids is clearly over-the-hill. His age? 25.

• Mary Anne confesses she must be a huge dork because no one had volunteered to be “trip historian” before. So, why don’t the teachers assign people? The whole thing is weird.

• Jessi ends up afraid to ski or skate because she doesn’t want to get frostbite or sprain her ankle and not be able to dance.

• Stacey tells us how she sees Mal taking out her journal, and is all, “who is she kidding?”

• So, the BSC is supposed to be watching the kids, but they end up abandoning them to do winter sports…only Stacey and the gym teacher go with the kids to a ski lesson, and Stacey ends up leaving to ski alone (then she meets her new “luv” target.

• Kristy and Jessi keep making all these announcements at breakfast/lunch about the Winter War/Talent Show. Which, again, seems weird since there are other people at the lodge.

• The lodge has a dance (there is almost always a dance with these girls) and Mallory is also terrified about it. But she does manage to enjoy herself.

• It really doesn’t seem fair for Kristy to be in charge of the whole contest when she is also a team captain. Just like it isn’t fair for Claud to judge a sculpture contest when she is on a team.

• Mary Ann and Dawn have this whole fight when Mary Anne is too busy thinking of Logan to sympathize with Dawn. Mary Anne is actually in the wrong here, but Dawn ends up apologizing to her.

• Is there any other book where we hear about Claudia skiing? Cause apparently she is some super-expert at it.

• The talent show is only 45 minutes long…that seems short. It also doesn’t seem fair for Jessi to be the only one in charge of picking acts (especially since she is in it), or that they do it in the span of a day.

• How do you have an event called a “Snowball fight”? Kristy describes it like it is capture the flag, but I can’t figure out how they regulate people not using “slush balls.” It also seems pretty dangerous…letting kids through snowballs at each other?

• The SMS teachers tell “ghost stories” that are all really lame and cliché – dog eating a finger, a killer scratching through the rood of a car – but maybe this is where I first heard them.

• When I got to this scene, I felt like I had the chapter memorized – Kristy is trying to talk kids into competing in a cross-country ski event. She keeps telling people “if you can walk, you can do it.” So then these kids tell her they can’t walk. It isn’t really that funny, it just is strange how vivid the memory is.

• Of course, one of the kids Kristy does talk into competing falls and breaks his leg. She feels bad and doesn’t mind that her team loses.

As an FYI, this update was early because I am going on vacation tomorrow. I'll be gone for two weeks, so the next post will probably be up around 8/24.

“What if I get too fat to dance?”…..BSC # 61: Jessi and the Awful Secret

Memory Reaction

The secret in this is that a girl in Jessi’s dance class has anorexia, and what really stands out in my mind is how Jessi confronts the girl. She tells the girl that she knows all the symptoms because she and her friends “looked it up in a book.” Which is okay, except for the fact that she then says she looked it up because she was worried about her. I must have been ten or eleven and still thought it was incredibly stupid of Jessi to tell the girl that’s the reason, instead of saying she was looking it up for a school project. Of course, the girl will get irritated at that.

Revisited Reaction

Jessi volunteers to help teach a dance class for kids that her ballet school is giving. When she does, she starts getting to know this girl, Mary, from her class. Mary is obsessed with her weight and thinks if she could just lose ten pounds her dancing would approve. Jessi thinks this is crazy, because Mary is super-skinny. Then, she realizes that Mary never seems to eat, which makes Jessi worried. So, of course, this is all because Mary is anerexic. She keeps denying it, and gets annoyed at Jessi for mentioning it, but she eventually faints in class a couple times. Jessi finally claims she is going to tell their dance teacher, which gets the girl to admit it.

So, meanwhile, the class itself is for underprivileged children. Jessi enjoys teaching the kids (most of them), and thinks it is sad that they won’t be able to keep dancing once the program ends. Her friend Quint gives her the idea to get the dance school to arrange the scholarship for some of the kids. Watson hears about this, and decides to fund the scholarship himself. So, Jessi is all happy about what they have accomplished.

