BSC #59: Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym)

Tagline: Boys and gym. What a disgusting combination!

Mallory has never been a sports person. in fact, you could say gym is her least favourite subject. But now Mal's worst subject has turned into an absolute nightmare. Gym class has gone co-ed!

Mal feels totally gross in her ugly, oversized gym suit. And once they boys find out she can't play volleyball, they decide to make her life miserable.

Mal's always hated gym. But she's beginning to hate boys even more!

Right away, we're thrown into the busy pandemonium that is the Pike household. Mrs Pike tries to kick everyone outside, which is good because Mallory invited Ben Hobart over for a study session, but the quiet ends up being short-lived when the boys all come back in the house to bother Mallory and tease her about her ~*~boyfriend~*~. This leads to Mallory and Ben relocating to the Hobart residence, where Mallory was treated to a nice quiet household, younger brothers who do their own thing away from her and Ben, and homemade chocolate cake. Ben assures Mallory that it's not always like this, but Mallory sees the Hobart residence as heaven.

Things kick off though when Mallory goes back to school, and it's time to start a new unit in gym class. To Mallory's horror, not only is it volley-ball, but it's being done co-ed with the boys' gym class. At first, Mallory tries to stay home from school, but the rest of her siblings want to jump on the bandwagon, so that ends things quickly. Next, Mallory decides she's going to pretend to faint in the changeroom, just before class, so she won't even have to change. But then she gets nervous, waits too long, and "faints" with no witnesses. The phys. ed. teacher just tells her to haul her butt out into the gym.

The good news is that the teams are picked at random, so Mallory doesn't have to worry about one of her classmates deliberately picking her last. Unfortunately, once the game gets started, things go very very bad. The athletic boys on the opposing team purposefully target the ball right at her, and she keeps ducking or running away. A boy on her team tries to get the ball in her stead, but ends up plowing into Mallory when she doesn't get out of the way fast enough. Her gym teacher keeps yelling out advice to Mallory, but Mallory just feels even more singled out and targeted. All in all, it's an absolutely miserable experience for her.

Mallory's day doesn't get any better when she shows up at the Newtons for a baby-sitting job. Mrs Newton warns Mallory that Jamie's been acting up lately, but Mallory assures her that everything is going to be okay. Unfortunately, it isn't, and Jamie spends the whole time being a brat. He breaks all his crayons and throws them at Lucy's bedroom door while she's napping, claiming he's making "rockets". Then he screams that he wants to call and hang out with his friend, which wakes up Lucy. Then while Lucy's getting changed, Jamie runs off and hides, frightening Mallory. Eventually Mallory finds him, and they get into a juvenile insult match, before Jamie starts running around the house again. He eventually knocks over a vase, and then cuts himself on one of the glass shards. As Mallory tries to clean him up, Jamie fights and screams, acting more like Mallory's trying to amputate his finger than put a band-aid on it.!

Meanwhile, Jessi has her own baby-sitting woes with her siblings, in particular Squirt, who's being a handful. This leads Mallory to the come to the conclusion that all boys are awful! This is further reinforced during her next gym class, where things aren't any better. She gets clobbered in the face by the ball, and while the boy who served it apologizes, Mallory's had enough. She snaps at him, she snaps at her gym teacher, and gets sent off the court for the rest of class. Mallory goes home where her mom leaves her in charge of her siblings, because she has to pick up Margo from school. The boys annoy Mallory, and she runs to her room to wallow in despair.

Mallory eventually comes to the conclusion that if she benches herself, she won't have to play volley-ball. At first, she has an internal conflict, warring over her need to be good and have an unblemished school record, but eventually she decides to go through with it. It leads to her getting detention. Mallory muses that this might be the start of her descent into a life of mischief and crime, but ultimately decides that detention isn't so bad when she realizes that she can do her homework in peace and quiet, completely undisturbed. No volley-ball and time to do homework? This seems like a win to Mallory, until she's told that her parents will receive a written notification about her detention. This leads Mallory deciding that she'll just have to commit mail fraud and intercept the mail every day for the next few weeks, until the volley-ball unit and all her detentions are over.

At the next Club meeting, Mallory declares in front of everyone (including Logan, who was attending the meeting) that boys are pains and that they are no good. She mentions that Logan and Ben may be the exceptions (Ben waited after school for Mallory, even though her detention), but that overall, boys sucked. Later, Jessi tries talking to Mallory, saying that she's just equating boys with her hatred for volley-ball. Mallory insists that they're one and the same: boys love volley-ball, so volley-ball is horrible just like boys. When Jessi tries to tell Mallory that she likes volley-ball, Mallory stubbornly ignores her.

