BSC #55: Jessi's Gold Medal

Tagline: Go for it, Jessi!

Jessi is honored - and surprised - when she's asked to participate in a synchronized swimming competition. Sure Jessi knows ballet. But waterballet is a different story. All that swimming is hard work!

Jessi and her partner practice their routines over and over again. Everyone - especially the Baby-sitters - is expecting them to win the gold. But Jessi's not so sure...

Can she do it?

Although it's only spring, it's super hot already, and Jessi can't wait to get out of ballet class. She loves ballet, but it's just too hot, and Jessi gets the brilliant idea of suggesting to her parents to get a swimming pool for the summer. Her parents are receptive to the idea, and have confessed to having discussed it, but alas they don't have enough money for it. However, they do point out that the community centre nearby doesn't have just one, but rather three pools, and suggests that maybe the family can get a membership. Jessi realizes that she'll be able to take lessons and is all pumped up for a summer of swimming.

Also happening are the Summer Olympics, and so sports fever is in the air. At SMS, they're celebrating by having a Sports Festival. Claudia's creating a logo for it, and considers entering in an event. Stacey decides she's going to swim, while Dawn wants to do something really different like shot put or pole vaulting. Kristy's signed up for several track events. With swimming on her mind, Jessi considers signing up for a swimming event as well. Everyone's pretty excited, except for Mary Anne and Mallory, both of whom hate gym. Kristy deflects the conversation, by announcing that Alan Gray has challenged her to a race, getting the girls all excited about what Kristy will make him do when she beats him.

Coincidentally, the grade 6 gym class has just switched over the swimming for their next unit. Mallory is incredibly pessimistic about the whole thing, citing that the only good thing will be that there will be less time for actual gym class, as they have to walk to community centre. Jessi points out that since Mallory already knows how to swim, she might get put in an advanced class, but Mallory doesn't want to have anything to do with it - or the Sports Festival.

Unfortunately for Mallory, gym class gets worse: they're forced to share pool time with the boys' class, and Mallory has a very very old and childish bathing suit. She tries to hide behind Jessi, but that just calls more attention to her. Eventually, they get in the pool and do a basic swim test to check their levels and abilities. Mallory does pretty well on the swim test, but we never get to hear about her and swimming again, because Jessi does even better: in fact, Jessi's been tapped to join the school's synchronized swim team, which means switching her gym class with her lunch so that she can practice with them!

Jessi excitedly goes to her first practice, where she meets the rest of the team. The team is all excited because up until this point, they've been an odd number, which has made routines difficult. One girl, Elise, has just been partnering with everyone, so she'll now be Jessi's permanent partner. Ms Cox, the synchro coach, has Elise work with Jessi to get her up to snuff. Elise explains that she swims competitively, so she's all strength, but no style, while Jessi, with her ballet training, is all style and no strength. They hope that this will mean that they will be able to complement each other and raise each other up. Jessi has fun, but is also incredibly exhausted by the end of her first hour.

The fun doesn't end there though: Ms Cox explains that the whole team will do a routine for the Sports Festival, and then that each pair will be competing against each other. Each pair will have to choreograph and perform a routine for ranking. Jessi starts to feel over her head, but Elise is convinced that Jessi will be great in no time!

Jessi continues to go to practice, and with each practice, she feels worse and worse. She's exhausted and her and Elise can't seem to get the choreography right for their routine. They both excel in their other athletic pursuits, and are just discouraged by their lack of synchro ability. Jessi really enjoys spending time with Elise, so together they resolve to practice and never give up, encouraging each other to do their best.

Making things worse is all the pressure Jessi feels she has. She puts a lot of pressure on herself, since she never had problems like this with ballet. But she also feels pressure from all the encouragement and support her friends and family give her. They're all convinced that she must be great, and Jessi doesn't want to let them down. Jessi decides to keep her troubles to herself.

Meanwhile, the rest of the girls are very excited about the Sports Festival. Dawn has decided to do the javelin throw, and Kristy is competing against Alan in an obstacle course. It's the talk of the school! It's an event especially for the two of them with the loser owing the winner a week of personal service. Mary Anne still doesn't want to do an event, but clearly wants to be involved somehow. Mallory on the other hand...

