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Post by hitzpink on Jun 20, 2006 21:28:07 GMT -5
I didn't see a thread for this one, unless I missed it.
I loved this book! The baby-sitters were ridiculously bitchy to Mary Anne, and Carolyn's time machine thing was boring, but I loved reading about Mary Anne's shopping trip and how sweet Logan was to her.
It was so odd how everybody reacted so strongly to her haircut, though. Not even just the other girls, but pretty much everybody at her school as well. The Carlos thing confused me. Did some random 10th grader actually ask about Mary Anne, or did somebody make it up? And either way, why did he show up with Sabrina Bouvier (was it Sabrina?) at the dance? I mean, if he DID ask about Mary Anne, was Sabrina ok with being his sloppy seconds? And if he didn't, how could it be so coincidental that the same high schooler somebody made up a rumor about just so happened to show up at their middle school dance?
Anyway, I loved this book for the descriptions of Mary Anne's clothes, hair, and makeup, and also for the descriptions of all that yummy food they ate throughout! (Mexican food at the mall, take-out Chinese once or twice at home.)
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Post by booboobrewer on Jun 21, 2006 0:18:34 GMT -5
Ooh, yeah, loved the shopping trip where they ate and listened to jazz and all that. Really cute.
I liked how the BSC acted totally bitchy towards MA because that's just like 8th grade girls, but also disliked how un-supportive and rude they were. What was their reasoning, if they were mean enough MA would go out and get a long-haired wig to look like her old self again? I thought they were all for her making her own decisions and coming out of her shell.
Ha, I was also confused by the Carlos rumor at first. But I guess since he (if it was indeed Carlos, it could have been just some guy since they never confirmed) showed up at the dance a 10th grader did inquire about her, but how and why, who knows. Or it could be that Sabrina was already going to the dance with the guy and just asked MA about the whole thing to stir up some gossip around school.
I always saw it as they must have been extremely surprised at this really shy girl suddenly getting a makeover, that they wanted to compliment her profusely about it.
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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 21, 2006 2:22:34 GMT -5
^ When I read it, I just thought that there was rumor that Carlos Mendez, a high schooler, was taking a middle school girl out to a dance but not everyone knew who it was. And they just assumed it was MA because all of a sudden she had a make-over at the same time when this rumor was going around.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Jun 21, 2006 8:10:04 GMT -5
^ That's a good theory. Maybe Sabrina wanted it to be a surprise and therefore encouraged the gossip?
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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 Jun 21, 2006 10:36:52 GMT -5
This was always one of my favorites as well. I loved any books with lots of clothes/hair/makeup stuff when I was a kid! When I read the book now, I get angry at the BSC for being so mean. There was no reason for it! Besides, why in the world did they hate her makeover at first, but then change their minds and decide they love it? I don't blame Mary Anne for spending time away from them.
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 21, 2006 11:15:24 GMT -5
This may be the book that cemented my intense Sharon-hate. She gets all bitchy about Richard buying Mary Anne expensive clothes and cosmetics. It's not like they pay for Dawn to fly back and forth to California every other week or anything.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jun 21, 2006 11:47:30 GMT -5
This book could probably win the award for Most Boring Subplot.
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Post by spazgirl on Jun 21, 2006 16:29:22 GMT -5
I loved this book too. I remember rolling my eyes heavily at the other babysitters in the way they treated Mary Anne. I mean c'mon, you're mad because she did something different without asking for your permission first? I wouldn't have wanted to be friends with them after that, knowing that they think they have some control over me. Bleh. I also loved the trip to the mall and the trip to Steven E. and Laura Ashley. And it was good to see Mary Anne and Richard bonding because usually he was this cold, authoritative character.
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Post by greer on Jun 21, 2006 16:36:55 GMT -5
^Yeah, they were really cute together in this book.
Sharon getting mad at Richard buying Mary Anne nice things was weird. They have probably spent thousands of dollars replacing things that Sharon has misplaced due to her "scatterbrainedness." Did she want him to buy Dawn stuff too or something?
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 21, 2006 16:41:36 GMT -5
I liked the mall trip, too, and seeing Mary Anne and Richard bond. I liked how he was pretty laid-back about everything - the haircut, the make-up, etc. He seemed to enjoy being with Mary Anne. It's too bad more of Mary Anne's books didn't show her developing relationship with her dad. They could barely carry on a conversation in Mary Anne Saves The Day. I would have much prefered a focus on their relationship rather than the "OMG! First love! Star-crossed lovers!" dreck about him and Sharon.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Jun 22, 2006 13:46:00 GMT -5
LOVED this book. It was always my favorite as a kid, I think it was actually one of the last BSC books I ever bought. I love the cover, MA and Logan look so cute Loved her trip to the mall with Richard because they really went in depth with it, rather than just breezing over it. It was cute. Nice to see her bonding with her dad! I didn't mind the Carolyn subplot, except when the other kids at the end just randomly go along with the fact that nothing is happening. Kinda weird, I would've expected them to be really pissed off about it, cause didn't they really think she'd built a time machine? The BSC girls were atrocious in this book. It's not like MA didn't let them know she was interested in a bit of a makeover, they were bitches from the beginning.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Jun 22, 2006 20:39:05 GMT -5
I didn't mind the subplot, either. Well, I didn't care much about the subplot in general, but I love that first scene with Carolyn making the time machine, when she's shouting about the flux capacitor. Best Carolyn moment ever.
God, yes, the BSC were horrible bitches in this book. Irrational, petty bitches.
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Jun 22, 2006 21:15:46 GMT -5
i love when richard says to the makeup consultant, in reference to the makeup mary anne buys, "why don't you write down the...er...recipe?"
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Jun 23, 2006 5:47:55 GMT -5
Ooh, I loved that sentence, too. The whole shopping trip was one of the best BSC scenes, so cute to see MA actually bonding with her dad.
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fluffy
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 180
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Post by fluffy on Jun 24, 2006 4:34:44 GMT -5
With all the focus on clothes/makeup/etc. in this book, I was initially surprised that it was written by a man. Maybe if they assigned a ghostwriter to each character they could have gone deeper into things? Relationships (such as Mary Anne's with her father here) and characters I'd have liked to see develop seemed to flatten in the later books, in the midst of Ghostwriter Hell!
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