BSC #31: Dawn's Wicked Stepsister

Tagline: Dawn thought having a sister was going to be fun. Was she ever wrong!

Now that Dawn and Mary Anne are friends and sisters, Dawn wants them to do everything together - share a room, talk all night long, wear each other's clothes.

But living with Mary Anne isn't exactly what Dawn expected. Mary Anne brags about having a date to the school dance, her kitten throws up on the rug, and she hogs Dawn's baby-sitting jobs!

Dawn's always wanted a sister. Instead, she got Mary Anne, the wicked stepsister of Stoneybrook!

This book picks up exactly where the last one left off, with Mrs Schafer throwing the bouquet. Mary Anne ends up catching it, which prompts some jealousy in Dawn. Dawn of course acknowledges that the whole thing is silly, and tries to move on, but this is just the first of many problems that pop up for them in this book. Their day ends with them going back to MA's old place for one last night.

The next day is moving day, and it does not go well at all. MA is cranky (understandably), and so Dawn is cranky too. Tigger, MA's kitten, is all disoriented, which upsets MA. But Dawn forges ahead, and reminds MA of all the cool stuff they can do now that they're sisters. In fact, the first thing Dawn wants to do is for them to pick out outfits from each other's wardrobe to wear. MA gets excited, and Dawn thinks that everything will work out alright. Just before he leaves though, Jeff voices his opinion that things are not what they seem. Dawn brushes him off.

On Monday (so just a couple of days after the wedding), things are testy between Dawn and MA. Dawn trips over Tigger, which sets MA on edge, and MA is rude about the bean sprouts in the fridge, which then sets Dawn off. By Wednesday, things are downright nasty. A job comes up that both girls are available for, and MA starts sniping at Dawn, telling her that she doesn't look good in MA's clothing (implying she's fat) and insisting that because she was the one who had to move, she should get the job. Eventually they pull straws, and MA gets the job. A few nights later, when MA comes home from the job, she starts to rub it in Dawn's face, but eventually the girls start laughing at what the kids had done, and all is forgiven.

As time passes, Dawn starts to realize that she dreads the weekends. On the weekends, everyone is home and tensions run even higher. Richard keeps waking up super early and making giant breakfasts that include bacon, which of course Sharon won't eat. Even so, Sharon doesn't wake up til much later, and her breakfast is cold and mostly wasted. Neither of them will address the issue though. Same thing with meals. Sharon insists that MA and Richard can eat meat during lunch (when they're away from home), but that they should all eat a vegetarian dinner together. Richard and MA also always want to clean things right away (even wanting to spend an entire day doing cleaning), while Dawn and Sharon would rather wait til later. (Actually, Dawn concedes that she doesn't mind cleaning sooner rather than later, but at this point, it's more about siding with her mother.) When they do clean, MA ends up following Sharon around, cleaning up after her, which pisses Dawn off. Finally, Tigger throws up on the carpet, and Sharon freaks out, which somewhat surprises Dawn.

Another week goes by, and Dawn and MA are still arguing over everything. MA rubs it in Dawn's face that she has a boyfriend, and that Logan is so wonderful and taking her to the dance. Dawn gets all pissed, and ends up calling Jeff that night. Jeff mentions people needing emotional space, which prompts Dawn to think back to the Arnold Twins, and how they were constantly fighting until they each had their own room and personal space. Dawn considers it, but then reconsiders things when MA gets home, and they end up having a really nice chat from their beds side-by-side.

Dawn starts noticing that MA is spending more and more time with Kristy, initiating hangouts, which is something that's out of character for her. Dawn thinks that maybe MA is just as miserable at home as Dawn is, but can't quite figure out what to do. Things finally come to a head when the girls can't agree on how to do homework: in silence or listening to music. MA storms off and decides to do her homework and spend the night in the guest room (the room that would've been hers if Dawn hadn't pressured her into sharing). What strikes Dawn is the fact that her mom sided with MA, and that MA's dad sided with her. After talking to Kristy about dealing with new, blended families, Dawn realizes that everyone is walking on eggshells at home, and they really want things to work, but in forcing togetherness, it's just making everyone tense and take sides. More importantly, Dawn realizes that MA and her need separate rooms.