While helping their sitting charges practice for the Club's Mini-Olympics (more on that later), Mallory sprains her ankle. It's super suspicious, and even Claudia (who was baby-sitting with her at the time) doesn't quite understand it. Mallory ends up on crutches with her ankle wrapped, told to keep off her feet for several days, until the pain goes away. Coincidentally, this ends up overlapping with the Sports Festival, giving her an excuse to back out. Mallory later confesses that she was just going to pretend that she hurt herself, but in all her gusto, she actually ended up hurting herself, and then carried on with the crutches a little longer than necessary.

It's finally the day of the Sports Festival, and Jessi is super nervous. So nervous in fact, that she doesn't want to get out of bed, which is very unusual for her. Her mother, all concerned, asks what's wrong, and Jessi confesses that she's not good at synchronized swimming, not like she is at ballet, and she worries that watching won't be enjoyable for her family and that she'll let them down. Jessi cries and talks it out with her mom, and eventually leaves for the festival feeling better.

The swimming events are last (since they'll involve everyone having to move to the community centre), so Jessi spends the whole day watching the other events. Kristy comes in second in the hundred-yard dash (and first out of the girls). Claudia participates in a backwards race. Dawn does the javelin throw and doesn't win, but does throw a really nice throw. Jessi runs into Mary Anne running the concessions stand: MA says that she realized that while she didn't want to participate in an event, she did still want to participate, and realized that there were plenty of non-event roles to fill.
The last event before the swimming is the big obstacle course. It's almost an entire chapter to itself, with Kristy and Alan taking turns in the lead. The end result is Kristy, just by a hair.

Finally it's the swimming events. We don't get to hear how Stacey does, because Jessi is too nervous and focused on the two synchro events. The first one is the group event, which Jessi says goes well, with the audience ooohing and ahhing at the appropriate intervals. Jessi and Elise are second to go in the pairs competition. It all goes in a blur, and when it's over, Jessi just sorta feels numb. She can't wait to get home and forget all about it. But first, there's the awards. To no one's surprise, except maybe her own, Jessi and Elise get the gold medal! Elise and Jessi celebrate, but ultimately decide that synchro is not for them: it felt too much like work, and not enough like fun, and it was starting to detract from their preferred activities. Instead, they just go get ice cream and decide to remain friends.

The subplot in this one is super closely related to the main plot. The charges are all super-excited about the Summer Olympics and the SMS Sports Festival, so Jessi gets the great idea to have the Club put on their own Mini-Olympics. Everyone thinks it's a great idea and soon get on board with planning all sorts of events. They have a few traditional events, such as races and obstacle courses, but they also do all sorts of silly events so that they can get the less athletically-inclined charges participating, such as three-legged races and silly face races (whatever the fuck that is? they never explain it haha).

But of course, like with every contest/competition, they run into problems. Some of the kids get super competitive, but the main issues are two charges in particular: Andrew Brewer and Charlotte Johanson.

Andrew really wants to participate and win. But he's only 4 years old. So a lot of the other competitors and the events are too old for him. He gets really frustrated at the practices and is really sad. However, on the day of the event, Andrew shows up more determined than ever. He enters every single event. The last event, a cross-country running type event (they have to do two laps around the entire Schafer/Spier property), things start out promising for Andrew. He quickly gets into the lead and stays there for most of the race. However, he doesn't pace himself properly, and sure enough, by the last lap, he's in last place. He runs into his father's arms, devastated. However, the girls have made sure that there are ribbons for everyone, and Andrew wins "Most Determined". This makes him feel better.

Charlotte's issue is that like MA and Mallory, she's not athletic and is also really shy. She doesn't want to participate at all. Stacey tries to talk her into it, but Charlotte sets her straight. However, Charlotte still wants to be a part of the festivities somehow, so she comes up with the idea to create signs for the event. Charlotte proves that she doesn't have to be athletic to participate and have fun.

Random Thoughts:

• I have actually never read this one at all! I'm kinda super excited to read it now!
• This one takes leading up to the Summer Olympics 1992. It's actually really confusing, because they reference a real event, and apparently the Olympics are definitely happening during the course of the novel, as Becca repeatedly watches events and gets excited, but the novel definitely takes place during the school year. In fact, it takes place in the spring. The Summer Olympics didn't take place until July that year!
• I think it's kinda weak that Jessi and Elise get first place. I think it would have been more poignant if they had come in second: they weren't nearly as bad as they thought they were, but they also weren't suddenly super amazing out of nowhere. It's very cliche to have them win the gold.
• I like that Jessi is more assertive in this one. It almost makes me hate that she gets lumped with Mallory so much. Jessi has a great idea and brings it to the Club. She also hears about this opportunity to do a new sport and dives right in (lolz pun). She doesn't let anything stop her or hold her back, despite her own insecurities and the new territory she's treading.
• A lot of Andrew Brewer's problems could have been alleviated by having age categories for the events. I mean, he comes in last place in a race that was mostly other little kids, so obviously it's not a guarantee that he would have won. But they could have avoided a lot of the drama by not having him initially go up against much larger kids. At least that would have saved him from prolonged stress.
• Mallory is super pathetic in this one. I feel bad for hating on Mallory, but after reading the last one, and now this one, it's really hard to sympathise with her. I mean, I suppose I'm supposed to sympathise with her and identify with her as an insecure preteen who is a klutz, as opposed to all the other girls who are written as extremely excellent in everything they do, but she's just so whiny! She should have just been like, "I don't want to participate, and that's fine!" I mean, Mary Anne doesn't participate in the Sports Festival as an athlete, but she still gets involved and has a great time!
• Although, I totes sympathize with Mallory and bathing suit dramas. I never had a really juvenile suit like hers (with the ruffles and what not), but buying a bathing suit is pretty much the worse thing ever. And then having to be around the boys? Yep, that is definitely the worst. I still hate bathing suit shopping, but I do now own a bathing suit that I don't mind wearing.
• I'm guessing we never hear from Elise again? It makes me sad that there aren't more Jessi books. I feel like Jessi without the Club would be super cool.
• I love when the non-athletic members of the Club get in on athletic fun. Like how Stacey gets Kristy to give her some pointers on how to swim and Dawn decides to just do something completely random, figuring no one will know wtf it is, and thus she can't embarrass herself in front of her peers
• This is actually one of the few concrete examples of Dawn "being an individual" as the books tout so much.
• I like how Jessi invited Elise to help out with the Mini-Olympics. You never heard of rand-os helping out with Club events, unless they're very special guests, like Abby's twin Anna, and even then, it's only because the Club is in a pinch, or because the guest is dying or has some sort of serious problem/ailment haha

BSC Mystery #4: Kristy and the Missing Child

Tagline: Everyone in Stoneybrook is shocked. Jake is gone - for real

Kristy can hardly believe it when little Jake Kuhn is reported missing. Jake is one of the kids on her softball team. And Kristy was the last person to see Jake before he disappeared.

Even though the Baby-sitters and all Jake's friends are helping look for him, Kristy still feels horrible. And when the police can't find Jake after almost two days, things look really serious.

Kristy knows she's just a kid, but she's determined to find Jake. Wherever he is...

The book starts off with Kristy baby-sitting for the Kuhns. Even though they're all members of her softball team, the Krushers, she's never actually baby-sat for them. They're going through a rough time because Mr Kuhn has recently left and finalized his divorce to Mrs Kuhn. The kids all miss him very much, but Patsy in particular is convinced that she's seen her father around, despite Laurel insisting that he's in Texas. Jake is particularly upset because his birthday is coming up, and it looks like Mr Kuhn won't be able to make the party. Furthermore, Mr Kuhn invited Jake to join him on a two-week business trip to Europe, but Mrs Kuhn said no, saying that Jake would miss too much school. Kristy soon cheers him up with talk of the party and distracts him with some softball practice. She even tells him that he might be good enough to become a relief pitcher!

Later that week, the Krushers have a game against the Bashers. They lose, but it's okay because everyone played particularly well. Jake doesn't get to pitch, but Kristy promises him that his time will come soon. They're getting ready to head home, when Kristy notices that no one has arrived to pick up Jake. Jake tells her that Mrs Kuhn has gone to the dentist with the girls, and that he has permission to head home alone. Bart and Kristy tell him to hurry, because it looks like it's going to rain. Sure enough, Bart, Kristy and David Michael are caught in a deluge on their way home, having been distracted by work going on at a construction site.

Shortly after arriving home, Kristy gets a phone call from Mrs Kuhn. She wants to know if Kristy has seen Jake. Kristy lets her know that she let Jake walk home alone, worried that she had made a mistake, but Mrs Kuhn quickly confirms that she did give permission for Jake to walk alone. Mrs Kuhn isn't too worried, figuring that Jake probably got stuck somewhere because of the rain. Kristy doesn't think much more about it.