Eventually, Mallory sits for the Hobart boys, and realizes that they're perfectly fine. She then comes to the conclusion that it's because they're foreign, and that there must be something about the way Stoneybrook raises children that's adversely affecting the boys. Mallory eventually decides it's because of phys. ed., and how much importance is placed on boys and sports and winning. Mallory keeps contemplating all this while the Hobart boys calmly watch a martial arts film. Eventually Ben returns home, and is surprised at how good his brothers are being. Mallory cannot believe him, and keeps telling him how she'd trade brothers with him any day.

It comes to Mallory's attention that by constantly sitting out phys. ed., she runs the risk of failing, so she decides to try volley-ball again. Her teammates don't greet her warmly, and eventually Mallory gives up again. Instead of barking out encouragement, her teacher tries to actually talk to Mallory about what's going on. However, she ends up just further creating resentment in Mallory by equating quitting volley-ball in gym class to being a failure in life, and Mallory just doubles down on her detentions. Since clearly detention isn't a deterrent for Mallory, she instead gets assigned to wash all the pinnies from the phys. ed. classes using the washing machines in the home ec. room. This humiliates Mallory, as she has to keep the classroom door open, and everyone in her class stops by to tease her.

So things continue, with the Club members having trouble with the boys they sit for, and Mallory having trouble with phys. ed. class and the boys in her class. Then Mallory forgets to get the mail, and her parents finally find out about the detention. Her mom sits down and talks to Mallory, and Mallory breaks down crying, explaining everything. Her mom talks her through things, and Mallory realizes how good it feels to cry and get it all out and to stop trying to act so tough. She promises her mother to talk to her teacher and actually try volley-ball.

So Mallory talks to her teacher, and although her teacher isn't willing to make someone sit out and give Mallory pointers, she does offer to talk to the boys' gym teacher and have them lay off Mallory a bit. She points out that in terms of game strategy, they're playing exactly right, but that she can see how it's getting on Mallory's nerves and making her life miserable. Mallory survives the last 4 sessions of volley-ball, but is ultimately happy when it's over. Unfortunately for her, she now has to worry about getting impaled by arrows, as they're doing archery next and it's still with the boys. However, unlike volley-ball, there's a sense of order and precision to archery. Because of the high risk factor, everything has to be done on command: everyone shoots together, everyone retrieves together. Also: everyone was on even ground, because it was everyone's first time doing archery. Because of how few people could shoot at a time, Mallory gets lots of time to watch people and absorb the instructions and think about it. When she goes to shoot, she finds she can't even draw back the string, but her teacher then gives her a smaller bow. With a lighter bow, Mallory is actually able to shoot, and is actually pretty good at it! By the end of class, Mallory has a bull's-eye, and her teacher asks her to try out for the school's archery team!

Mallory then spends time agonizing over whether she should even bother trying out. Eventually, she does and predictably makes the team. When she gets home, she finds that her brothers had baked a cake for her and written "Congratulations Mallory" on it (well, as best they could haha). This proves to Mallory that maybe boys and gym aren't all bad all  the time.

The "subplot" in this one is all of Mallory's wanting to switch brothers with Ben coming to fruition. They switch brothers for one night. Mallory's expecting a night of peace, but what she gets is terror. First, the boys are really excited about bunk beds and sharing one room for all of them. They've always wanted bunk beds, and sharing one room made it seem even more like a sleepover party. Then Mallory introduces them to the rec room, which they interpret as the "wreck" room, and get excited about a place they're allowed to make a mess in (they have a living room and a den at their place). The girls get really excited about their guests, and teach the boys all about jumping up and down on furniture, which is something they apparently don't do at their home. The Pike household also had all sorts of games and things that the Hobarts weren't used to, and they weren't used to sitting at such an unusual dining space for dinner. (The Hobarts have a dining table that seats 6: their parents at either end, with two boys on each side on their own chair; the Pikes have a long table with bench-like seating, almost like a giant indoor picnic table.) Then with so many "siblings" to distract them, the boys couldn't settle for bed, and the girls were excited for new guests, and they tried telling scary stories and having one giant slumber party in the boys' room. Mallory cannot believe it, and can't wait to swap back with Ben. The night-time doesn't get any better, as the boys can't sleep all in the same room and bunk beds prove to be too distracting for them. Eventually Ben calls Mallory and asks if she wants to swap back. Mallory is expecting Ben to tell her how terrible her brothers were, but he says they were perfect guests and tells her about all the special things they did together. It makes Mallory realize that boys are boys, and to appreciate her own siblings a bit more.