High/Lowlights

• During Jessi’s regular class she says that there is a piano player who plays for them to rehearse to. Does that seem believable? I can see if they were preparing for a show, but just for a regular class?

• Jessi talks about this girl, Carrie, who is the “oldest student in class.” She thinks that Carrie is nervous because she is about to graduate and hasn’t had a leading role. Do people really “graduate” from class like that? And are kids who want to dance professional going to be training at the same place as little kids?

• Claudia outfit: “She was wearing a neon green tank top under a white oversized man’s shirt and fuschia pink stirrup pants.” The top doesn’t sound so bad, but the pink stirrup pants kill it. However, I will admit to owning a pair back in the late eighties.

• Jessi is allowed to wear “non-traditional” clothes to the kid’s dance class, and is thrilled about it. However, I specifically remember her liking not having to think about it previously.

• Jessi’s own pick for workout clothes: “A neon green leotard and a pair of deep blue work-out pants with heavy yellow slouchy socks.” What is with all the neon green?

• Jessi, Mary, and the other students teaching the kids class go out to a Burger King after classes to get to know each other. Obviously, this is an issue for Mary. Jessi suggests she get a salad (this is before Jessi knows she is anorexic), and Mary is all, “there is so much fat in salad dressing.” She doesn’t have to get dressing.

• In this book Shannon has a lot of free time and wants to keep hanging out with Kristy. However, Kristy is apparently “too busy” for this. So, the other girls in the club tell Shannon to call them. Kristy is thrilled with this solution for a while, but then gets jealous when she sees her friends and Shannon doing things with out her. But the weirdest part is that no one can figure out why Kristy is annoyed whenever people talk about Shannon.

• Is it weird that everyone refers to Kristy’s grandmother as Mimi? Mrs. Brewer actually does this when talking to Stacey (as in, “Nannie will be home at…”). I don’t see that happening.

• The mother of a little girl who is one of Jessi’s favorites keeps staring at her in class. Jessi is all freaked out, but it turns out that the woman was watching her because she (the woman) was surprised to see a black person dancing. The woman is black too, and apparently someone had told her that her daughter could never be a dancer. So, it gives her hope or something. And that little girl is one that gets a scholarship.

• Quint writes Jessi a letter describing how he gets annoyed about girls who obsess with dieting in his ballet classes. Then he says, “I’m lucky guys don’t have to worry as much.” Not exactly the most sensitive attitude. I mean, eating disorders are a serious thing, but you can’t really judge people unless you know what they are going through.

• Jessi’s attitude isn’t really much better though. She is right that Mary is too skinny but she mentions how even though she watches her weight, she doesn’t struggle with it too much.

• Madame Noelle tells Mary to have chicken soup to get over her “virus,” and Jessi thinks that the advice is “wiser than she realizes.” But I am pretty sure a dance teacher has seen eating disorders before. And we do find out later Madame Noelle suspected Mary’s problem.

• Jessi has a lot of nerve for just walking up to her dance teacher and suggesting the school give out a scholarship. It worked out, since it is a BSC book, but still. It probably wouldn’t in most real life situations.

• There is something weird about how Watson just “decides” to sponsor the scholarship. I am not sure how, it just is.

• I don’t think this book really presents anorexia in the best way. It really is a psychological disorder, and it is presented as though it is just some girl taking dieting too far, and all she needs is to be told. It is like the Full House episode where D.J. had anorexia for a day.

• It also doesn’t present “underprivileged children” in the best way. Well, the book actually describes them as “less privileged.” First, the teacher is super-relaxed, and Jessi and the other assistants think she doesn’t expect anything from them. Then, she actually teaches them and gets them to perform a recital, and the assistants act like they helped her “accomplish something” and made the kids really happy. But I am not sure why they think that. The kids danced for six weeks and only two of them get to keep attending class.

“I didn’t want you. Not this you. I wanted my old friend, Laine Cummings.”…..BSC # 51: Stacey’s Ex-Best Friend

Memory Reaction

This book always kind of made me sad, because around the time it came out my own best friend and I were drifting apart. We never had a huge blow out like Stacey and Laine do in this book, we just ended up in different classes and were involved with different activities. But I always kind of wanted Laine to come back and be friends with Stacey again. Even if she was kind of bitchy in this book.