However later that evening, Mrs Kuhn calls again. She still hasn't seen Jake. However, instead of being worried, Mrs Kuhn is more angry: she's convinced that Mr Kuhn must have kidnapped Jake out of spite for her having said no to the Europe trip. At this point, Mrs Kuhn is not too too worried, but she is starting to get really emotional and worked up. Patsy and Laurel spend the night with Stacey, to keep them out of her hair.

Kristy, on the other hand, isn't so convinced that Mr Kuhn took Jake, and is convinced that something horrible must have happened to him. She calls an emergency Club meeting, trying to figure out if there's anything she or the girls can do. They don't come up with any solutions, and before they know it, it's time to leave. Kristy is briefly interviewed by cops, and then her mom picks her and Shannon up. Along the way, they stop by the Kuhns to see if they can offer any help. Kristy is feeling pretty guilty, and doesn't really want to see Mrs Kuhn, but Mrs Kuhn quickly reassures Kristy that she doesn't blame her in any way, and that she's even more convinced that her ex-husband must have taken Jake. Patsy keeps insisting that she's seen his car.

The next day, Kristy gets the bright idea of rounding up everyone she can think of to do a neighbourhood search/canvas. She gets to school and makes an announcement, recruiting some of the older kids to help lead the search. They decide to meet up at the elementary school with Jake's friends and classmates, and then divide up and search. They search everywhere, with Matt Braddock taking the lead in Kristy's group, checking all of Jake's favourite places. They don't find him though. Kristy goes home feeling sick to her stomach about it all, but puts up a brave face since Laurel and Patsy are with her family that night.

Later that evening, Bart's keeping Kristy company, and she tells him about how guilty she feels about everything. They then see a news report about Jake's absence, and it really gets Kristy emotional. Mrs Kuhn keeps calling all night to update Kristy's mom on the situation (they're friends from aerobics class btw). With each lack of concrete news, Kristy doubles down on her resolve to find Jake.

It's now Saturday morning, and Jake has been missing for about 40 hours. Kristy's younger siblings are all worried about being kidnapped, and even Kristy herself wonders if her father would ever do such a thing to her or David Michael. The adults are all still convinced that Mr Kuhn has something to do with Jake's disappearance, especially since they can't find him. Bart comes over, and he and Kristy get organized to search again.

They spend the day searching, stopping by a convenience store that Jake goes to a lot. The man working hasn't seen Jake, but remembers him and wishes the kids luck. Matt Braddock wants to go searching the construction site, but Kristy points out that it's in the opposite direction from his house. Matt insists, telling Kristy about how they were going to find scraps to build a tree house this weekend. Kristy, remembering how enamored Bart and David Michael had been the other day, agrees. At first, it seems like a bust, but eventually Kristy hears a faint voice. Searching, they discover that Jake had fallen through a hole in the floor, and was trapped in an unfinished basement of a house. Bart runs back to the convenience store to get help, while Kristy stays and keeps Jake company. They rescue Jake, he's reunited with Mrs Kuhn, and everything works out in the end.

Turns out Mr Kuhn was on a business trip in Mexico, and hadn't been to Stoneybrook at all. Patsy was just young and confused and missing her dad.

The subplot in this one is that Mary Anne is failing Home Economics. Apparently she's not great at sewing or setting a table, but it all comes to a head when it comes to cooking, specifically Jell-O. Pete Black and other people in their class all tease her about it, particularly her rock hard Jell-O. She spends the whole book bemoaning the fact that she's failing Home Ec and doesn't know how to pass. Then while she's baby-sitting for the Barretts, they want to make Jell-O. As MA finds the Jell-O mix, she accidentally knocks over a bunch of cookie cutters. That gives her the idea to make Jell-O in a shallow pan, make it more solid than usual, and then cut it out with cookie cutters into fun shapes. It works! So MA decides to write down what she did and submit it to Home Ec. It does the trick, and gets her a passing grade. MA later finds out that there's a recipe on every box with instructions on how to do that anyways haha

Oh, and the middle school does some awards ceremony thing at the end, and Mary Anne wins Most Improved in Home Ec and Kristy gets a special award for her perseverance and subsequent rescue of Jake.