Random Thoughts:

• I don't remember liking this one. At all. I also get this one and Mallory on Strike mixed up. 
• I like how right on the first page, Mallory goes into her rec room, declares that it's pandemonium, and proceeds to repeat herself because "no one had paid any attention to me the first time". It's such a childish thing to do!
• I always like when the ghost writers take time to single Byron out as being quieter, more sensitive, not as athletic as the other two triplets.
• This book always makes me glad I only had one sibling, and that we were far enough apart in  age that I never saw him! It also makes me very very very glad I live alone now!
• Also: thanks to Mallory gushing over Mrs Hobart's homemade chocolate cake, now I want chocolate cake! The problem is: I'm not generally a fan of chocolate cake, so there's no point in my buying or baking an entire cake just for myself! haha
• In my middle school, we were allowed to wear our own clothes for phys. ed. class. In high school, we were given school t-shirts that we were expected to wear (the t-shirts came in 4 colours, and were evenly distributed, so it was a quick and easy way to always establish teams) but we could wear whatever we wanted on the bottom. I can't imagine having a standardized gym uniform. I felt ugly and awkward enough doing phys. ed., and I got to wear whatever I wanted!
• That being said, unlike Mallory, I always loved volley-ball. It was the sport I was best at (which really isn't saying much haha)! In middle school, our phys. ed. classes were segregated, but volleyball was one of the units we did together due to the limited amount of nets you could set up in the half-gym (in the half-gym, you only got 2 nets [one in each half, so each gym class would only have one court to play on]... in the full gym, you could get 3!)
• As annoying as Mallory's whining and moaning is, I have to admit, it's probably fairly realistic. I was fairly over-dramatic as a preteen/teen (I still am!) and I definitely was not the biggest fan of phys. ed.
• Her pretending to faint reminds me of how she pretended (and then actually did!) sprain her ankle to get out of the Sports Festival thing.
• Mallory notices that Jamie is acting up, deduces that he's probably feeling jealousy or resentment towards Lucy... but she still then goes on to gush about Lucy and talk about Lucy and be like, "OMG JAMIE, LUCY HAS CHANGED SO MUCH SINCE I LAST SAW HER, THIS IS GREAT!" Like, wow, baby-sitter of the year here haha
• Again, this just served to remind me how much I'm glad I don't have children and that I live alone! haha
• As juvenile and stubborn as Mallory is being, she actually does somewhat have a point about the way boys are taught in phys. ed. and how girls are taught in phys. ed. It's part of this toxic masculinity that makes boys feel like they have to be the strongest and the winningest at everything.
• I hate however how when Jessi says she doesn't mind volley-ball, Mallory is a jerk to her and just insists that Jessi is being crazy and has taken one too many balls to the head.
• I think part of what makes the Hobarts act up at the Pike household and the Pikes behave in the Hobart household is how the households are. It's hard to see yourself as a guest when it's a house full of children and the Pikes are clearly lackadaisical about child-rearing, whereas the in the Hobart household, everything is quiet and calm, so the Pike boys are able to better see themselves as guests and behave accordingly. Furthermore, Mrs Hobart made them a special dinner and they ate in a dining room, further reinforcing their status as guests. This is even lampshaded by Matthew telling Ben, "We had a great time. They have bunk beds and you can do whatever you want here."
• I have always wanted to do archery. I think I might do it this year! I'm sure I'll be terrible haha
• I can sympathize with Mallory not wanting to try out for the archery team. I spent my childhood and adolescence believing that I was terrible at sports (and while I generally wasn't great, I wasn't terrible either; I mostly lacked confidence. There were a few sports I enjoyed that if I had had more self-confidence and put more effort into, I probably would've been pretty good at!), and so that meant I could never do anything even remotely athletic. At all. It's taken a few years, but I now actually enjoy physical activity! I'm still not great at it, and I would definitely never call myself an athlete, but it's something I can do and feel proud of myself for.
• We of course, never hear about Mallory doing archery ever again. Never.

BSC #50: Dawn's Big Date

Tagline: Is Dawn's date a total disaster?

Mary Anne and Dawn are so excited. Logan's cousin Lewis is finally coming to town, and Mary Anne is busy planning the perfect double date. But now Dawn is starting to get worried. She's written letters to Lewis, but she's never had a boyfriend before. What if Lewis doesn't like her?