Revisited Reaction

Stacey’s friend Laine has a week off from school and Stacey convinces her to come visit Stoneybrook for a week. Stacey has school, but she figures Laine will have enough fun that it doesn’t matter. When Laine shows up, she starts by totally dissing Stoneybrook for being too small and out in the “country.” Stacey did this when she first moved to Stoneybrook too, so it isn’t that big a deal. But Stacey notices that Laine is acting more snobbish than she used to, and she can’t stop talking about her 15-year-old boyfriend and how everything is so much better in NYC.

Stacey introduces Laine to some of the kids at SMS. Pete Black gets this huge crush on her and invites her to a Valentines Day dance. Laine agrees, but only making it obvious that middle school dances are totally beneath her. But, while at the dance Laine is rude to Pete, and then tells him she doesn’t want to dance, only to run off and dance with some other dude three seconds later. This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back for Stacey, and they get into a huge argument – eventually leading to the girls leaving the dance early and Laine going back to New York early.

Stacey knows deep down that this isn’t just another fight, it is the end of a friendship…and even writes a letter to Laine sending back the friendship necklace Laine gave her when she moved to Stoneybrook.

Subplot: The BSC is planning a Valentines Day dance for the kids they sit for. It is a Valentines “Masquerade” where the kids are supposed to sign their names with code. The Arnold girls are all into it because they both have crushes on someone, and the BSC thinks Carolyn likes Nicky Pike, and think Nicky likes her back and spend all this time discussing how cute it is, and wondering what they do for “dates.”


High/Lowlights

• Stacey says she and Laine had a fight when Laine didn’t understand her diabetes and just thought it was gross. But, I thought they didn’t tell the Cummings about her diabetes until after moving to Stoneybook?
  

• Every once in awhile they reveal more depth to Stacey than the “loves boys and shopping” type. Like, her pig collection. I know it is referenced in other books, and it makes another appearance here.

• Stacey’s outfit to meet Laine: “A purple shirtwaist top over flowered leggings, [her] cowboy boots…a purple hair ornament made from shoelaces, and long dangly silver earrings.”

• Laine’s outfit for arriving in Stoneybrook: “A jean coat with a fur collar…black Capri pants edged with lace, very chick black ankle boots, and on her head, a brillant red oversized-beret.” Capri pants with ankle boots? And capris in February?

• Stacey has a sleepover with the BSC and Laine and it is a little tense. They finally relax when they find out that To Kill a Mockingbird is on TV and decide to watch it. Now, don’t get me wrong, it is a fabulous book and movie. But would 13-year-olds really be excited about watching it?

• Stacey gets permission for Laine to come to school with her, and expects Laine to be excited about it.

• Apparently Stacey and Mal have this code where Mal hangs a white towel out her window if she can walk to school with the BSC and a red one if she has to walk with her family. It is built off a phone code Stacey/Laine had when they were ten, but Laine makes fun of it now.

• Laine is surprised that students can’t leave SMS during the school day. Seriously? It is middle school.

• What the hell is a gossamer? Pete tells Laine her hair is like a gossamer.

• Laine’s boyfriend calls her “Babe” and she calls him “Heart”…his real name (or at least what we are told is his real name) is King, so the “Heart” refers to the King of her Heart.
• When King calls the McGills, he actually says, “How’s Babe?” Then Laine is all, “Hi, it’s me, Babe.”

• The Hobart boys are originally planning on wearing suits and neckties to the Valentines Day party. First, how many boys would be excited about it? They are 4, 6, and 8. And second, are their parents that out of it?

• Mallory and Ben Hobart have a fight while studying together. It is about…whether is to look things up by subject or author in the card catalogue. That makes it seem like so long ago.

• Stacey makes this big deal about tells us that Laine goes to the Friday BSC meeting with her. But then they all act like it is the first time she is there. So did she just leave Laine home alone Monday and Wednesday.

• When Kristy hears about Laine’s older boyfriend she asks, “Can he drive? Vote? Then what’s the point?” (Paraphrased). I kind of see her point. If you are going to brag about dating an older guy, you might as well get something out of it.

