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Post by zoar3 on Jan 28, 2015 21:13:03 GMT -5
^I never really noticed the doors before, Rachel, I gree, they do look more like back doors or even doors to a side yard. From Snowbound and other snowy books, it sounded like BSC homes had a storm door behind (I think, rememebr I have never lived in snow) there front door. To me that sounds much sturdier and more protective than 2 completely glass panelled doors! I did live in a townhouse for a few years growing up. I think it did have a front lobby with small elevator but could be confusing that with a little larger building my family lived in for a year or so afterward. The steps in the picture also look real steep. I am now thinking the door and steps have a more public place look about them than a family house but that is probably just my view at the moment. This cover what has always stood out for me is it does look like Ashely has a cane and wondering if that young boy is really supposed to be Jackie or if it's (I hope) Archie. Anyway, I don't think you have posted in a while, Rachel, welcome back and I hope you have been well.
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Post by greer on Jan 29, 2015 2:11:24 GMT -5
A storm door is on the outside of the house. It never occurred to me that people who live in places with nice weather don't have storm doors, but I'm thinking of all the houses my family has lived in in Florida and none of them had them, so I guess it is a thing for places with bad weather. They are also not usually on the front door, although they may be. I think it's more common for one to be on the front door when the house is close to the street and people use the front door a lot. We never do.
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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 Jan 29, 2015 12:01:45 GMT -5
Are storm doors another name for screen doors? We have them on some houses here, but it's not universal. I guess our bad weather isn't quite bad enough for them to be on every house.
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Post by zoar3 on Jan 29, 2015 12:06:46 GMT -5
^I always imagined a storm door to be a heavier door, more than a screen door. I'm not sure how 2 front doors would fit together but lol how I've always imagined it. I do remember in Snowbound Kristy not being able to open the storm door because of a wall of snow, though realizing now the door could have been a screen, I was just picturing the actual door as more solid than s screen. ETA: I asked Google what a storm door is and it led me to this Wiki: Storm Door Maybe the glass panels on this cover were storm doors?!
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Post by greer on Jan 29, 2015 16:55:35 GMT -5
Storm/screen doors won't usually be double like that. It just looks a regular glass door to me. Storm doors and screen doors are basically the same, but I think some screen doors can't be switched to glass and that would be just a screen door and not a storm door.
With a storm door, you can switch between glass and screen. In the winter, we have glass and in the summer my mom switches it to screen. We keep the regular door open because the dog likes to look out the storm door. On the cover, it's warm enough to have switched from glass to screen.
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Post by greer on Jan 29, 2015 16:57:47 GMT -5
Here is our dog sitting by the storm door. Attachments:
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Jan 30, 2015 12:46:44 GMT -5
That's what I've always understood the difference to be, is that storm doors can be switched to glass for the winter. I like storm doors better than screen doors because I've always had cats and the little beasts always manage to damage screen doors.
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Post by thejunkbucket on Nov 3, 2015 21:40:37 GMT -5
Just re-read this. A few things:
- It's funny how Ashley's bohemian style is considered bizarre and a foreign concept, even to Claudia, but Claudia's 'style' gets a pass from the rest of the BSC. In fact, they often praise Claudia's fashion. Whatever.
- The BSC makes fun of Ashley's Hippie clothes (i.e. bell-bottoms, long skirts), but at the time the book was published (c. 1989) there was a late 1960s revival going on in America, which means that Ashley was pretty much in style. So, I think AMM was out of touch with 'modern culture' when she wrote that book.
- Several people have asked why Ashley would only be interested in one thing and that it was unrealistic, but when I re-read this book, I wondered if perhaps Ashley had Asperger's Syndrome. First of all, Aspies tend to have a limited range of interests and can, in fact, become fixated on one thing and it's all they talk about and do. In Ashley's case, her art, in which she is exceptionally talented and skilled, as Aspie's are wont to be. Also, Aspies have poor social skills. They generally have difficulty interacting with others and often are awkward in social situations. The friend they do make, they tend to be possessive of them. Ashley also doesn't make eye contact, per Claudia's description(s), which is another characteristic of Aspies.
