BSC #52: Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies

Tagline: How much trouble can a bunch of babies be?

Mary Anne can't stop thinking about babies. First she starts baby-sitting for a pair of adorable baby twins. Then she and Dawn decide it would be great to have a little baby brother or sister of their own.

But Mary Anne learns that taking care of a baby is a big responsibility when she and Logan have to play pretend parents to an egg "baby" for a special class at school. "Sammie", their egg, has to be watched all the time, and Mary Anne and Logan barely have time to breathe. Taking care of a "baby" isn't all it's cracked up to be!

Mary Anne's chilling at home with Dawn, and she's contemplating families. Dawn mentions that she saw the Shillaber twins' new baby brother the other day, and she and MA start dreaming about having a baby sibling of their own. Dawn points out that her mom isn't too old to get pregnant, while MA says that they could always adopt the way Kristy's family did. Eventually the conversation turns to the new Short Takes class they were taking: Modern Living. It would be a class to show the kids how to be financially responsible and how to take care of a family. Dawn and MA think it's pretty dumb, but MA is at least glad that Logan is in her class.

And boy is she ever glad once the class starts, because immediately, the students are to pair up and get married. Obviously, MA marries Logan, and is quite happy. Things start crashing down as Logan and MA realize that they aren't financially stable nor independent, and eventually make the decision that they'd have to live at MA's place if they were married for real.

The next thing they know, the class is given the egg-baby assignment: each pair of students is to look after an egg and pretend like it's a real baby. Mostly, they have to keep an eye on it at all times. Everyone is quickly horrified, trying to figure out how to balance watching an egg with sports practices and lessons and just life. MA and Logan briefly argue over how to keep their baby, until they're able to get together and create a little container for it.

Most of the rest of the book is dedicated to the egg-baby project. We learn that Kristy is paired with Alan Gray, and their baby is named Izzy. Alan takes the project super seriously, and together, they create an entire shoebox environment for their kid. Anyways, Kristy takes Izzy to the Papadakises while she baby-sits. Alan calls her there, worried about their egg-baby. While Kristy fields the phone call and tries to reassure Alan that everything is fine, the egg-baby goes missing. So Kristy in a panic gets Linny and Hannie to search, and eventually they discover that Sari is taking care of Izzy with her dolls. Kristy decides not to tell Alan about this.

Stacey is paired with Austin Bentley, and their baby is named Bobby. This creates issues when Stacey has to bring him with her to a baby-sitting job, since she's baby-sitting for Bobby and Alicia Giannelli. Anyways, the whole idea of having to care for an egg freaks Alicia out, especially since the egg has the same name as her brother. Bobby (the person) eventually goes to play with some friends, but Alicia is too young and needs to stay with Stacey, only she won't until the egg is gone. Stacey calls up Austin and gets him to pick up their egg. This leads Stacey to contemplate how hard life must be as a single parent.

Dawn sits with Mallory at the Pikes, and brings her egg Skip with her. Dawn's paired up with a boy named Aaron Albright, and she doesn't like him very much. They haven't made any attempts at creating an "environment" for their egg, instead just shoving it into a tissue box with some paper towels. Anyways, the Pike kids decide that Dawn's project seems super cool, and they all pair up and have egg-babies themselves. Vanessa breaks hers while trying to "clothe" it (colour it with crayon) and is inconsolable. Eventually the kids decide to pretend that they're taking their egg-babies out to the restaurant, where Nicky describes a menu full of egg-items. Hilarious!

Anyways, things aren't going too great with Logan and MA. They constantly bicker about how to properly care for their egg, and who is going to get stuck with her. Eventually, Logan tries to get MA to go out on a date, and that they should have an evening alone with the baby. Unfortunately, MA can't get a sitter, and ends up having to take their egg with them. They have problems at the movie theatre, because the place is packed and they can't take a third seat for their egg basket. So MA tries putting the basket on the floor, but that just pisses off Logan. They keep making noise, trying to keep track of their egg-baby in the dark theatre, pissing off everyone around them. At some point, MA briefly misplaces the egg, and they have to call an usher to help them find her. They decide to leave the theatre, and on the way home get into an argument over who would take their, Logan not trusting MA, and then being resentful at always having to take the egg.

MA and Logan aren't the only ones in their class having problems. Shawna Riverson decides that she wants a divorce from her husband, since he's never offering to take care of their egg. Turns out the poor guy has never taken care of a baby, or even younger siblings before, and has no idea what to do! Anyways, they're both just frustrated with everything. Another couple have misplaced their egg, and although they're concerned with how they'll finish the project, they're also legit upset about losing their "child". Another student is completely overwhelmed with the project, since his life is full of extracurriculars and his parents are in the process of getting a divorce, causing his mother to lean on him more than usual. At the end of class, Logan and MA talk, reflecting that maybe they aren't doing too bad after all. However, their moment is ruined when Logan yet again tries to keep the egg, despite it being MA's turn. MA runs away crying.

After another hectic day, Logan and MA talk some more, and decide that they've been fighting because they're so stressed. They reflect that they are in no way ready for marriage or children, not until they finish college at least. Later, Dawn and MA discuss how difficult babies are, and decide to give up on trying to convince their parents to have one. The Modern Living class soon ends, and everyone is happy to be free of their eggs. Dawn and MA decide they never want to think about babies ever again, when their parents surprise them with an announcement... they've decided that if Dawn and MA want another pet, they can have one. Dawn and MA decide that even another pet would be too much responsibility for them at this age!

There's really no subplot in this book. Most of it is taken up by the egg-baby project, with a few asides about baby-sitting for real babies. MA sits for the Salem twins, and the twins are so adorable and angelic, which gives MA even more baby fever. Later in the book, she sits for them again, and they're nightmares (and twice the trouble), which quickly quells MA's baby fever.