• Laine tells the BSC baby-sitting is not a “real job” and the girls should be getting regular paychecks like adults. Why? Don’t rush into needing a regular job.

• Laine also makes fun of the BSC for sitting around talking about the love life of little kids. I will agree with her on this one.

• Laine’s dance outfit: “Black leotard, long black jacket, black leggings over black stockings, black shows.” Why would you where leggings over stockings? Am I missing something?
• Stacey’s dance outfit: “A red top and a very short jean skirt.”

• Mrs. McGill tells Stacey and Laine they look 15, and Laine is all “people tell me I look 18." I really doubt she looked that old.
  

• Laine is shocked that Mrs. McGill is driving them to the dance, and they are meeting the guys there. Stacey points out that even King can’t drive, so I am not sure what Laine was expecting.

• The BSC all agreed to meet at the door to the dance and go in together. Stacey tells us they sometimes like to stay together like a pack. Sometimes?

• Laine is horrified that Pete wears sneakers with his suit to the dance. Personally, I am shocked about the suit. In middle school, the only really dressy dance we had was our eighth grade graduation one. Sometimes girls wore dresses, but not fancy ones and boys never wore suits. Even in HS, the only dressy dances were “Holiday” dances and prom.

• On Valentines Day (to the kids party), Stacey: “Red leggings, red ankle boots, a bulky red sweater, and red barrettes.”

• At the kids party, it turns out that Nicky and Marilyn Arnold like each other, but first there is this weird misunderstanding because he thought her name was Marylin. Now, I don’t know about anyone else, but I generally think knowing my name is a strong requirement when deciding whether to date a guy.

• It turns out Carolyn liked James Hobart, and he liked her, so there are happy endings all around for the kiddie scene.

• Do eight-year-olds even exchange cards like that on Valentines Day? Really? Aren't kids still in the "they have cooties" stage at that point?
  

• Stacey writes a “good-bye” type letter to Laine where she says she didn’t make Laine come to Stoneybrook. But…she kind of did.

“Cooties, cooties, Mallory has the cooties”…..BSC # 69: Get Well Soon, Mallory!

Memory Reaction

This book is where I learned what Mono is. In fact, it is where I learned it existed. As a result, every time I was over-tired in high school I thought I had mono (although I never actually did have it). It also made me think that mono was some horrible disease. And, not that it is a great one, but I don’t think it was as bad as it was portrayed in this book. At least, not typically. No one I actually knew had as bad a case as Mallory. I remember her not being able to baby-sit for multiple books…which must have been months BSC time. The few people I knew who had it missed much less school.

Revisited Reaction

Mallory has been sick a lot and has been extremely tired, and she finds out that she has mono. She starts to feel a little better, but the doctor tells her that she has a serious case, which may drag on for months. She is out of school for weeks, and is barely allowed to get out of bed. I think she only leaves the house twice in the whole book….both times to go to the doctor.

Her parents tell her that even when she goes back to school, she won’t be allowed to participate in extra activities like archery or baby-sitting. Mallory tells Kristy she has to “drop out” of the club. I am not sure why they have to be so official about it, but I guess it is in character. Even though this is right after Dawn went to California, the other girls decide not to “replace” Mallory.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t make Mallory feel better, since the BSC is in the middle of planning a Thanksgiving charity event where they bring kids to visit the senior citizen home. So, when they ask Mallory to help out by making phone calls from home, she blows it off. She is hoping that if she is rude enough, they will replace her. But, the BSC doesn’t let her get away with it. Then, after the senior event, recreate it to show Mallory how much they love her.

Meanwhile, the Pikes were supposed to go to New York City for Thanksgiving to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. But since Mal is still sick, the whole family can’t go. Her siblings are pissed about it, but by the end don’t seem to mind. Mainly because they didn’t see the relatives who invited them on TV (meaning they didn’t miss their own shot at being on TV).

High/Lowlights

• This book takes place between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Which makes it yet another Halloween that the BSC celebrates.

