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Post by hitzpink on Apr 6, 2006 19:27:22 GMT -5
I just finished re-reading this book. I remember liking it when I was a kid, and I have to say, I still like it a lot! It didn't focus as much on the "mystery" as a lot of the other mysteries do. I'm not normally a big fan of the Pikes, but I really liked them in this book. We got to see a lot of them and there wasn't a Bizzer sign in sight! The book opens up with Mal cooking dinner because her parents have called and said they're going to be late. She's making English muffin pizzas, salad, and steamed artichokes. She goes on to tell us how to eat an artichoke and says that they are her favorite vegetable, but that her mother doesn't buy them too often because they're expensive. I thought it was cute. I also liked the sub-plot with Uncle Joe. It was sad, but it made for a good story. The Craine girls seemed really cute. I don't remember much about them, though. Do they appear again in future books? The one thing I didn't like about this book was the ending. Are we supposed to believe that both the guy who came to pick up the Ghost Cat and the cat itself really were ghosts? Seriously? Oh, and Kristy's chapter where she was babysitting for the Kormans seemed really random and kind of out of place.
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inge
Junior Sitter
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Post by inge on Apr 7, 2006 7:54:52 GMT -5
I thought this boos was... ok. As I was reading it I kept on believing they would find a nest of kittens or something in the attic at the end. When they didn't, and the mystery wasn't solved in any other way, I was pretty dissapointed.
The uncle Joe subplot was sad, but good. I don't remember reading about the Craine girls being mentioned ever again. That sucks. I don't really like families that appear just once for the sake of the story. A lot of kids had attics - why didn't they get a mystery cat? No need to introduce a whole new family for that, IMO.
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Post by sugarmonkey on Apr 7, 2006 11:37:13 GMT -5
I read this one awhile back. I wish that the Uncle Joe plot had been the main plot in a regular book. I was sorely disappointed in the mystery. Although yay for consistency when Dawn came in with her "tools" for ghost hunting.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 7, 2006 12:17:25 GMT -5
The Craine girls are featured in Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever. Jessi babysits them. I read that last night and I was like who the hell are the Craines?!? But I haven't read this book in a while (Mallory and the Ghost Cat) so I guess I'd forgotten. But yes, they do pop up later
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Apr 7, 2006 13:21:55 GMT -5
Really? I never realised they appeared somewhere else. Forget what I said then.
And I totally agree with uncle Joe being the main plot in a regular book. That would've been more interesting. It was already kind of the main plot in this one, only unofficial. The mystery part didn't seem nearly as important
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Post by hitzpink on Apr 7, 2006 14:57:27 GMT -5
Oh, you guys! I forgot to mention the best part of the book. Mallory is going meet the Craine girls' aunt, who normally babysits for them. She recently broke her leg, though, which is why Mallory is sitting for them 3 times a week for a month or so. The aunt (Aunt Bud) rides a motorcycle and Mal gets nervous about meeting her and says:
"I'd never met a woman who rode a motorcycle before. She'd probably be wearing a leather jacket. What if she offered me a beer? I wondered if she had any tattoos."
hah! Because of course people who ride motorcycles are going around offering 11 year olds beer.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 7, 2006 15:14:02 GMT -5
hah. Mallory, if someone offers you a free beer, you don't question it! You take it! Duh!
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Post by hitzpink on Apr 7, 2006 15:19:30 GMT -5
^heheh!
It's cool that the Craines show up in another book. They really seemed like fun, sweet girls. I would have liked to see them become more regular clients.
In regards to the mystery sort of taking the back burner in this book: I think that's why I liked it so much! I don't really look forward to reading very many of the mysteries because the plots tend to bore me a lot. This one kept my interest, though, because the Uncle Joe plot line was a huge part of the book.
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 7, 2006 17:06:05 GMT -5
Oh, Mal...
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Apr 8, 2006 3:46:30 GMT -5
oh yeah, I remember that part about the beer thing. I was like, WTF? who would offer an eleven year old a beer??? Haha. Mal is so cool sometimes
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 10, 2006 16:20:52 GMT -5
I'm reading this one right now. I'm about halfway through and totally bored by the Uncle Joe plot. How many times are they going to have Mr. Pike getting lost in memories of his childhood? Good lord. I'm hoping it picks up a bit as you guys all seemed to enjoy the Uncle Joe thing.
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Post by hitzpink on Apr 10, 2006 18:10:50 GMT -5
^Yeah, it's kind of annoying in the beginning with Mr. Pike and his constant reminising (sp?), but it gets a lot more interesting when Uncle Joe actually moves in. Although, with the way Mr. Pike was remembering Uncle Joe, you just knew that when he actually got there, he'd be totally different.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
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Post by Amalia on Apr 11, 2006 1:25:09 GMT -5
I think that Uncle Joe was pretending to not have that much energy because he didn't want to deal with all of those kids bothering him.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 11, 2006 12:51:17 GMT -5
Finished this one last night. It did turn out better, even though the mystery was never actually solved. Oh well. The scene with Nicky and Uncle Joe was cute, especially when Uncle Joe referred to him as "nick"
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
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Post by jen on Apr 12, 2006 6:59:30 GMT -5
The Craine girls are also mentioned in "Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic", I think - don't the girls go to the heritage picnic thing?
This book gets a thumbs up, if only for the opening scene where Mallory is cooking dinner. Possibly one of my favourite ever Pike scenes.
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