Random Thoughts:

• I really liked this one and was looking forward to reading it!
• I really like this one because it involves a very real fear (the disappearance of a child) and is realistic: Kristy and the Club didn't tackle a kidnapper or bust Jake out of a locked basement. They just simply found him.
• Looking at the cover, again Matt Braddock looks hispanic! But then Haley looks Californian blonde like Dawn and her brother! It's always confused me as to how those two are drawn haha
• For some reason, I always think that the "Mary Anne fails home ec" subplot happens in Mystery #5 Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic, even though logically, I know that that makes no sense. A Mary Anne book wouldn't have a Mary Anne subplot haha
• It also makes no sense that Mary Anne is failing home ec. I mean, I'm glad they didn't go with the stereotype of "Kristy is a tomboy and therefore can't do Home Ec!", but it really doesn't make sense for Mary Anne to be failing either. I think it would have been more realistic if she was good at it, but was so shy and her teacher so strict and overbearing, that Mary Anne kept getting flustered and being klutzy, thus messing up recipes and knocking things over when trying to set the table or something.
• To be fair: when I was her age, I fucked up Jell-O too. But that's because I didn't realize you weren't supposed to make it in a metal bowl. Metal bowls were the only bowls we had big enough for a single batch of Jell-O. When you make it in a metal bowl, it develops a hard crust along the curve of the bowl, and then the rest doesn't set well. This went on for a couple of years before I realized my mistake. To this day, I'm still surprised when my Jell-O actually turns out well, despite the fact that I know that that was my mistake, and obviously don't do it anymore.
• I like how Kristy says that now Mrs Kuhn has to get a job, because she's divorced and on her own. I guess Mrs Kuhn wasn't allowed to just simply have a job before now?? haha
• I like how they didn't repeat the whole "ex-husband takes kid to teach a lesson" story from BSC #5
• Although it's funny, because Buddy is the reason why the girls know Jake and the Kuhns haha
• This is the one where Stacey mentions popcorn picnics that she has with her mother, when entertaining the Kuhn girls. This actually stuck with me as a child, and now I occasionally like to experiment with seasonings when I eat popcorn. It also really makes me want to have popcorn haha
• I like how in this one, Kristy acts like a 13 year old, and is treated like a 13 year old. I mean, albeit a mature/responsible 13 year old (no one hides anything from her), but still a child. The cops and parents have quite a few conversations without Kristy. In the later ones, they have Sgt Johnson, who takes the girls super seriously and even treats them almost as equals. It always makes me think that he's a young cop, like 22 years old (despite the fact that his rank is Sergeant, so duh, he can't be that young!) and that the girls are like, 18.
• Like, to the point where sometimes I forget, and I kinda ship him and Abby together. Especially since one of Abby's reasons for not having a boyfriend in #127 is that she just doesn't find any of the boys at SMS mature/attractive and she just doesn't see a point in her dating any of them. So yeahhhhh... I always forget that he's probably like, 35 at least, and Abby is definitely not 18 haha
• I may also be projecting my feelings for Veronica Mars (17/18) and Deputy Leo (who's like, 22??) onto them haha
• I'm surprised the police were allowed to interview Kristy without a guardian present. Now obviously she's not a suspect: they just wanted to know when she last saw Jake, since she's apparently the last one to have seen him. But still. I was always lead to believe that the cops weren't allowed to talk to minors at all without a guardian present. Or is that just on TV?
• This book has a pretty tight timeframe: everything happens in about a week, with some wrap up stuff happening about a week later.

BSC #54: Mallory's Dream Horse

Tagline: Mallory's gone horse crazy!

Mallory loves horses. She loves reading about them. She loves writing about them. And most of all, she loves daydreaming about them.

Then Mallory's parents agree to let her take professional riding lessons. It's a dream come true! Mallory is so excited she can hardly concentrate the the BSC meetings anymore. But then the lessons begin and Mallory discovers that dreaming about horses can be a lot more fun than actually riding them.

The book starts off with Jessi and Mallory hanging out at Mallory's house after school. They're reading horse books and talking about how much they love horses. Claire comes into the room, using a mop as a pretend-horse. The girls then decide to go downstairs and watch The Black Stallion, while continuing their conversation about horses. They talk about their dreams, and Mallory says she wishes she could ride a horse all the time.

A few days later, Mallory gets a chance. She's checking the mail, and apparently there's a stable just outside of Stoneybrook giving 8-week courses. Mallory takes the brochure to the Club meeting, and her and Jessi decide that they want to sign up for lessons together. Everything is perfect and Mallory can't wait. She rushes home and puts together a strategy to approach her parents. At first her parents are hesitant, but Mallory wears them down, promising them that it was just a temporary expense and that she'd pay for half. Finally, they agree, and Mallory excitedly goes to tell Jessi the good news.