• I actually remember this part really well. Vanessa is practicing her “waves” for the parade and explains that there are three types, “the windshield wiper,” “screwing in the light bulb,” and “the flap.” I think I may have practiced the different “types” myself when I first read it.

• Mal’s doctor tells her she might have “mononucleosis.” I know that is the official name, but does any one really call it that? Even doctors? (At least when they are talking to kids).

• Awe, I feel bad for Mallory. Her brothers keep teasing her for having the “kissing disease” and she is worried kids at school will think she kissed Ben Hobart. It is pretty normal for eleven, but at the same time, I think the whole exchange sums up everything about Mal’s character.

• This book is short on outfits, but we do get to hear about Mal’s pajamas: “They’re made of white flannel with tiny pink rosebuds printed all over them, and pink lace at the collar and cuff.”

• The BSC actually changes Mallory’s status to “honorary member” since she isn’t allowed to sit. It is even changed on the back of the book where they list the girls names – I think it stays like that for multiple books. It just seems so unnecessary. Would it be SUCH a big deal to keep calling her a “Junior Officer”? It is not like she has to act as president or anything.

• So, the BSC is doing this charity thing for a senior citizen home. It seems…. convoluted. They raise money to put baskets together as gifts, so they ask for sponsors. But they don’t make enough money, so the kids all promise their parents they’ll do chores in order to get the extra money. Then on top of this, they set up some kind of carnival for the senior citizens to give them something to do.

• Mrs. Pike’s cousin is the one who gets them tickets to the Thanksgiving parade. Now, these are tickets to bleacher seats. Now, I can see someone getting a few extra tickets. But getting ten tickets to just handover to the Pikes and all their bratty kids?

• When they make baskets to give to the senior citizens, the BSC encourages the kids to pick out toys as gifts. I understanding the thinking, and the wanting to do something different, but it also seems a little…. insensitive.

• I know people eat dinner early on Thanksgiving, but the Pikes eat really early. They eat their appetizers (stuffed mushrooms and vegetables and dip) while watching the parade. Which starts at about 9:00 am on the east coast. Not only is that early…but how early did Mrs. Pike wake up to have things done that early? Maybe my family is the weird one, but it seems unrealistic.

• On Thanksgiving, the BSC stops by the Pikes to visit Mallory. Now, this is nice of them, but I wonder how realistic it is that all of them were allowed. I mean, when I was a kid we went to my grandmothers for the day…and it was not in town. Are we supposed to believe that none of these girls had plans like that?

• So, we do have one regular outfit, another Mallory one: “A blue velvet skirt with a matching bolero jacket and a white silk blouse.” Not as fun as a Claudia one, but not as embarrassing either.

• Mal’s parents almost make her eat dinner on the couch because she is too weak to sit up at the table. Okay…. seriously? It is not like she would be running a marathon, she would be sitting at a table eating dinner. How much energy could that take? I mean, this is almost four weeks after she was diagnosed. Is she really so sick that after all that time, she can’t even sit up at a table?

• Dawn calls from California on Thanksgiving, and says how it doesn’t feel like Thanksgiving there because it is seventy degrees. But I distinctly remember her complaining about seventy-degree weather when she was back in Connecticut. There is just no pleasing that girl.
  
  
• This book is actually kind of boring, because we get everything second hand. Mallory lies to Jessi and Claud about not doing work for the carnival/charity/thing to get them mad at her. But we don’t see them fight. We just hear them tell Mal she made them fight. It is sort of lame…the fights between the girls are always the most fun.

“Sleeping Beauty’s sleeping on the job”…..BSC # 42: Jessi and the Dance School Phantom

Memory Reaction

The main thing I remember about this book is how Jessi keep talking about leg warmers. Because the “phantom” steals her leg warmers, or destroys them (or whatever), and she keeps buying new ones. But it always seemed strange because she never mentions wearing them to practice in other books. I think they just added it to this one so that there would be more things to get messed with. Also, I am trying really hard, but I can’t remember if I have ever actually see someone wear leg warmers.