- Ashley and Claudia's fight regarding art being the main priority reminds me of the fight that Meredith and Cristina had in the 10th Season of Grey's Anatomy. Meredith had recently become a mom, and she thought that she could be both a supermom and a super surgeon, but Cristina burst her bubble by telling her that she couldn't devote the same amount of time and energy to both, that she could choose to either be a great mom or a great surgeon but not be great at both. Needless to say, Cristina was right, but Meredith didn't take it that way, and the once-BFFs were at war for most of the season. Anyway, that reminds me of this fight. It's true: Claudia will never be as great an artist as Ashley, because she doesn't devote all of her time to it like Ashley does.
- BTW: The version I read had a 'Claudia's Scrapbook' finale, with all the pictures. But what caught my eye was the fact that Claudia's picture inscriptions all had perfect spelling. WTF?
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Post by booboobrewer on Nov 4, 2015 9:28:42 GMT -5
I just thought Ashley was shy and/or introverted. She found someone who shared her interest and didn't "need" other friends. She preferred to hang out with one person instead of a group of people...and she was also a serious sort who didn't crack many jokes and the BSC took that as weirdness.
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Post by bscfan1997 on Nov 4, 2015 20:03:31 GMT -5
- Several people have asked why Ashley would only be interested in one thing and that it was unrealistic, but when I re-read this book, I wondered if perhaps Ashley had Asperger's Syndrome. First of all, Aspies tend to have a limited range of interests and can, in fact, become fixated on one thing and it's all they talk about and do. In Ashley's case, her art, in which she is exceptionally talented and skilled, as Aspie's are wont to be. Also, Aspies have poor social skills. They generally have difficulty interacting with others and often are awkward in social situations. The friend they do make, they tend to be possessive of them. Ashley also doesn't make eye contact, per Claudia's description(s), which is another characteristic of Aspies. I was just going to post about the Asperger's Syndrome thing! Yep, total word. She is obsessive with one subject, antisocial, and possessive of her only friend Claudia. signs of AS for sure. It would've been cool if Ann did write about Ashley having AS. It'd add more depth (well, any depth as she is so one-dimensional) to her character.
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Enigma
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 128
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Post by Enigma on Jan 24, 2016 1:18:45 GMT -5
I agree that Ashley showed signs of being on the spectrum, however AS wasn't recognized at all in the U.S. until 1994 and wasn't widely known of until well into the 2000s. Back when this book was written, you'd have to be either totally non-verbal or if verbal, you'd still have no conversational ability but have savant-like talents (Rainman, or like Susan in "Kristy and the Secret of Susan") to be recognized as being "Autistic".
Anyway, getting back to the book's plot, it seemed also like the turning point when AMM went out of her way to make something innately wrong about any BSC members trying to become close friends with a non BSC member; either they're too weird (Ashley or Tess in 'Stacey's Secret Friend" or 'bad' and rebellious by BSC's perfect sandards (Stacey vs. the BSC, Stacey and the Bad Girls, Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter).
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Natasha
New To Stoneybrook
BSC Reread Update: no 115:Jessi's big break.
Posts: 198
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Post by Natasha on Mar 4, 2017 9:44:19 GMT -5
Why wasn't Claudia allowed to have friends outside the BSC? That's fine but she shouldn't have forgotten her old ones if she makes a new friend.
The baby sitters were so immature! And hypocritical.
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Post by booklover85 on Mar 10, 2017 1:26:35 GMT -5
I loved Claudia and Ashley's friendship. Too bad the rest of the psycho baby sitters didn't. I may not like Claud much, but she didn't deserve to be treated that way by her so called friends.
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Aug 16, 2017 16:14:50 GMT -5
It's always bad (though almost so bad it's good) when the club members, especially Dawn, get furious over missed meetings even though they have an alternative officer, Dawn, to cover for missed meetings.
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Post by Sideshowjazz1 on Sept 23, 2017 16:44:49 GMT -5
The BSC just makes me mad in this one. How is it that every time someone makes a new friend outside of the club, the rest of them act like it's a huge sin? How is that "the best friends you'll ever have"? I think it's OK that they're mad that Claudia skips that many meetings, but they start acting cold and calling her a traitor before that, eating most of her junk food and then putting it in different places, making her an apple-pie bed and putting mean notes around her room. What kind of friends do that? And even when Claudia says she's going to be at the next meeting, which is a sign that she's going to apologize, Kristy STILL calls her one of the biggest jerks of all time. Well, she writes it on a note, but if you ask me, Kristy should be kicked out of the club. I know she started the club in the first place, but seriously, has anyone noticed that when she's not the narrator, she tends to have a major attitude problem?
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