That's when Dawn decides she needs a new image. New clothes, new hairstyle, and lots more makeup. Maybe she could even learn how to flirt a little. But will Lewis and the rest of the Baby-sitters like the new Dawn?

I have actually never read this one!

Dawn and Mary Anne are getting ready for their New Year's Eve party together. MA is going to make all sorts of junk, while Dawn will make all sorts of healthy foods. As they're planning, MA tells Dawn some exciting news: Logan's cousin Lewis is finally coming for a visit! Dawn's excited, but also super nervous. She's never had a boyfriend before. None of the Stoneybrook guys seem to really be into her. Dawn knows that she and Lewis have been writing each other for awhile, and that he seems to like her and the picture she's sent to him, but she worries that things will be different once he actually meets her. At the New Year's Eve party, all the girls call a boy they're interested in at midnight, except for Dawn, Mallory and Jessi. Dawn feels sad and pathetic because she was the only 13 year old in the group without a boyfriend. Talk of New Year's resolutions prompts Dawn to decide to change her look and attitude, specifically so she can get a boyfriend.

Dawn starts by perusing Stacey's fashion magazines. MA catches her, and Dawn admits that she's just curious about changing her look. Excited, MA helps Dawn do her hair and make-up, while Dawn cuts one of her t-shirts into an off-the-shoulder top. They take Dawn's picture and send it to Lewis. Dawn, pleased with the new look, decides that she needs a new attitude too. She decides that the New Dawn is cool, and that to be cool means you're not a goody-goody who cares about school. So when Dawn is called on in class, instead of giving the right answer, she gives a bunch of joke answers. This gets the class laughing, and one of the cool kids (who was never mentioned before and never mentioned again) passes her a note of approval.

Soon, Dawn is changing all her clothes and her attitude, even going so far as to chew gum! The girls take notice, and they are not pleased. When Dawn points out that they didn't harp on MA for changing her hair and clothes, the girls point out that that was different because MA didn't change her attitude, plus she had been expressing for a long time a desire to be able to do something different. Dawn is all angry at everyone for not accepting her new look, except for MA. MA's acceptance actually confuses Dawn, because it makes her feel like something must have been wrong with her in the first place.

Eventually this all culminates in Lewis Bruno's visit. He's in Stoneybrook for a week. Dawn buys a hot new outfit to wear, and while she loves it, she doesn't feel quite right. MA casts doubt, and of course Sharon wants Dawn to dress more warmly, but ultimately everyone lets it go. Dawn feels like she'd look great in a magazine, but the reality is she doesn't live in a magazine, and feels perhaps a bit overdressed. She quickly quashes those thoughts and feelings though, putting on a confident attitude to meet Lewis.

Unfortunately, all that confidence goes out the window when Dawn meets him. She gets ridiculously nervous and tongue-tied, and ends up saying only one-word answers and responses. MA tries her best to bridge the gap between them, but it doesn't help. When they get back home, MA explodes at Dawn, telling her that she needs to show some personality. She then gives Dawn more teen magazines, with all sorts of dating and relationship advice. When Dawn questions MA, MA points out that she's just trying to help Dawn snag a boyfriend. Dawn accepts defeat and starts reading the magazines.

That Saturday, they go out on a double-date with Logan and Lewis. Dawn wants to wear one of her new outfits, but MA convinces her to just wear a jeans skirt and black turtleneck. Dawn decides to make the skirt shorter and dress up with heavy make-up and jewelry. MA chides her, but it's too late to do anything about it. They go to see Gone with the Wind, and MA keeps pinching Dawn to prompt her to be more interesting. She tries to get Dawn to share a bucket of popcorn with Lewis so that they can "accidentally brush hands" and then subsequently hold hands. Dawn keeps getting nervous and messing up and being clumsy, eventually dumping the whole bucket of popcorn. This culminates in Dawn's heavy make-up running because the movie is so sad. When the movie is over, Dawn is so upset by everything that she just wants to go home. When they get there, she and MA have a huge fight.