Of course, Dawn can't just explain this to MA. Dawn's afraid that MA will think that she did something to upset Dawn, or that MA will get stubborn and insist on trying to work things out. What Dawn needs is for MA to want to leave on her own accord, and not because of a fight with Dawn (which is what's been happening at this point). Dawn decides to use the secret passage to terrify MA into wanting to leave. One night, when Richard and Sharon are gone for dinner, Dawn pretends that the Pikes need help, and that she has to leave. That leaves MA all alone in the house, and more importantly, their room. Dawn then hides in the secret passage and makes noises and stuff. She rings the doorbell, and while MA is gone to answer it, she opens up the passage and leaves things in the room for MA. Of course, just before leaving MA alone for good, she takes all the stuff back so that MA doesn't have any proof of her "haunting". MA, thoroughly terrified, later tells Dawn that she can't sleep in that room anymore and moves her stuff out. The family then has a meeting and decide to talk things out and figure out how to make their combined household work. With more honesty and space, Dawn and MA go back to being BFFs.

The subplot in this was the "Pike plague": over the course of the book, pretty much every Pike got sick or injured in some way, shape or form. It starts off with Mallory contracting chicken pox for a second time, after having baby-sat for Jamie and Lucy Newton. Then the triplets come down with pneumonia. At some point, Nicky breaks his fingers (and for some reason, this constitutes staying at home and being treated like he's sick and miserable??) while Vanessa sprains her ankle. Margo and Claire eventually come down with colds. Finally, Mrs Pike injures her knee playing tennis and is unable to walk for several days, while Mr Pike severely burns his hand is unable to use it (including drive) for several days as well. Eventually, they all get better, obviously.

Random Thoughts:

• I have one of the first printings of the book. In it, it says that in the last book, Mary Anne had gotten Dawn a present, but in the last book, Mary Anne had said that it had been Dawn who gave the present. Also, in the "coming soon" list, it lists #33 as Claudia and the Mystery of Stoneybrook and #35 as Stacey and the New Kids on the Block. But fans of the series know that those aren't what those books ended up being.
• We've got more foreshadowing about Stacey and her health in this one. Again, we're reminded that Stacey's been put on a stricter diet than usual.
• Dr. Dellenkamp is mentioned in this one. She's the Pikes pediatrician (and probably for a lot of the other clients too). Is this the first time she's mentioned? I feel like I know her super-well, but I can't figure out why. I think maybe she was Karen's doctor too? And I read pretty much every single Little Sister book as a child. (I was part of the book club and thus got every book in the mail every month haha)
• When every single Pike is out of commission, Kristy and Jessi end up going to their place as emergency sitters to help get them through their Saturday. It's noted that the Pikes are in desperate need of groceries, so Charlie Thomas, on his way to pick up Kristy, goes grocery shopping. He even then stays to help make dinner. He is the greatest brother ever and I want so badly a mini-series of books regarding the series from his POV.
• Mallory admits that she has chicken pox scars in "unmentionable places". That part always stuck with me as a kid. I remember describing my lady bits as "unmentionable places" for the longest time xD haha
• It says that "[Mallory, Vanessa and Nicky] will all be in school on Monday." but Vanessa just had a sprained ankle and Nicky had broken his fingers. I could see maybe Nicky being kept out of school for a day to get used to the cast and maybe due to pain, but neither him nor Vanessa should have really been kept out for a long time.
• I really really really hate that Dawn tricked Mary Anne into moving out of her room. Seriously. It was Dawn's fault that MA was there in the first place, Dawn should have owned up to it and admitted that she was wrong. Although, I suppose it's fairly realistic that a 13 year old wouldn't want to be quite so honest and upfront about that stuff.
• This is the first we hear of Carol, Jack Schafer's girlfriend. We'll be seeing her lots whenever Dawn does stuff in California. 
• I find it weird that Dawn doesn't go to the dance because no one asked her to go. Whatever happened to being an individual? And why the fuck can't you go to a dance with your friends without dates? I never understood that mindset. When I went to dances in middle school, my friends and I just all went as a big group, although occasionally there was like, an unspoken agreement that one of us was going with a guy, or at the very least planning on dancing with a guy. In high school, we didn't go to dances at all because we all agreed that we were too cool for them haha
• New people move into MA's old house. Well, they don't move in yet, but the house has been sold. The girls find out that it's to a foreign family, and that they think they're from Austria. At this point, I remembered the Hobart family. I had completely forgotten that they had moved into MA's old house. (The Hobart family is from Australia, as we'll soon learn.)
• I like how even though sometimes Dawn gets jealous of Kristy's relationship with MA, she still turns to her for advice. I like it when Dawn and Kristy get heart-to-hearts, and it makes me wish that they did it more often. What stuck out to me particularly was the fact that after Kristy and Dawn talk about blended families and making things work, Dawn and Kristy hugged good-bye. Kristy doesn't generally seem like a huggy-touchy-feely person, but especially not with Dawn. I liked it.
• Like I mentioned last time, I still think it's super weird and stupid of them not to have talked about living arrangements prior to having lived together. Like seriously.