Random Thoughts:

• This review is going to be super shitty and short, because 1) I've never particularly liked this book and 2) I just started a new job haha
• I've always hated whenever books or TV shows do the fake-baby episodes. I am so glad I never had to do this at school. I already knew from a young age that I never ever wanted children. I also knew from a young age that I was in no way able to support myself financially (let alone myself and a child!). So yeah, I never had delusions of becoming a teen parent or growing up too fast, so I never needed to be scared straight or into responsibility. We had a parenting/family studies class in my high school, where they made babies out of sacks of sugar, and had to carry them around for like, 2 weeks. Of course, I never took the class cuz I was too busy being an arts student, with my music and drama haha
• I find it weird that 13 year olds would want a sibling so bad, that they'd talk about how their parents aren't too old for it yet. It's one thing when a little kid wants a sibling, they generally don't really know how siblings are made, but a 13 year old definitely does. Who wants to think about their parents actively having sex and trying for kids when they're around??
• I'm trying to imagine all sorts of drama that would have happened in this book if Logan and Mary Anne had been in different classes, and thus had to partner up with different people. I'd like to have seen Mary Anne paired up with Pete Black again, and to have discovered through working closely with him that he's super awesome and that she can have him instead of Logan haha
• There are more boys than girls in the class, so two of the pairings are all-male. It's interesting, because they make a big deal over "who's going to be the wife", and obviously none of the boys want to be "wives". I wonder if nowadays it'd just be like, "And we've got two same-sex pairings. Moving on!" without any of this "but who's gonna be the wife!" crap.
• I find it weird how Alan Gray shifts from general pest whose affections somewhat flatter Kristy, to all-out jerk who is a monster and no one should ever date. I find he's more tolerable in the books written by AMM herself, such as this one. He takes the egg-baby project super seriously and almost drives Kristy crazy with his over-parenting.
• The Pikes aren't loaded. We know that. But time and time again, they do stuff that really makes me question their parenting. Mallory lets her siblings commandeer nearly a full dozen eggs to play with. Now, Mrs Pike needs to buy more eggs. Not only is that nearly a dozen wasted, but what if Mrs Pike was planning on baking with them or wanted eggs for breakfast??

BSC #51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend

Tagline: Is Stacey's friend Laine super mature or just a super snob?

Stacey can't wait! Her best friend from New York, Laine Cummings, is coming to Stoneybrook for a whole week. Laine can spend a day at SMS, attend club meetings, and maybe even go to the Valentine's Dance.

But the minute Laine arrives, things don't go as planned. Laine thinks Stacey's sleepover with her friends is so childish. And she can't believe Stacey's still into baby-sitting. Laine's used to hanging out at high school parties. She even has a fifteen-year-old boyfriend!

Stacey doesn't want to lose her childhood friend. But Laine's growing up way too fast for Stacey. Is this the end of their friendship?

The book starts off with Stacey having a cozy winter day indoors. She reflects that since moving to the country, she likes snow and the quiet. As she's doing homework, Laine calls and tells Stacey that she has a week-long break coming up from school. Stacey gets super excited, and invites Laine to stay with her in Stoneybrook. Laine isn't too sure though, but eventually agrees to it. Stacey is super excited and tells all her friends. She plans a sleepover for Laine's first evening. Before Laine comes over, Stacey tidies up her bedroom, hiding anything that she thinks Laine will think is lame. Apparently lately Laine has been saying comments and calling Stacey by her full name, trying to sound more grown-up. Stacey doesn't think too much of it though, and leaves for the train station super excited.

Stacey spots Laine right away wearing a very chic outfit. Stacey is thrilled, but Laine is less than impressed. She wants to know where the town is! Stacey explains that they'll drive through it on the way home to the party Stacey's throwing, which causes Laine to perk up. However, after they drive through Stoneybrook, Laine is still confused, wondering how she could have missed the entire town. Stacey points out the library and the pizza parlour, but Laine wants to know what everyone does for entertainment. Stacey deadpans that they go to New York haha

Laine and Stacey briefly catch-up before the party. Laine tells Stacey all about her new boyfriend King, who is 15 years old and in high school. His hair is long and black, with purple tips, that he wears all spiked up and bushy. When Laine questions why Stacey doesn't have a boyfriend, Stacey says she's waiting for the right guy, which sets Laine off. They quickly put aside their differences though as the girls arrive.

It's clear that when Stacey said "party", Laine figured she meant something loud with boys and girls. The sleepover is definitely not impressing her. The girls are all having fun goofing with make-up and hair stuff, gossiping about boys. Laine keeps putting everyone and everything down, saying that all 13 year old boys are lame, she's on a diet (so no binging on junk foods), and making fun of their slang (Dawn says "dude"). Stacey then gets the bright idea to find Laine a date for the dance next Friday. Laine isn't sure she wants to go: after all, 13 year old boys are dumb and she wants to make sure King is okay with it. But when Stacey points out that Laine has nothing else to do on Friday, Laine is quick to remind them that they are lame. Luckily before things can spiral out of control, they find a movie to watch that even Laine likes.

Laine spends Monday being bored out of her mind while Stacey's in school, so Stacey gets permission for Laine to shadow her for the day. After Stacey explains that she misses having Laine be a regular part of her life, Laine goes for it. However, the day is less than successful. First, Laine makes fun of Stacey and Mallory for how they coordinate walking to school (white towel means Mal wants to walk with them, red means she's looking after her siblings), making Stacey feel embarrassed. Once at school, Laine questions all the school rules, such as them not being able to leave the building during school hours and only one student allowed to the bathroom at a time. Stacey's relieved once it's lunch time, because there are no rules (except for not being able to leave the building), so she figures there's nothing for Laine to critique. Stacey has even arranged it so that a bunch of her non-BSC friends sit with them, giving Laine variety. Among them are Pete Black, Rick Chow and Austin Bentley, which Stacey thinks Laine will like, since they're boys. However, it's clear that Laine thinks they're immature (they spend lunchtime building molecules out of pretzel sticks and prunes), while Pete spends the whole time crushing on Laine.

That night, Stacey and Laine talk about their day, more specifically Pete. Stacey thinks it would be awesome if Pete and Laine went to the dance together, but Laine is all embarrassed, saying that Pete is immature and what would people think? Stacey points out that the only people who would see them would be everyone who already likes Pete and actually thinks he's cool, and that besides, it'd just be for fun. Laine decides to call King first, and shoos Stacey out of the room. Stacey's a bit hurt, but figures whatever. However, when Pete calls to ask Laine out, Laine asks Stacey to stay, before kicking her out again to call King back. While in her bedroom, Stacey overhears snippets of Laine's conversation. Laine makes fun of Pete, and goes on about how "childish" something is. Stacey assumes that Laine is talking about their baby-sitting clients, but it's pretty clear to us readers that Laine is talking about Stacey and her friends. Even so, Stacey starts to feel like something weird is going on between her and Laine, and she doesn't know what to do.

Stacey decides to double-down on making Laine a part of her life, and brings her to the Club meeting on Wednesday. There, the girls all discuss the Valentine's Day Masquerade they're organizing for their clients. They speculate who has a crush on who, and think it's all very cute. Except for Laine. She thinks it's lame. She also wonders if any of the girls plan on getting real jobs for the summer. You see, Laine has a summer job lined up at an accessories store, so she'll be receiving a real paycheque. Stacey now realizes that her and Laine are living in completely different worlds.