Sadly, Jessi's parents decide that with all of Jessi's ballet lessons, she doesn't really have the time or money to also do horseback riding. Mallory feels bad for Jessi, but mostly she's disappointed because it means that she has to do the lessons alone. Jessi's definitely jealous and sad, but Mallory's too busy dreaming of riding to really notice.

Mallory's first class is not quite what she expected. Her instructor is very cool, has a British accent and looks like she's stepped off the cover of one of Mallory's horse novels. However, the rest of the class is less than welcoming. Mallory instantly feels left out, as everyone else has proper riding gear, and Mallory's wearing a hodgepodge of things. Everyone seems vaguely standoff-ish, and Mallory is very self-conscious. She does alright in the class, but still feels as though everyone is judging her. However, she survives and things are made better by the fact that she spots her dream horse. Turns out that all the horses in the class belong to the stable, which means Mallory will get to ride him if she wants. Mallory quickly forgets about all the bad stuff, and rushes home to gush to Jessi about her dream horse. She tells Jessi about how wonderful the class is, which of course makes Jessi feel terrible. Mallory can't figure it out though.

At Mallory's second lesson, she makes it a point to go up to as many people as she can and introduce herself. It's apparent to the reader that the other students are only being polite, but Mallory seems to think she's made friends and invites them all to phone her and/or hangout. She also gets to ride her dream horse, which makes things even better. She calls Jessi to tell her all about it, and again, completely alienates her. Mallory goes on and on about how this riding class is just the most important thing in her life right now, and about all the friends she made and how they'll be calling her soon. Jessi, understandably upset, makes excuses to get off the phone. Mallory can tell that something's wrong, but has no idea what it is. She tells herself that it doesn't matter, because she has all these fabulous new riding friends, only then she realizes that she has no way of contacting them. A week passes, and Mallory realizes that not only do she and Jessi not talk, but that none of her supposed new riding friends call her.

Mallory's third lesson is a disaster. Not only do none of the kids really acknowledge her, but she ends up with a nightmare of a horse, and gets bucked right off. Mallory's alright, but badly winded and shaken, so her mom picks her up and takes her to the ER, just in case. Of course, Mallory's crying because of the shock to her system, and the rest of the class is giggling at her. Poor Mallory!

Mallory's mom wants her to give up the lessons, but Mallory's dad says that it should be Mallory's choice. Mallory is feeling pretty embarrassed by the whole situation and doesn't want to compound things further by quitting, so she insists on seeing this through. Her parents agree, so long as she doesn't ride that same horse again. The horse gets replaced, but it doesn't matter: Mallory's confidence is shaken and she's now terrified of riding any horse. She's completely miserable and dreads lessons. Worse, she has to suffer alone, because she doesn't want to admit to her parents that after all the begging she did and the all the money she spent, she hates the lessons. Of course, Jessi still isn't talking to her, because last she heard, riding was the most amazing thing ever. Poor, poor Mallory!

Mallory continues to struggle in class, and the kids are pretty mean about it. However, Mallory thinks she's gotten her big break when one of the girls invites the whole class to her birthday party. Mallory is excited, and spends several days agonizing over what to wear. It becomes apparent that she was trying to dress to impress when she shows up all dressed up, and everyone else is wearing bright and funky teen clothes. Being a rich girl, the party is way out of Mallory's league: about 50 kids, a pool, large sound system with giant TV screens playing MTV. Mallory tries to introduce herself, but obviously no one wants to hang out with the shy awkward kid, so they all quickly make excuses to be elsewhere. Mallory spends the party awkwardly hanging out by the foods table, counting down the minutes til her mom gets her. Upon getting home, Mallory immediately calls Jessi, wanting to fix their friendship and tell her everything. Mallory flubs her words though, and it sounds like she's calling Jessi to humble-brag about the "awful cool kids party with all the music and pizza and stuff". Again, Jessi is all distant, and Mallory realizes that she wants to tell Jessi the truth about how awful riding has been, but that she can't seem to find the words. Instead, Mallory awkwardly ends the phone call, and goes to bed feeling worse than ever.

Eventually, Mallory is down to her last lesson. She should be relieved, but the last lesson signifies a riding showcase. Mallory had hoped to skip the riding showcase, but her parents find out about it and are all excited. The Club finds out too, and they're happy for Mallory, asking her if she's ready for it. Mallory then breaks down and admits how miserable she's been. On the way home, Jessi confronts her about everything, and admits that she was jealous about how great Mallory made everything sound. Mallory realizes how ridiculous she had been and unfair to Jessi. They reconcile and everything is right again.