I know that the basic plot of this one has some girl harassing Jessi hoping to get her to give up her part as lead in some ballet, and I am testing myself to see if I can remember which one it is. I want to say it is the “old” girl from her class (meaning, like 16), but I think she is only a suspect.

Revisited Reaction

So, we start this one with Jessi in the middle of yet another audition to a dance performance. This time it is Sleeping Beauty, and surprise, surprise, she gets the lead. She is super-happy about it, until the first rehersal. Someone steals her toe shoes from her bag. She knows she didn’t lose them, because she remembered packing them the night before, but she just can’t find them. Of course, Mme Noelle (her teacher) is very upset, but they get through the rehersal. Later, Jessi gets a note saying “Beware.” She figures out that the note is from a classmate that wants her to drop out of the show so they can take over the lead part.

As rehearsals go on, more things happen. Some of her leotards are stolen or ripped up. The same thing happens with her toe shoes and warm up clothes (including leg warmers). She also gets notes saying generic threats like “drop out, or else” and “beware.” At one rehearsal, Jessi even slips on some water and strains her ankle (but not badly enough to have to drop out of the show).

She recruits the BSC’s help and the girls sneak into a rehearsal to spy on her classmates and figure out who is guilty. They narrow it down to three: Katie Beth, the girl who was jealous of Jessi when she first joined the class, Carrie, the “old girl” who needs good parts on her resume when she graduates, and Hilary, this girl with a pushy stage mother. One day, Carrie is out sick and Jessi still gets a note, so Jessi decides it isn’t her. Then Katie Beth pushes Jessi out of the way of a piece of scenery that fell, so Jessi decides it isn’t her. That leaves Hilary.

She ends up confronting Hilary by having her write something and proving the handwriting matches the notes. Hilary confesses, and claims she did it because of all the pressure her mother puts on her. She apologizes and….Jessi lets her go. Seriously, what is up with that? These girls are all way too forgiving. Anyway, Hilary stops her tricks and decides to give up dancing after the performance. And the show goes well, Jessi is fantastic, yada, yada, yada.

Subplot: The BSC is putting on a pet show…or, they are having one for the neighborhood kids. This causes a bunch of arguments between families over who has the best pet and within families about who gets to enter each pet. But Jessi has the brilliant idea to give everyone a prize, so everyone is happy.

High/Lowlights

• Jessi tells us how the room would be full of neon if the girls in her dance class were allowed to pick out their own leotards. I know we can’t see the girls in these books, but I think we should all be grateful that didn’t happen.

• In this book, we are told that Dawn wears casual clothes in lots of bright colors. Is that what “California Casual” means?

• So, clearly, I was wrong about Carrie being the phantom. But I realized it really quickly. The first day of rehearsals, when Jessi is missing her shoes Mme Noelle wants to end the rehearsal. Then Hilary is all, “no I think we should look one more time.” And of course, they find them two minutes later. So, it was pretty obvious at that point.

• It is not really clear if Hilary actually causes Jessi to hurt her ankle, but she does leave a note that says, “I told you so. From now on, watch out.” But if Jessi thinks she did, she should really tell someone. Notes and one thing, but causing physical injury is another.

• How come the parents of the kids these girls sit for are always so open-minded? Mallory is telling some story about how the Perkins girls and their dog were making a mess in the bathroom (washing the dog), but adds that Mrs. Perkins was okay with whatever the girls wanted to do. It is like they want to give the BSC funny stories without having them get in trouble.

• Jessi makes a bunch of comments about the girls in her dance class being catty, but we don’t get to hear much of it. The worst is saying that one of the girls is “over-the-hill.” The only person we hear saying something even close to mean is Hilary, which should make it obvious she was guilty.

• Linny Papadakis has a pet turtle that he paints for the show, and leaves him in the backyard to dry. Which of course leads to the turtle getting wet and ruining the paint job. But why is Linny letting his turtle loose in the backyard? Couldn’t he get lost that way?

• Charlie drives the entire BSC to one of Jessi’s rehersals, helps sneak them in to watch, then drives them all home. Again, I have to ask. Does this guy not have a life?