Finally it's Friday, the day of the dance and Laine's last full day. Stacey isn't excited about Laine going home soon, but she's somewhat relieved. Still, she's going to give their friendship one last solid try and make the most of their time together. She rushes home to find Laine reading a large book, about an 18 year old who travels and falls in love; when asked what she's currently reading, Stacey is embarrassed to admit that she's reading Black Beauty. Stacey wants Laine's help in getting ready for the dance, but Laine doesn't seem interested. She's too busy thinking about her book and King; besides, it's just a stupid Valentine's Day dance and doesn't really count. Once Stacey picks her outfit (with no help from Laine, other than "it's lame to wear red specifically because it's Valentine's Day"), she tries to engage Laine in some popcorn and gossip, like the good ol' days, but Laine's on a diet and has just finished doing her nails (after making fun of where Stacey got the nail polish). Finally Stacey gives up, and they get to go to the dance.

Laine puts on a great outfit, and Stacey's mom tells them that they look like they're 15; Laine adds that usually she gets mistaken for 18. Despite the fact that Laine is wearing earrings that Stacey gave her (which warms Stacey's heart), Laine quickly takes back any goodwill by appearing horrified that they were meeting the guys at the school; didn't Stacey know that the boys were supposed to pick them up in their own cars? Stacey points out that the boys can't drive... and neither can King for that matter! When they get to the school, Laine is mortified that Kristy greets them with a "yo guys!" That quickly gets overshadowed by Pete's arrival though. Even though Pete's wearing a suit, he's still wearing his trademark converse sneakers, which of course Laine notices and judges him for. Then the poor guy is so nervous, he can't get the corsage he bought on Laine's wrist, and ends up dropping it, only for it to be trampled in the crowd! Laine doesn't care though, and acts dismissive of everything. She makes fun of the décor (to be fair, so did Logan, as it was quite pink, but Laine was definitely much more mean-spirited) and the fact that there isn't a live band playing (there will be, but while they set up, it's just a tape playing). The night doesn't get any better, as Laine insults all sixth-graders (one spilled a drink near her, not on her), insults the band, and then insults the food (heart-shaped cookies and punch are for kindergarten). The final straw comes when Pete asks Laine to slow-dance: she turns him down saying she was tired, only to immediately accept an invitation from some other guy (to Kristy and Claud's delight, a seventh grader!). Stacey has had enough.

She pulls Laine aside to tell Laine how rude she's been. Laine pretends that she doesn't know what Stacey is talking about, so Stacey starts laying everything out on the table. Laine interrupts, saying that she wants to go home. To New York. Immediately. So Stacey calls her mom, which prompts more fighting and arguing from Laine. On the way home, Stacey's mom tries to get the girls to talk, but this just causes more fighting. Finally, Laine reiterates the fact that she wants to go home to New York, so Mrs McGill calls Laine's mom. They get into a brief tiff over their daughters, but arrange for Laine to go home that night.

Stacey spends the rest of the weekend calling all her friends and apologizing for Laine. She also worries that because her friendship with Laine is over, things are over between Mrs McGill and Mrs Cummings; Mrs McGill reassures Stacey that everything is fine. Stacey still feels unresolved though. She spends a lot of time reflecting on her week with Laine, and their 8 years of frienship. Finally, with the help of Claudia, Stacey sees who her real best friend is, and writes Laine a letter, saying goodbye.

The subplot in this one is the Valentine's Day Masquerade that the Club decides to organize for their clients. The girls get excited planning decorations and activities for the kids, while the kids get excited to make Valentines for everyone. Nicky Pike has a crush on a girl in a younger grade. James and Matthew Hobart want to get all dressed up and bring carnations, and James even has a girl he wants to invite. Marilyn and Carolyn are also very excited: Marilyn likes a boy, and Carolyn says she likes a boy in an older grade. Eventually, the sitters deduce that Nicky and Carolyn like each other, and are super excited to see this go down at the Masquerade. However, they soon discover that Nicky likes Marilyn... he just keeps calling her Carolyn. Luckily for him, Marilyn likes him too. Carolyn and James on the other hand, are a perfect match haha

Random Thoughts:

• I think I've only read this one once or twice. I definitely have read it. I remember liking it a lot. But I also remember that it wasn't one of the ones I owned.
• I never understood why Stacey would think it was a good idea for Laine to come up for the whole week, when Stacey was still in school. Visiting someone else's school is definitely cool and fun and novel, especially compared to your own school... but it's still not as fun as vacation! Laine totally should have arrived Wednesday afternoon, attended school with Stacey Thursday during the day, and then Stacey could have taken Friday off and she and Laine could have had a long visit Friday and Saturday, and then Laine could have gone back home Sunday afternoon. I mean, I get that Stacey and Laine have been drifting apart and that they would have eventually had a falling out regardless, but it just seems like a waste of a vacation and a terrible idea to spend an entire week at school/alone at someone else's house.
• The girls are way too excited to watch To Kill a Mockingbird. The only 13 year olds who are excited to watch that movie are the ones who skipped a grade and find themselves in grade 9 studying it, and they're only excited because watching movies is better than reading books haha I like that movie and genuinely get excited when it comes time to show it in class, but even I wouldn't be revved up for it on a Friday night haha
• It's weird that we've had two books in a row where characters have had winter breaks and come up to visit the girls!
• We learn in this one that Mrs McGill and Mrs Cummings have been friends since college. That's crazy! I had always thought they met because of Laine and Stacey. Now I want to know more about them haha
• If I were Marilyn Arnold, I would be super pissed that Nicky didn't know me from my twin and had my name wrong. Especially now that they dress completely differently and have completely unique and individual styles. Nicky clearly knew them apart in terms of appearance and personality! It'd be no different than someone calling me "Callie" or "Casey" or "Kelsey" or something that was not my name. I mean, it'd be whatever if it was someone who didn't know me very well, but from someone confessing that they liked me? No way! Not even at age 8! haha
• James and Matthew Hobart's reaction to the Valentine's Masquerade just reinforces my idea that Australian boys are best haha even though I know that there are plenty out there who are rude and crude!
• Stacey and Mallory's towel code makes sense in a time where texting doesn't exist. Even though a quick phone call wouldn't take that long, there's always the fact that you have to wait for someone to answer, and what if someone was busy or in the shower, and didn't answer in time? Then you'd have to leave a message, or call back later, etc etc. The towel code is quick and easy: Mallory can throw correct colour up whenever she knows what the plan is for the morning, and Stacey can just look out the window whenever and see it. She can do this while making breakfast, brushing her teeth, packing her bag... all sorts of things that would be difficult to do while on the phone (especially since it doesn't sound like cordless phones were all that prevalent just yet). Of course, nowadays the girls would just send each other a quick text.
• Who the fuck would ever hire Laine for a real job? Except for maybe a paper route?? She's only 13! Is this a '80s thing, or is this a BSC-thing? Because yeah, the girls are always getting real jobs, and it's super weird. Here, most places need you to be 16 before hiring, and your options even then are fairly limited. 
• Laine's book sounds like a Danielle Steel novel haha I remember in grade 7, one of the grade 8s on my bus reading those novels, and thinking 1) damn, she's so grown up and 2) that book sounds really boring and not my style haha
• Do we ever hear about Laine again?

