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Post by greer on Mar 17, 2009 1:52:34 GMT -5
I might try some, put my boarding school experience to good use.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Mar 17, 2009 16:08:31 GMT -5
I had actually considered doing a bit of whining in my post: "Please, Greer, you should work on one since you actually went to boarding school so it might be more authentic," but I figured if you want to write one, you will, and you don't really need me whining.
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Post by greer on Mar 18, 2009 0:34:03 GMT -5
Well, my school was quite different from Riverbend--it was co-ed and only had boarding for the high school grades and more traditional (No baking muffins substituting for a real math class!), but there were a lot of similarities. I have actually been wanting to write a YA boarding school novel, so this may be a good way to start.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jun 9, 2009 0:00:56 GMT -5
^14 y 9 m? wow that's young! have the laws changed since you've gotten your permit? ^ Yup. It's possible. In Montana, (although I don't know if it is still like this but . . . ) people could their license at 13 years old (but you weren't allowed to drive if the roads were TOO slippery). I love this book. I can totally relate to Alexis as I've had a roommate like that before. One when I was in third grade and when I was in the Navy. Eesh. Yeah, they exist and they are totally oblivious to the fact that they are so out of line And they seem to think that they are the victims if you react adversely to them. And it seemed kind of weird to me that Pam seemed to have such solo control over her dorm, which is the reason I think that Alexis wasn't dealt with sooner. She's only a high school kid after all (or close to it). I mean, at the school that I went to, even though there was a dorm adviser that was like Pam, the dean was much more involved in the what went on and something like this would have been brought to her attention and dealt with quickly. And oh, I loved the subplot. It was so cute.
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Post by greer on Jun 9, 2009 0:06:28 GMT -5
^Yeah, you're right. We had prefects, but we also had Dorm Parents. So if you had an issue you would have a meeting with your prefect maybe as a preliminary thing, but then it'd go to the Dorm Head, who was a faculty member. Many of our teachers lived in apartments on our dorm floors. Deans didn't really deal with roommate issues though, unless it was serious. Probably Alexis's vandalism of Mallory's things would have been serious enough, though, and she would have had to have been evaluated by the school psychologist and such.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2009 21:18:05 GMT -5
I just finished reading this book, and it really made me want to go to Riverbend! Yoga and dance instead of gym, and baking instead of algebra was especially appealing. Creative Writing for the Stage also made me do a little (yes!) Did anyone find it weird that they were using email in this one? So un-BSC like, and also the most boring screen names for 11-13 year olds I've ever seen. Alexis seemed super insane, especially for an 11 year old. I actually really liked this one.
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 11, 2010 14:21:03 GMT -5
I found Alexis to be horrible. If I had to have a roommate, I would have hated to have a roommate like her. I felt uncomfortable for Mallory when Alexis read her journal, mostly because I would hate to have my privacy invaded like that. If I had a roommate like Alexis, I would have gotten annoyed with her quickly and would have done something to stop her more quickly than Mallory did.
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Post by sparklymouse on Jul 25, 2010 19:30:35 GMT -5
I liked Mallory's last BSC meeting where they listed all the highlights of Mal's time in the club. They mentioned the hell they put her through when she first joined, the Arnold twins, helping Buddy Barrett with his reading by making comic books, and taming the Delaneys while her dad was unemployed. Those are pretty much the moments I think about when I think of Mallory, so that was cool. (And a little weird, kinda seemed like she was going to die and was getting a big send off.)
Getting Alexis as a roommate was just one final F-You to Mallory before things (presumably) started going her way. I guess I'm glad that Mallory got a happy ending, not just in the book, but with the whole series. Boarding school is such a foreign concept to me though. The Pikes basically sent their kid away to college at age 11. I think having her try home schooling would have been more interesting.
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Post by zoar3 on Jul 25, 2010 23:02:58 GMT -5
Sparklymouse said:
Wow, good points, Sparklymouse. Like your (I believe it was you) Kelsey Middle School idea, I also never thought of homeschooling as an option for Mal. Either of those, along with, (I still say The Pikes could have looked into it) a scholarship to SDS, would have been more plausible (at least as a first attempt at securing Mal a healthier/more positive school experience) than suddenly shipping her off to Riverbend. But then, if that had happened, the Dee and John would have needed to been involved, possibly, going to SMS at least once to try and talk with the administration about the situation and what was being done. I don't know. I ended up liking Riverbend, wishing we had gotten to read more about it, but it came across as a drastic "first" solution.
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Jul 26, 2010 12:26:10 GMT -5
^ I could see the Pike parents being decent homeschool teachers in terms of ability, but would they really have the time for that with so many other kids? I've never been homeschooled, and I don't know anyone personally who has, so I don't really know what kind of time committment is needed from the parents.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,270
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Post by oldhickory on Jul 26, 2010 15:11:12 GMT -5
^ the duggars have about 3000 kids and they homeschool, but i think all of them are homeschooled so that might make a difference.
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Post by zoar3 on Jul 26, 2010 20:13:46 GMT -5
Mal trying out home schooling might influence her siblings to want to give it a try themselves. I really don't see any of them truly wanting to. It really does seem like only Mal has no friends outside of the BSC. I do agree with Starrynight about the Pike parents having the ability to at least give it a try, just not sure if they'd have time. Dee seems to go back and forth between not working at all, working temp, and working more consistently so I guess it'd depend on her schedule at the time. John's, too, of course. Fan fic anyone?
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jul 27, 2010 15:11:36 GMT -5
^ the duggars have about 3000 kids and they homeschool, but i think all of them are homeschooled so that might make a difference. The quality of the education that the Duggar kids receive is awful, IMO. I've seen Michelle teaching the letters of the alphabet to children who look at least seven or eight years old. Plus ATI seems cultlike and creepy. I know public education in this country has its problems, but I think homeschooling is only the answer if the kids are being taught by someone who is at least competent.
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Post by sparklymouse on Jul 28, 2010 18:40:33 GMT -5
I admit I don't know much about home schooling either. Everyone I know who was home schooled only did so during their high school years and pretty much taught themselves. I just know that if Mallory had my mom then she would have been educated in some way, shape or form within the boundaries of Stoneybrook.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,270
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Post by oldhickory on Sept 18, 2010 23:12:59 GMT -5
i just reread, and i'm wondering why an all-girls school had male teachers. doesn't that sort of defeat the point? now instead of mallory being on equal footing with the boys, all the guys are in positions of authority.
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