• Mallory thinks that one of the girls in Jessi’s class is so nice that she must be faking it, but Jessi refuses to consider her a suspect. Wasn’t the point of having the BSC watch her rehearsal to get a second opinion on her classmates?

• If the BSC went to the trouble of going to a rehearsal, wouldn’t it make sense for one of them to hide in the dressing room to see if they could catch someone messing with Jessi’s stuff?

• I am not sure why Jessi thinks that Katie Beth saving her from getting hit with scenery means she isn’t the one sending her notes. Just because she didn’t want you dead, doesn’t mean she doesn’t want you out of the show.

• Jessi doesn’t tell any one but the BSC about what is happening because she doesn’t want her parents to worry and she doesn’t want to her dance teacher to think she is making trouble. But Madame Noelle actually comes out and asks her what is bothering her and she says nothing.

• After Jessi has figured out Hilary is the one sending her notes, she comes up with a plan to corner her alone in the dressing room, and tell her that Madame Noelle needs her to write a sign. Then she spends two days obsessing over it while waiting. But when she puts it into action, she realizes she never thought of what she was asking her to write. Smooth.

• At the pet show, Jessi, Mallory, and Kristy aren’t judges since they have siblings entering pets in the show. Which makes sense (although it doesn’t really matter, since again, everyone is getting a prize).

• Now, Mary Anne isn’t allowed to be a judge because she “loves her kitten, Tiger, so much that she might be biased toward any cats that were entered.” That isn’t really giving Mary Anne enough credit, is it?

• They give everyone at the pet show a prize. But I would think some kids would still be upset, since some of the prizes are “smartest” or “cutest” and others are things like “most unusually colored shell” and “shortest legs.”

• Early in the book, they announce the parts and we are told Carrie is the Bluebird of Happiness. In the middle, Jessi tells the BSC that Carrie is the Lilac Fairy. Then at the end, Jessi tells us that she dances with Carrie as the Bluebird of Happiness. I almost didn’t notice that error, but it was definitely there.

• When they go to the performance, Stacey wears a tuxedo. Isn’t there another book where she does that? Or was that Claudia?

“Was I becoming a New York snob?”…..BSC # 18: Stacey’s Mistake

Memory Reaction

This is another one where I remember hearing about it in other books more than actually reading it. But, I know that in the other books that have the girls going to NYC, they reference the time the girls visited Stacey and they got in a fight.

Revisited Reaction

The people in Stacey’s building decide to have a meeting to decide how to help the homeless. I guess that is generic an issue as you can get. And I am sure you can do so much for the homeless in New York City in one afternoon meeting. But anyway, this makes a bunch of families call Stacey to baby-sit that day. Since Stacey can’t sit for five families by herself, she invites Claud, Kristy, Mary Anne, and Dawn to come help. The girls also think this is a good excuse to visit.

When the BSC gets there, they act like….well, like 13-year-olds who have never been to New York without their parents. And Stacey acts like a stock up snob. She keeps getting embarrassed that Dawn is afraid of mice and that Mary Anne keeps quoting travel books. Then, she has a party to introduce her New York friends to her BSC friends. It doesn’t go well, especially between Claudia and Laine, who are clearly jealous of each other.

The girls agree to call a truce for the sake of their sitting job. They almost lose a kid at the Museum of Natural History, but find him (obviously). They end up getting along again by the end of the job. Then Laine calls with free tickets to a Broadway show, complete with a limo ride there. They go and have a great time, etc, etc. And they manage to enjoy the rest of their weekend together.

High/Lowlights

• I hate when they start the book with a character in the middle of a thought – then switch to, “You must be confused.” It just seems so unnecessary.

• Stacey equates Mary Anne’s feelings on New York as “having a crush on it.” Which….may actually be accurate.

• Stacey is surprised that Claudia brought a huge suitcase with her for one weekend. Uh, has she met Claudia? Stacey also gets annoyed that they have to bring the suitcase back to her apartment before they can go out to lunch. What did she expect?

• Stacey thinks having a suitcase with wheels is embarrassing. She claims only grandmothers have suitcases with wheels on them. Personally, I would never buy a suitcase without wheels. I’ve traveled along and the wheels are a lifesaver.