BSC Super Special #7: Snowbound

Tagline: All the Baby-sitters wanted was a little snow - not a national disaster!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

The weather forecasters keep promising snow, but what a joke that is. Not a single flake has fallen on Stoneybrook this winter. How can SMS hold a Winter Wonderland Dance when it's warm enough to go to the beach?

Finally, it does snow - like crazy - and no one's prepared. Jessi gets stranded overnight at her dance school. Mallory and Mary Anne are snowed in with the Pike kids. But Stacey's in real trouble. She and her mom were driving back from the mall when the blizzard hit. And none of the Baby-sittesr have heard from her yet.

First they couldn't wait for it to snow. Now they can't for it to stop. Where could Stacey be?

Super Special Gimmick: Kristy thinks that while the newspaper coverage of the snow storm is very informative, it is also super dry, so she gets her friends to write up about their adventures to send to the newspaper as a people interest story.

The book starts off with everyone super excited about the Winter Wonderland dance. Everyone has a date and the girls are all looking forward to dressing up and having a good time together. For days and days, the weather forecasters have been talking about a massive snowfall, but there hasn't even been a single flake. It becomes a huge joke to everyone. At their Monday meeting that week, they reflect that since they're all going to be busy and scattered on Wednesday evening (Mallory and Mary Anne sitting for the Pikes, Jessi at an extra-long dance rehearsal and picking up her date Quint, Dawn getting Jeff at the airport), they should just cancel their meeting that day. Of course, Wednesday is the day of the giant snowstorm, and the power goes out and the phone lines go down, and everyone is all separated, with no way of getting in touch with each other.

Kristy has the most mundane story, but it's pretty cute. She's sitting at home Wednesday afternoon, and she's pretty bored. She’s thinking about the winter dance and how excited she is to be bringing Bart. She then decides that now would be a good time to hang out with him. They've never really hung out on the week day before, so Bart's a little confused, but agrees. Kristy rents movies, and her mom invites Bart to stay over for dinner. This is pretty intense, and it makes Kristy all nervous. She likes Bart, but doesn't really know what to think. Is he her boyfriend? Is she ready? Is he ready? Can he handle her family? The kids spend most of the evening pestering them and totally embarrassing Kristy. Dinner isn't much better. It starts snowing at dinner time, and although Watson agreed to drive Bart home, he wants to wait until it stops snowing so hard. So Bart stays for dessert. After awhile, Bart says he really has to get going, and that he doesn't mind walking (he literally lives just down the street). However, when they try to open up the storm door (or screen door, as my folks always called it), they discover that they're snowed in! The snowfall has been super heavy, plus it has blown up against the house. So Bart spends the night. Kristy is super embarrassed and nervous about Bart seeing her in the morning, so she sets her alarm extra early and actually goes into the bathroom and tries to primp. She shaves her legs for the first time, puts on some make-up and even tries to curl her hair! Aside from her hair, Kristy is pretty happy with the results. Of course, her siblings all make fun of her for it, but Bart says she looks beautiful.

Claudia has the next most mundane story. She spends the afternoon taking calls for the Club, then runs across the street to sit for the Perkins. Just before all the power and phones go out, the Perkins call to say that they can't drive back home, so Claudia will have to stay the night with the girls. As Claudia's putting the girls to sleep, she realizes that she can't find Chewy, the dog, and starts to panic. Claudia's mother comes across the street, and helps Claudia look for a bit, before deciding that nothing more can be done in the weather and in the dark. Mrs Kishi then offers to spend the night on the couch, but Claudia insists that she can look after the girls herself, and that if anything were to happen, Mrs Kishi is just across the street anyways. Claudia soon goes to bed, but is woken by Gabbie, who hears something. They go and investigate, and find that Chewy's been locked in the corner of the basement this whole time! Everything is fine, and the next morning they have breakfast and build a snow family.

Dawn and her mom are headed to the airport to pick up Jeff. For some reason, even though he's flown a bajillion times before, Jeff's been nervous about this time. Dawn wants to make sure they get to the airport with plenty of time to greet him. However, the snow has already started to fall when they leave, and Sharon isn't the most confident snow driver. She goes slowly, and despite having left early, they only get to the airport just in time. Of course, that doesn't matter because with the snowstorm, Jeff's plane hasn't arrived yet. Dawn is worried about how Jeff is handling things, but Sharon figures everything will be alright. They spend the evening hanging out in the airport, waiting to hear about Jeff's plane. Finally, word gets to them that the snow is so bad, Jeff's plane has been rerouted to Washington DC for the evening. Just as they're about to call Jeff to see how he's doing, the power and phone lines go out. They're advised not to leave the airport to go driving, so Dawn and her mom are stuck there overnight. They mostly walk around, buy a couple of books to read, try to get some sleep. Dawn has a creepy encounter with a wandering toddler ending up in her face, but that's about it. The morning comes, and though feeling grody, Dawn and her mom are extremely happy to see Jeff again.

Jessi is at a super long dance rehearsal. They're putting on a production of The Nutcracker. Anyways, no one can concentrate cuz the kids all want snow, and Jessi wants Quint and the dance. About an hour before rehearsal is due to end, some parents start calling in, saying that they'll be late picking up the kids. As time goes on, Jessi realizes that there's no one waiting around to pick them up (usually the parents of the younger kids will watch the last 15-30 minutes of rehearsal). Finally, sensing that she's lost their attention, Mme Noelle calls an end to rehearsal. Once everyone finishes changing, Mme Noelle and the other teachers have bad news: the snowstorm is too bad, and the parents can't come to pick them up. Everyone is stuck overnight at the dance school. Luckily the dance school has a cafeteria that had recently been stocked with dried fruit and nuts and instant soup, so they're not going to starve. In fact, it's pretty much like a giant sleepover adventure. Except all the little kids are upset, and in typical Jessi-fashion, she decides to help the adults comfort the children and keep them busy. At some point, Quint shows up! He had arrived at the train station just before the snow got really bad, and after awhile, he realized that Jessi and her father weren't going to be able to drive and pick him up. So he asked for directions and walked to the dance school! He also helps get the little kids settled. Eventually Jessi and Quint are able to retreat to the classroom where the older students are, and they sit around and gossip and have a grand ol' time. The next morning, the storm is over, the roads are plowed, and while waiting for their parents to pick them up, they're treated to a feast from the coffee shop across the street.