This results in Dawn and MA not talking for awhile. Eventually the Club tricks them into talking to each other by getting them on the same phone call to discuss their sitting clients (more on this later). Through their discussion and helping their clients, both Dawn and MA realize separately that if everyone (but mostly MA) left Dawn alone and up to her own devices, she'd figure out a way to impress Lewis herself. Dawn waits for MA to be on a sitting job, then invites Lewis out herself. The two of them go out together, and Dawn's still really nervous, trying to remember all the tips she'd read about in the magazines. Eventually Dawn realizes that this isn't working either, and comes clean to Lewis. She tells him that she's been trying to impress him with new clothes and attitude, but that she can see that it's not working. Lewis is confused, telling her that he liked her the way she was before, in her letters. Dawn then decides to tell Lewis to meet her back at her place in an hour. She then runs home, changes out of her clothes, showers and puts herself together like normal. She also prepares some healthy foods for Lewis. When he arrives, Dawn takes him on a tour of the barn, before feeding him foods. They have a great visit, and decide to see each other again soon.

Dawn and MA then talk about everything that happened in the book, with Dawn explaining that MA's over-supportiveness made Dawn feel like she had to change, and that nothing was right about her. MA tearfully admits that she didn't really know what she was doing, that she was just trying to help, and that she's sorry she made Dawn feel that way. The girls make up and decide to plan their next date with the boys.

Sadly, Lewis is heading home soon, so they only have time for one more date. They go bowling with Logan and MA, and everything is perfect. MA orchestrates it for them to have a moment alone, and Dawn and Lewis kiss! Lewis soon goes home, and he and Dawn continue writing to each other. Lewis thinks Dawn's pretty special, and Dawn feels pretty special too.

The subplot in this one involves new clients: the Hills, who are Norman (age 7) and Sarah (age 9). Norman is overweight and is constantly eating junk food. He keeps it hidden and on him at all times. His parents are always on his case about his weight, putting him on diets and exercise regimes. Sarah, and the other kids in the neighbourhood, also make fun of him, calling him "Enormous Hill". His parents practically encourage this, as they think it'll motivate Norman to lose weight. All it does though is make Norman feel worse, which makes him sad. Being sad makes him want to eat, so then it becomes a vicious cycle. The girls try to help him, but it doesn't really seem to be working. Eventually, they get Norman to stand up for himself against his sister. This stops Sarah from constantly teasing him and walking all over him, and start showing him some respect. They also encourage Norman to talk things out with his parents about how constantly harping on him makes things worse. Norman takes their advice and his parents lay off him. Norman decides he does want to lose weight, but that he's going to do it on his own terms. His parents help by deciding to get rid of all the junk food in the house, instead of simply banning Norman (and only Norman) from eating it. This subplot actually takes up a good chunk of the book, paralleling Dawn's own transformation and subsequent acceptance of her own body.

Random Thoughts:

• Like I mentioned above, I have actually never read this one! But I knew the premise, because they've probably referenced it in other books, as well as I've come across it in other Baby-Sitters Club blogs. But I always try to skip the posts about the books I haven't read, so even though I know the premise (and can probably guess the story beats), I don't know all the details.
• I'm guessing that Dawn gets a makeover, everyone hates her, she hates herself, she doesn't understand why Lewis doesn't like her, decides that it's because she's lame, eventually realizes that it's because she's being fake and that obviously he wanted to meet the girl in her letters, not some weird fake Dawn, she ditches the clothes and make-up (maybe keeping an item or two, but probably giving most to Stacey and/or Claudia) and learns a valuable lesson about being yourself haha
• This is the second time that Dawn tries to change herself for a boy. I kinda like the consistency?
• This one is ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn. I recognized the name, and then realized that that's the same name as the author of the Bar Code Tattoo books, books that I wanted to read as a teen, but never got around to. I wonder if it's the same author??
• It seems super weird that Richard and Sharon would invite only Mr Ramsey to stay to visit on New Year's Eve, and none of the other parents?
• Do we ever hear about Norman again? I'm dying to know what happens to him! Is he in the Little Sister series? I feel like he is, but honestly, I have no idea.
• Speaking of Norman, I feel like this is the first (and maybe only?) time the books describe someone as fat and overweight. They even highlight specifically that he's not "husky" or "pudgy" or "stout" or any of the other cute words people use to describe people who are overweight. This leads me to believe that Norman must be like the size... Cartman from South Park.
• Also: I know Norman would have been sneaking foods anyways, but the girls all act like they've never dealt with kids wanting snacks when it wasn't snack time. The girls should have been firmer and been like, "No, snack time is over and you're going to ruin your appetite for dinner. Sarah's not eating and I'm not eating. Here, how about a distraction. If you're still hungry in an hour, we'll talk again" and then distracted Norman with games and things.
• The Hills are terrible parents. Especially that line from his father about "How come a smart kid like you can't lose weight?" And like, I get it, the rest of the family shouldn't be punished because Norman has zero self-control, but jfc, Norman is 7 years old! Would it really kill the family to not have junk food in the house, instead of being like, "No Norman, you're too fat for this!"
• I never understood the idea of "it's cool to be dumb". The only time I didn't participate in class was when I didn't know the answers, because I was afraid of looking stupid. I mean, at the same time, you don't want to be a smarmy smug know-it-all, but yeah. If a teacher called on me, I wouldn't purposely give a wrong answer. Being smart is awesome!
• Like Dawn, there was a time or two in middle school and high school where I wanted to change my look. I'm pretty basic: jeans, t-shirts and hoodies. But occasionally I'd want to dress more punk or goth. The problem with that is that you have to really commit to that look. Like, every single day. And I didn't want to call attention to the fact that I was now suddenly dressing differently. I just... wanted to dress differently. So it never stuck. But I definitely remember going to second-hand shops and buying some clothes to cut up and destroy. I made a shirt that I liked, but due to my shitty sewing skills, it only lasted one or two washings. However, it sounds like Dawn tried cutting up and sewing almost everything!
• Dawn's thoughts about feeling like she'd fit in on a magazine, but not here in Stoneybrook really resonated with me. Sure, I could dress differently and change my look; I'd be smoking hot and I'm sure lots of people would compliment me or whatever... but it wouldn't fit in with my life and my friends and the role I've carved out for myself. It's hard to break from that standard.
• I got my hair cut differently one time, again to experiment and go with my new look. It eventually evolved into the hairstyle that I have now. I wish I could have cool swooping bangs (what the original haircut had) but I'm always and forever wanting to tuck my hair behind my ears, no matter what style I get, so it's pointless for me to experiment with my bangs/the front of my hair.
• I normally don't talk about the clothes in these books (I feel like if I did, I'd never be able to stop!), but I definitely definitely love Dawn's outfit that she buys to meet Lewis in: "black ballet slippers, black lace capri leggings, a short metallic silver skirt with all this crinoliny stuff underneath that made it poof out, a stretchy, tight, black and white-striped top with long sleeves; 6 rubber bangle bracelets, a pair of feather earrings that go down down to her shoulder in one ear and a pair of black hoops in the other ear."
• Dawn's asymmetrical earrings is something I do all the time now: I don't usually wear earrings in my first holes (all my other holes have earrings that I sleep in and don't change and keep in forever), but when I do, one side is always a danging earring and the other side is always a stud/hoop haha
• I remember all those teen magazines. They were always too expensive for my parents to waste money on, so I only owned a few issues, accumulated over the course of many many years. (They were like, 5$ each, which me and my parents would have rather spent on books, even if they were just Baby-Sitters Club books.) But a lot of the girls I went to school with had regularly subscriptions. When I was in high school, and we'd be going on long bus rides for band trip, everyone would pitch in and buy a whole bunch for the bus, so we could pass them around and read the quizzes and the dumb articles and stuff. I never took anything I read seriously, although sometimes they'd have some general good advice. Poor, poor Dawn, taking those magazines seriously.
• MA attempts to be supportive to Dawn, but a lot of what she says also comes across as bitchy and snooty: "Logan likes me the way I am!" is her response to Dawn asking if MA had ever tried any of the tips and tricks from the magazines.
• What 13 year olds want to see Gone With the Wind?? I don't even want to see it! (Although, I keep meaning to, since it's one of the classics)
• This made me really want tabouhli salad. I make mine with quinoa though. Dawn's other health foods that she makes for Lewis also sound good, but I'm allergic to a lot of them.
• I love that Sharon and Richard have a rule that there are no boys allowed in the house when they're not around, but I can't help but wonder why they hadn't considered the barn. I mean yes, the barn would be hella cold on most winter days and ridiculously hot on some summer days... but there are plenty of days when it would be just fine. A nice cool day where there temperature is above freezing... all that hay... a big pile of blankets... two bodies... I'm just saying that if they really wanted to, two teens could get into a lot of trouble up there! haha too bad the series never let the girls go into high school. I'm sure there'd be a book when they're 15 or 16 where their older boyfriend (18 or 17) would want to take a romantic picnic too far. The girls of course would say no, but there'd be some debate and internal struggle haha
• There's a contest in the back of this one to win a Snowbound survival kit. The girl who owned this book filled out the form. It asks "Who would you like to be snowbound with?" to which she answered, "My father". When it asks why, she responded, "He is tall and chubby so he would keep me warm"!