• This cracked me up. In the Hard Rock Café, they see a “Save the Planet” sign, and Dawn says, “That’s kind of 1960s isn’t it?” Guess they hadn’t written “environmental nazi” into her character yet, huh?

• Stacey gets embarrassed because Kristy orders filet mignon, “fill-it mig-nun.” The waitress knew what she meant, but Stacey is all embarrassed that it makes them look uncool. Believe me Stacey, the waitress is just thinking about how she got stuck with a table of five teenagers who aren’t going to tip well. She doesn’t care if you’re cool.

• Mary Anne gets stopped by a security guard in Bloomingdale’s because she puts a tester compact from the make-up counter into her purse (thinking it was a free sample to take). I really….can’t see Mary Anne doing that. Claudia, yes. Mary Anne, no.

• Claudia actually writes a letter to her parents saying Mary Anne almost got arrested, but “don’t tell her father.” Why would she tell her parents if Mary Anne didn’t want her dad to know. The Kishi’s are pretty strict, I think they would tell Mr. Spier something like that.

• Mary Anne insists that everyone listen to Stacey when getting dressed for the party. Then she totally ignores Stacey’s advice and wears, “a ruffly white blouse, a long paisley skirt, and these little brown boots.”

• All we hear about Claud’s outfit is that she wore “her black outfit.” How disappointing.

• Dawn’s party outfit: “An oversized peach-colored sweater dress, lacy white stockings, and black ballet slippers.

• Stacey’s party outfit: “A short yellow dress that flared out just above my hips, white stockings, yellow push-down socks, and these new shoes [her] parents hate.”

• Just so you don’t think I am leaving Kristy out, she wore jeans, a turtleneck, and a sweater.

• Laine’s outfit (which Stacey claims makes her look 19): “A short black dress, black stockings, and simple black flats. On one wrist, was a single silver bangle bracelet. One her dress was one of those silver squiggle pins.”

• At the party, Kristy is actually pretty into this guy friend of Stacey’s and ends up chatting and dancing with him all night….until Claudia cuts in, which leads to more bitch-fighting. However, the reason Kristy is so into the guy? Stacey tells her he is a sports fan. I think it was Tiff who first pointed out that is not really a rare thing in a guy. So, it is weird to talk about how Kristy is not interested in guys, except for the “rare time” she finds one who likes sports.

• I know they do this to do the “notebook style” into in each chapter, but I HATE when they write letters to their families when they go on a two night trip. Dawn even writes a letter to Jessi on the train ride HOME. She even says how dumb it is in her note. Seriously, no one writes that many letters on such a short trip (at least no one I know).

• Claud is kind of bitchy when she meets Laine. She’s all: “You’re the one Stacey had that huge fight with over her diabetes.”

• Mary Anne is pretty bitchy too….when she realizes that blabbing travel stats isn’t impressing Stacey’s friends, she tries making fun of Dawn (for being so scared of the city). I am usually up for trashing Dawn, but I’m not her best friend.

• This book is called “Stacey’s Mistake,” implying that she made a mistake inviting her friends to New York. But really, her friends are the ones acting normal. She is the bitchy, annoying one.

• I can’t even be bothered to learn the names of the kids they sit for in New York. Two of them are Henry and Grace, who we see in at least one other Stacey book. But the others? Will never be heard from again.

• At Central Park, the girls see, a guy with a long white beard riding an adult-sized tricycle…and pulling along a wagon of kittens. It just strikes me is so bizarre, I wonder if it was inspired by something real.

• The BSC ends up giving a bunch of the kids piggy-back rides as they walk home from the park. How long do you really think a 13-year-old could carry a four or five-year-old around like that?

• The kids all decide to sing “For they are jolly good sitters” because they just love the BSC sooo much. I just don’t see kids doing stuff like that. Especially when they have only met most of them that day.

• I know it is just a plot device to give the girls a sitting job, but it seems so dumb for the adults to all be having a meeting to help the homeless.

• Apparently no one had told Stacey until this book that Jeff moved to California. Glad they are keeping their friend in the loop.