Stacey decides that with the Club meeting cancelled, now would be a perfect opportunity to go get her hair permed, so that it's perfect for the dance. She and her mom leave well before the storm hits (not even a flake in sight!) and get to the mall. However, while there, the storm hits. Stacey's mom hates driving in snow, but thinks that if they hurry, they can somehow beat it and get home before it gets too too bad. Mrs McGill decides to bypass the highway, figuring it'll be congested from everyone attempting to get home. Instead, she takes the back roads. This doesn't work well, as they aren't plowed and have very little traffic to push away the snow as it falls. Eventually, she decides to pull over and try to wait things out a bit. This normally wouldn't be too bad, except that Stacey has diabetes and needs to eat soon. She has her injection kit with her, but very little food. Mrs McGill decides to try driving again, only to find out that they're out of gas. So now Stacey's got her diabetes, and they have to worry about freezing to death. At that point, a man drives up and asks if they need help. He says he lives just down the street, with his wife and baby. Stacey's worried that he might be a killer, trying to lure them in so that he can kill them, but Mrs McGill decides to trust him. Turns out to be a great idea, and Stacey and her mom pass the evening having a great dinner, playing with the baby and making friends. They're even almost sad to leave the next day. They're completely surprised when they come home and realize that everyone is worried about them and had no idea that they were missed!

Mary Anne and Mallory are sitting for the Pikes. MA's spent Tuesday night there, since the Pikes left for NYC early in the morning. They have enough food for the day, plus some emergency money, but Mrs Pike points out that she'll have to go grocery shopping Thursday morning ASAP. Tuesday night, the kids are bonkers, expecting snow. Of course, there's no snow, and they all go to school fine. Wednesday evening, and it's still business as usual. The kids are still hoping for snow, with the triplets teasing Claire about the Abominable Snowman, and MA and Mallory prepare sloppy joes for dinner. However, the snowstorm hits, and soon the power goes out. The kids are simultaneously excited and creeped out. Of course, the Pikes can't come home like they wanted to, so MA and Mallory are on their own til the next day at least. MA calls her dad to let him know what's going on, but he wants to stay home for Dawn and Sharon. MA points out that they'll be okay anyways. Then the phone lines go down, and Mallory points out that they're running out of food. They decide to eat the ice cream and anything that might go bad without power, but come the next morning, it doesn't leave them with much. They try calling for pizza and other take-out items, but of course, no one is open. MA calls Logan, just wanting to hear his voice. She explains how they're okay, but they're hungry. The next thing they know, Logan shows up on cross-country skis with a backpack full of bread, crackers, peanut butter and a few other things. The day is saved and now the Pikes can enjoy the snow!

So everyone's survived the massive snowstorm. They later learn that they had a record snowfall of about 2 feet. The dance doesn't get cancelled, and everyone goes and has a great time. Yay!


Random Thoughts: 