Finally it's the day of the showcase. Mallory gets to ride her dream horse, which is the only consolation for her. Her instructor lends her a proper riding habit, so Mallory doesn't stand out in the class. Jessi calls to wish her luck, and everything goes well. Mallory is extremely nervous at the show, but with her family and the Club to cheer her on, she gets through it. She even comes in 6th place in her class, exactly in the middle! Her parents are super proud of her, and even offer to pay for the next 8 weeks of lessons. Mallory then confesses to her parents that she hadn't really enjoyed herself much, and that she'd rather not continue. Her parents are surprised, and ask if she's sure. Mallory is: she'd much rather look at horses than ride them!

There's two subplots in this one. Cuz y'know, Mallory can't have a whole book to herself! haha

The main subplot is that Nina Marshall has just started preschool and is having a hard time. She's having separation anxiety and refuses to leave her blanket, Blankie, behind. The other kids notice, and it's really getting her down. The girls try to find ways to convince Nina that she doesn't need him, but Nina remains firm. Then one day, Dawn arrives to baby-sit, only to be told that Blankie is in the dryer. When the dryer is done, Dawn goes to take Blankie out. However, Blankie is so old and worn through that he starts tearing and disintegrating. Nina is, of course, completely devastated. With some quick thinking, Dawn is able to convince Nina that this is for the best: Blankie is now in small little travel-sized pieces. Dawn shows Nina how to hide Blankie so that he'll always be with her, but now he'll be her little secret. It all ends well!

The second subplot is that the younger Pikes decide to put on a talent show with the kids from the neighbourhood. It's super lame. Buddy gets Pow to do tricks, Sean Addison apparently can play the tuba, Nicky learns to walk on stilts, and a few other things.

Random Thoughts:

• I have always hated this book and was not looking forward to reading it. At all.
• And now that I have, I was right. I really did not like this book.
• It's funny, because what frustrates me so much is that Mallory is an oblivious little brat in this: but technically she's acting exactly like an 11 year old! A realistic 11 year old! I guess I got so used to these girls being mightier and holier than thou.
• But yeah. How could Mallory not realize that Jessi was upset at being left out of riding? It's super obvious to the readers, but yeah. I guess that's kinda realistic haha
• I really really really liked Mallory's outfit for the party: gold and brown kilt, matching gold cotton sweater, penny loafers. It's totes the exact kind of outfit I'd wear now as a teacher, when I'm trying to pretend to be a grown-up haha But yeahhhhh... definitely a faux pas for a cool kids party at age 11
• I love how Blankie is such a big deal, but we never ever heard of him before haha
• Why the fuck would Jessi and Mallory ever want to hang out at Mallory's house if they're not baby-sitting? Okay, maybe once or twice, but seriously? If I was Mallory, I'd be looking for every excuse I could find to get out of the house!
• I love how Mallory's parents are all like, "Ehhhh... we can't really a one-time 8-week course on horseback riding lessons..." when they've apparently been paying for Jordan to have piano lessons for quite some time!
• Now that I think of it: what the hell is up with that?? How come Jordan is the only kid who gets to take lessons? I mean, I imagine the rest aren't too keen on piano in particular, but are you saying none of the other kids have ever wanted to do lessons or a sport? I mean, I guess the triplets do Little League (wow! Jordan gets to do TWO things??), but the rest of the kids either do nothing, or do the Krushers, which is free. Mallory asks to do horseback riding lessons, and her parents are suddenly all quibbling. Granted, Mallory did mention that the full price is quite a bit, but that with her covering half, they would be less than Jordan's piano lessons, but still! Poor Mallory has to pay for 8 lousy lessons, and Jordan gets to do all the piano lessons he wants, not to mention him and the twins doing Little League! haha
• Man, in the past year or two, reading BSC blogs and other BSC fandom things, I read that apparently fans generally conclude that AMM must have hated Mallory, because she's either a total loser or just has the worse luck. I remember her not exactly being the coolest of the girls, but yeahhhhhh... Now that I'm re-reading the series, Mallory really does get the short end of the stick. She's written as a total dweeb in this one, socially awkward, trying to impress cool kids, and then gets thrown off her horse and is terrified of riding for the rest of the book!