• This is my favourite Super Special ever. I must have read this one a million times as a child. I think it's because we always have huge snowstorms up here... but snow is just kinda a thing that happens, so it's almost never an actual event. I still fantasize about getting snowed in and losing power for several hours, if not days. Aside from the massive Northeastern blackout in 2003 (which only affected my area for that first evening; a very short time compared to some people), the power in my area rarely ever goes out, and when it does, it's for like, an hour at most. Boring haha
• This one has the illustrations in it! This is probably why I remember those illustrations so vividly and always thought they were in every single Super Special haha
• I always loved the cover on this one, but Mallory looks a bajillion years old! Definitely older than Mary Anne. And then the Pike boy has to be one of the triplets, since Nicky is always described as having glasses and curly hair like Mallory's, but that kid is not one year younger than Mallory! haha
• Stacey goes into more detail in this one about the Washington Mall, which leads me to think that Stoneybrook isn't a town or city so much as a small municipality/neighbourhood. I grew up in Ottawa. Now what is called "Ottawa" is technically the "greater Ottawa area" or the "amalgamated city of Ottawa". When I was younger, I grew up in what is technically called Orleans, which is now an area in the east end of Ottawa. Since it is generally assumed that everyone lives in "Ottawa", which is a pretty big city (can take an hour to get from Rockland in the east end to Kanata in the west end), most people will still refer to their individual areas/neighbourhoods. So if you send mail to my parents, you can either address it "Orleans, Ontario" or "Ottawa, Ontario", and it'll still be there on time with no confusion. Unlike if you wrote "Kingston, Ontario" or "Toronto, Ontario", which are very very clearly different cities from Ottawa and not even close haha
• Anyways, Stacey says it takes about half an hour to get to Washington Mall, and it's in the next town over. This reminds me of how when I was younger, it was a super big deal for my parents to drive me 30 minutes to Kanata, where Bayshore Shopping Centre was, which was a much bigger and more upscale mall than the one that was within walking distance of our house in the east end haha
• You can tell that AMM wrote this one, because Kristy is totally likeable, easy to relate to, and well-rounded. She's excited for the dance, and while she expresses a general dislike of dresses, she likes the one she's going to wear to the dance and points out that it's only for a couple of hours. She's also excited about seeing Bart, although she's not too sure how much he means to her. Furthermore, she owns a bit of make-up and puts it on for Bart. This is a great call-back to Super Special #2.
• You know it's a Super Special because Claudia is dating an Asian guy haha Here, her date for the dance is a guy in her grade named Iri Mitsuhashi. And we never see or hear from him again... at least, I don't think so! haha
• Part of me can't believe that the Pikes would leave Mallory and Mary Anne in charge for almost 24 hours... but then another part of me is like, "No... this kinda makes sense..." They leave at 6am, and from there, there's only 2 hours or so until the kids are at school. No sense in making a neighbour spend the night for that. (Although I probably would have had a neighbour stop by at 7:30 or 8am to make sure that everyone was alive and indeed going to school haha) Then they're at school, and come home. It's not unusual for the girls to baby-sit after school or prepare dinner or baby-sit after dinner. It's just weird for them to be doing it all for one job. Again, I might have had a neighbour over for dinner or for a few hours in the evening. I definitely would have arranged for someone to check up on everyone at 9pm. And then the Pikes were supposed to be back at 1am or so. So yeahhhh... Barring the snowstorm, everything would have been okay. But I'm still surprised the Pikes were simply like, "Okay, the neighbours know we're gone, so give them a shout if you need them!" instead of being like, "Okay, the neighbours know we're gone. Mrs Barrett will check in on you in the morning and Mrs McGill will be by in the evening, and you have all the phone numbers, etc etc etc". 
• Stacey particularly wants to go to the Washington Mall, because otherwise, she might end up at the salon downtown, Gloriana's House of Hair. That salon was first featured Little Sister #8, Karen's Haircut. I remember reading that one as a child. It traumatized me. I was forced to have a bowl cut for most of my childhood, so when I could finally grow my hair out, the idea of it getting cut too short again and having to wait for it to grow out was my biggest fear. But yeah. I will never forget Gloriana's House of Horror haha
• There's an illustration of Bart in this one, and he does not look at all how I picture him (totes not my kind of guy! how he's pictured on the cover of #95 is more my style haha) but he does look like he could have been the older sibling of the kids I went to elementary school with (when this book was published)!
• This one also mentions Mallory's sleeping habits again
• The Pikes apparently wake up to an oldies radio station. The first song they wake up to is "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". I remember hearing this song randomly when my parents were watching Beverly Hills, 90210 (Brenda and her friends were dancing and singing it in the Peach Pit??). I became obsessed with that song, but of course, this was before the internet, so I had no idea what it was or who sang it or how to listen to it again. So this kinda became a "one that got away" type obsession. Whenever I hear it today, I'm still like, "OMG THIS SONG!!!" haha
• On a side note: I just found out that that show lasted until the year 2000! THE FREAKING YEAR 2000 WTF!!! I thought this show was long over by 1997. I mean, the high school they used is also the same high school they used in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I didn't think that the two shows overlapped. Man, I know they say that Beverly Hills, 90210 is like, THE quintessential '90s show, but I had no idea that it was literally on for the entire decade. It ran from 1990 to 2000. It did not miss a single year of the '90s!
• They also mention that a snowfall this big could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, what with global warming and all. It's strange to think that even as far back as 1991, they were referencing global warming in kids' books. And we've still done very little about it =/
• I have no idea wtf "snow cream" is that Claudia makes for the Perkins girls (sounds like they're eating the fresh snow with maple syrup?) but if they were to have used fresh thick pure maple syrup, and not eaten the snow, they would have almost ended up with maple taffy haha
• I never go anywhere without a travel-sized toothbrush, at minimum 2 books, some granola bars, extra socks, extra underwear, a shawl, a flashlight and a lighter, and a bajillion other things, so if I had been in Dawn or Stacey's shoes, I would have been great haha
• Quint is crazy. Wtf. Even now I'd be hard pressed to try to find directions to walk somewhere in a new town during a snowstorm, let alone at age 11! I'm dying to know how far the dance school was from the train station. If it's anything like my city, Quint could have been walking for a good 30 minutes! If not more!
• Unless the coffee shop owner lived above the coffee shop, and unless the power was still out and milk and things were on the verge of spoiling, why the fuck would he open up the shop and give away a feast of free foods? How did he know that there were people stranded at the dance school? No one would have blamed him if he had just ignored them and gone on his way!
• I don't know if I would have trusted Mr Schiavone. I mean, I don't have to worry about diabetes, so it would just be a matter of staying warm for me. But yeahhhhh... just because he said he had a family in a house just up the street didn't mean he necessarily did. I remember being really scared for Stacey the first time I read this book, even though I knew that 1) these books would never get that dark (at the time, I hadn't read the one about drunk driving or child abuse or depression or anything) and that 2) the only ones that would potentially go that way would be the Mystery ones, so yeahhhh....
• Now, maybe it's because my house doesn't have 9 people in it... but even when I "really need" to go grocery shopping, I still have plenty of food in my house. I mean, nothing I could make a meal out of or that I would particularly want to live on, but definitely enough so I'm not starving. Boxes and boxes of crackers, a few cans of vegetables, soup and tuna (actually, I could live on soup), rice cakes... even without the staples like bread, eggs and milk, I'd be okay!

BSC #48: Jessi's Wish

Tagline: Do wishes really come true?

When Jessi volunteers to help supervise the Kids Can Do Anything Club, she meets nine-year-old Danielle. Danielle has a beautiful smile and a great sense of humor. But Danielle is no ordinary little girl. She has cancer.

Jessi never met anyone like Danielle before. Even though she is very sick, Danielle is courageous and hopeful. She even has two wishes. The first is to go to Disney World. The second is to graduate from elementary school. Jessi knows she has to be strong for Danielle, and so she makes a very special wish of her own.

Jessi's chilling at home, watching her brother Squirt, when Becca comes home from school. She's super sad because one of the teachers who helps to run the Kids Can Do Anything Club (Kids Club) at school is going away for a bit, and the other teacher doesn't think he can run the club alone. That means that the club will have to disband until further notice. Jessi knows how much the club means to Becca, as well as a few other kids, and decides that she wants to help out. She decides to propose to the Club that they should spend the month volunteering on various projects. The girls agree, and with their blessing, Jessi goes and talks to Mr Katz (the remaining teacher) about helping out with the Kids Club.

At her first meeting, Jessi learns that the kids have just finished up organizing a toy drive for the local hospital. That day, Mr Katz shows them all the letters the kids from the hospital have written to them, thanking them for the donations. One of the letters turns out to be a from a girl named Danielle Roberts, who used to be in the club, but has been spending that school year in the hospital fighting cancer. Danielle writes that she's coming back soon, and although she's bald and looks different, she's excited to see everyone again. The kids are excited, and reasonably subdued, and decide to spend the afternoon writing back to the kids in the hospital.

Danielle comes back for the next Kids Club meeting. Everyone's excited, but something seems a little off. As Danielle stars talking to them, and telling them what she's been up to, Jessi realizes that it's mostly the third graders hanging around Danielle. Eventually Jessi comes to the conclusion that the older kids, who knew and remember Danielle before the cancer, are frightened of her and for her, seeing her look so radically different from before. But Danielle is just happy to be out of the hospital and keeps her hopes up. As the kids continue to write letters to the hospital, Jessi gets to know Danielle, and wants nothing more than to help her and for her to get better.

The girls have an informal Club meeting, to catch up with each other on their volunteer work. There, Jessi tells everyone about Danielle, and how Danielle wishes she could go to Disney World. Mary Anne tells Jessi of an organization called Your Wish Is My Command, that works to grant wishes of sick children. Jessi thinks it's a great idea, and looks into it for the Roberts' and lets them know about it.

Over the next little while, Jessi gets to know Danielle better, especially through Becca, who has quickly become one of Danielle's closest friends. The other 4th and 5th graders are still being weird about Danielle, so she mostly hangs out with Becca and Charlotte (who are 3rd graders). Danielle comes over to play and the girls have all sorts of fun, although Danielle does tire easily and has to take things slow. Jessi and the girls also go to Danielle's place for a BBQ, where Jessi meets Danielle's little brother Greg, who is clearly having a hard time dealing with his sister's illness. It makes Jessi want to send their family to Disney World even more.

Finally one day, at Kids Club, Danielle gets the news that her wish has been granted, and that her family will be going to Disney World! She'll be missing 3 days of school, and they'll take a plane, and everything will be covered. The kids are so excited that they stop being weird and careful around Danielle. That's when they notice that Danielle's hair is starting to grow back! Everyone is so happy and excited that they neglect the popcorn machine, and a big mess is made. But Jessi and Mr Katz don't care, because again, HAPPY!!!

We're then treated to a chapter of Becca and Jessi helping Danielle pack, followed by several postcards from Disney World. It seems like everything is working out for the best. The other teacher is due back any day, and Jessi, although excited to get back to baby-sitting, will miss working with the Kids Club.

However, things take a turn for the worse: one day, Danielle's not in school. She's had a relapse in her recovery, and is in the hospital again. The kids are all upset, and decide to write Danielle letters. Jessi writes her one too, and soon gets a reply. Danielle isn't sure when she can leave the hospital again, but she's hopeful: after all, she got to go to Disney World, so wishes really do come true.

The subplot in this one is that the girls decide to spend the month doing volunteer work, inspired by Jessi's work. They decide that whoever is free will go to meetings, and they'll just have to be extra careful of scheduling jobs and rely on Logan and Shannon more. For some of the girls, their volunteer work is only mentioned in passing, but others have entire chapters (instead of baby-sitting ones):

Claudia volunteers to help out with an after-school art class at a community centre. As luck would have it, several of their baby-sitting charges are in the class, including Jackie Rodowsky, Margo Pike and Karen Brewer. The chapter we're treated to is them in the middle of a ceramics lesson. The kids are making sculpture out of clay, which will then be glazed and fired. Karen is making a forest with animals and stuff, and somehow she manages to convince everyone that her sculpture is alive, getting the kids all riled up and stuff. Claudia manages to get her to stop by "expressing sadness" that Karen's sculpture will never be finished, since obviously you can't glaze and fire something that's alive. So Karen quickly retracts her comments and insists that her sculpture is just a sculpture.

Kristy decides to volunteer at a daycare centre that David Michael used to go to. It runs all day, with an after-school program for older kids. Her chapter is her first day there, where she wanders from room to room, helping out where needed. She helps some of the older kids with their homework, she helps the little kids with some finger painting and snacks, but eventually she ends up with the wee little babies. They're short-staffed, and Kristy finds herself saddled with one baby in particular, Joy. Apparently Joy is very fussy and never settles or likes anyone, so obviously she's in love with Kristy and everyone is in awe of Kristy's baby-powers. Kristy then decides that she'll spend the remainder of the month volunteering in that room, and we hear more about how much she loves Joy.

Dawn volunteers at the Baker Institute, which is in Stamford. They provide after-school activities, as well as physical therapy, for children with physical disabilities. Dawn rides on the van with other Stoneybrook kids after school. There, she meets a girl named Kendra, who is wheelchair bound because of cerebral palsy. Kendra wants to be a writer, and we're treated to an afternoon of her writing, along with other kids. When Dawn tells Jessi about Kendra, Jessi reflects on how Kendra is completely wheelchair bound and will never get better, but she thinks about what she wants to be when she grows up and long-term goals; whereas Danielle has a chance to make a full recovery and be completely healthy again, but only thinks about making it through elementary school.

Mary Anne volunteers to help out with some friends of her father's. They have a little boy named Frankie, who has brain damage. Mary Anne helps his parents and his therapists do exercises with him, as well as just generally helping out around the house and with his two siblings.

Stacey volunteers to mentor kids who are recently diagnosed with diabetes. She's paired up with two kids, an 8-year-old boy named Gordon and a 10-year-old girl named Charmaine. Gordon asks all sorts of questions and is handling things really well, but Charmaine is in total denial. At first, Stacey tries to be a perfect role model for her, but eventually decides to come clean and admit how hard it is for her to follow her diet as well. That changes everything with Charmaine, and she starts taking things more seriously.

Mallory volunteers with an after-school park program, where the counselors hang out in the park and organize games and activities for the kids.

Random Thoughts:

• I love how this is another example of Jessi just doing something because she wants to, and having her own ideas. Yeah, she wants to run it by Kristy and the girls to see what they think, but I get the feeling she would have done something even without their approval. I mean, really, the only thing she's running by them is the idea that they all do some volunteer work. I think if they had said no, she still would have done her own thing.
• Kristy in the later books would never suggest that the girls take an entire month to do some volunteering! haha
• Fun fact: sometimes I end up covering for the visual arts teacher at school, and for some reason, I've ended up covering several lessons during the ceramics unit over the years, so I've actually become decently versed in how to do ceramics. The school even has a small kiln, so the students' work gets glazed and fired too! My first year there, I made a small sculpture from some leftover clay. I then missed the end of the unit, but the students glazed my sculpture for me. Sadly, it never got in the kiln. Probably for better: I didn't crosshatch one section when attaching it to the main part, so it didn't end up sticking so well, so it kinda fell apart after some time =( haha
• Even with getting to skip the line, there is no way they were able to do Disney World in just 2 days. Then again, it's better than nothing. I wonder what they saw. They probably just went to Magic Kingdom and Epcot, and had like, a special meet-and-greet dinner. Fuck, now I want to go back to Disney and eat their food. They've got awesome food. (Mostly because I don't have to prepare it haha)
• I know Danielle is the focus of another book later in the series, but between this one and that one, do we ever hear about her again? Is she mentioned in passing in any of the other Jessi books? I really want to re-read the other Danielle book now, just to see what Jessi has to say. You'd think with Danielle being such great friends with Becca, we'd hear about her more.
• The volunteering thing was only supposed to be a month, with Jessi herself doing Kids Club for like... 6 weeks? AMM keeps starting chapters with "one day" or "later that week" and other vague things, so it makes it feel like so much time passes!

BSC #46: Mary Anne Misses Logan

Tagline: Nothing beats your friends. But even so...

It was good for Mary Anne and Logan to break up for awhile. Mary Anne has had some time to herself, and she's been having lots of fun with her friends. But now Mary Anne can't help it. She misses Logan.

When she and Logan are both assigned to study their favorite author, Mary Anne thinks this is the perfect, most romantic way for them to get back together again. Until Cokie Mason, Mary Anne's mortal enemy, decides to steal Logan from her.

Mary Anne vs Cokie: Who will Logan choose?

It's Thursday afternoon, and Mary Anne misses Logan. She spends the whole afternoon recapping her life and summarizing her break up with Logan, before moving on to more pressing matters: a grade-wide group project about authors. MA doesn't particularly like group projects, and she's even more stressed since she could be paired up with anyone from the eighth grade. All in all, MA is pretty miserable.

The day comes to find out their groups and who they're studying. At first, MA is delighted to see that she'll be studying Megan Rinehart, her favourite author. She gets excited for the project, but is soon crushed to see that her group is Miranda Shillaber, Pete Black... and Logan Bruno! She likes Miranda and Pete, but MA isn't sure she can work with Logan. Things get worse though, when it soon becomes evident that Miranda can't stand Pete. Upon meeting, the group is silent and awkward. They're soon rescued by Cokie Mason, who manages to convince her English teacher that she really wants to study Megan Rinehart, which leads Miranda to switch out. Poor MA now has to deal with Cokie and Logan, with only Pete as support.

Things go from bad to worse, as it quickly becomes evident that Cokie only wanted to switch to the group because she wants to hit on Logan. She doesn't know anything about Megan Rinehart, doesn't care to do any of the work, and spends all of their group meetings flirting with Logan. MA misses Logan fiercely, and is all awkward around him. Soon, Cokie starts derailing things further, constantly bragging about going out with Logan every night. It's apparent that neither her nor Logan are doing any work, although Logan has at least read most of the books already.

So Pete and MA take charge. The group had decided that they were going to read 4 contrasting books by Rinehart (a serious, a comedy, a mystery and a collection of short stories), then each were going to take a book and see how it relates to Rinehart's personal life and biography. When it becomes clearer and clearer that Logan and Cokie aren't working, Pete and MA decide to do their sections for them. Things come to a head though when their principal has an announcement for the school: the day the projects are due, three of the authors studied were coming to school and the groups who studied them would be presenting in front of everyone. One of the authors? Megan Rinehart, of course!

Logan quickly goes into panic mode, and realizes he's effed up. He's done his part, but he knows that it needs work, so he calls up MA to get her help. At first MA is incredulous, thinking that he wants her to do it for him (which she already did), but soon realizes that he wants to make sure it matches what she and Pete did. Over the next couple of days, they work really hard and pull through together. MA is exhausted, but happy.

It's the day of the assembly, and MA is nervous. But Logan squeezes her hand, and reassures her that everything will be okay. They get called to the podium, and one by one, they present their assignment to the school. It quickly becomes apparent that Cokie didn't do any work. Her section consists of reading the dust jacket cover of the book she was supposed to cover. Cokie makes a fool of herself and runs off, Pete, MA and Logan get signed copies of Rinehart's latest book, and everyone's happy.

As thanks for the last minute help, Logan takes MA out for dinner. There, they discuss their feelings and their break-up. MA asks about Cokie, and Logan admits that while it was nice going out to sports games and concerts (stuff that MA doesn't typically do), he overdid things with Cokie, and his grades and life started to suffer. He didn't really like her, and was just using her to get over MA. MA admits that she misses Logan, and they decide to get back together again. Yay!

The subplot in this one involved the Kormans. They recently moved across town, into the Delaney's old house. The older children, Bill and Melody, aren't used to living in such a huge house. They're frightened by the sheer size of it and all the hiding places there are. Eventually, their imagination runs away with them, and they end up inventing a Toilet Monster, who they subsequently become afraid of. Over the course of the book, the girls take turns baby-sitting them, trying to get them to overcome their fear of the Toilet Monster. In the end, it seems to work.

Random Thoughts:

• I definitely didn't own this one as a child, but I did own #41, which was one of my favourites, so this one was always one that I longed for. I did end up reading it, having borrowed it from my friend, but I think I only got to read it once or twice. Not nearly as often as I would have liked. I'm very excited to be reading this now, because although I remember the overall plot, I don't remember the details.
• Huh. Turns out there really isn't much to this one. And even before re-reading this one, I already knew that the cover did not happen in the book
• And again, I don't read the synopsis on the back of these books before doing my re-read. This synopsis is highly inaccurate. Although she misses him, MA doesn't try to get back together with Logan, and she dreads having to work with him.  
• I somewhat vaguely remember the Kormans, but I totes forgot that they had moved into the Delaney's old house. When the fuck did that happen??
• Alright, a bit of research tells me that it happened in Little Sister #19, Karen's Good-Bye, which came out a couple of months before this one.
• I like the continuity that Miranda doesn't like Pete. I think the bra-snapping incident happened when they were in grade 7 still.
• Also: for some reason, I always picture the Shillaber twins as looking like Sherri and Terri from The Simpsons, only older and not dressing identically anymore. On that note, I always picture Sherri and Terri as not having purple hair, but that it being stylized/representative of them being half-East Indian or some other Middle Eastern ethnicity. Thus, I always picture the Shillaber twins as slightly brown (but not too brown, since if they were full Middle Eastern, you know that would've been a big deal for white bread Stoneybrook haha)
• You can tell that AMM wrote this one, because Jessi's love for telling jokes is back.
• I find it funny that of all the girls, Claudia is the one who thinks of adult authors, naming Danielle Steel and Stephen King. Again, you can tell that AMM wrote this one because Claudia's actually fairly bright in this one.
• Also: for all the famous authors referenced in this one, it's weird that the one that MA is studying is a fictional one.
• AMM makes it a point to note that Mallory was not sitting anywhere near Jessi at the Author Day assembly. Wtf does it mean?? WHY DOES THIS GO NOWHERE? WHY DON'T WE SEE MORE OF JESSI AND MALLORY AT SCHOOL???
• As someone who is highly academic and hates having to pull dead weight on group projects, it pleases me to see that Cokie's manipulations and schemes didn't pan out.
• ...the nerd in me also really likes this project and wants to do it myself.
• I kinda ship MA and Pete after this book, but I ship her with Cary Retlin more haha
• I like that Logan has obviously changed and has improved since their break-up. During that book, he tried getting back together again with her, without even considering her feelings. In this one, Logan asks MA what she wants to do.