LadyDru
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 373
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Post by LadyDru on May 27, 2020 7:47:46 GMT -5
I LOVED reading this book when I borrowed it from the library in 6th grade and I'm so happy to have it in my possession..for some time I have noticed that I tend to see Stacey's POV 90% when she's the one narrating..I do agree she was being pushy but at the same time all Laine had to do is call back and say she didn't want to come..though I could get why Stacey would want her to since in book #3 Laine did say she want to meet the clients after she and Stacey made up..I just love the fight at the end..I would have blown up sooner..I think the letter is appropriate, too..the perfect thing to write when one has calmed down but still accept that things will never be the same again. And Stacey is right, Laine HAS changed for the worst. All in all, one of my favorite Stacey books.
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Post by chirpchirp on May 31, 2020 11:10:04 GMT -5
When I was reading this at age 7 the part where Laine talks about her reading material made a very distinct impression on me. I was just sooo impressed by Laine’s sophisticated and intellectual literary tastes. Now I realize it was a trashy Fabio dime-store romance novel lol.
This is one of my faves in the entire series. I don’t know if Laine even really changed, though? She always seemed like a terrible friend, especially given her behavior in Babysitters Remember
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on May 31, 2020 12:32:34 GMT -5
^ That's a good point, reading other books set before this and some after makes me thing that she was never that good of a friend to Stacey. If their mothers weren't friends I can imagine Laine being the one to pick on her.
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Sept 13, 2020 12:54:39 GMT -5
I haven't read this since I was a kid so my memory may be hazy. I DO remember that on the cover, Laine does NOT look 13, she looks like she's in her 30's. I think it's the blazer that looks like it has shoulder pads XD
I did feel really bad for Stacey. She was so excited to show Laine her life in Stoneybrook (and did strong-arm her into visiting, to be fair) and then it all blew up in her face when Laine was just so Not Interested. One scene I remember really well was before Laine arrived, Stacey was going around her room and taking out anything remotely childish. Doesn't she take down pictures of her with the BSC members and she puts up pictures of a band that Laine likes? And then there's hiding Lennie the rag doll in the clothes hamper. And at the sleepover, Laine calls 8th grade boys dorky and Mary Anne gets super offended because of Logan and Kristy jumps in to defend Bart too LOL.
And yeah, being 13 and having a 15-year-old boyfriend didn't impress Stacey, considering her on-again, off-again relationship with Sam LOL. Also like someone else said, when you're in high school and there's a 15-year-old boy dating junior high girls, chances are he's a creep.
I agree that it was funny the girls would be excited to watch To Kill a Mockingbird. It's an amazing movie but Ann wasn't the best with referencing pop culture of the day. Like how everyone is obsessed with I Love Lucy and Leave It to Beaver.
As for Pete, his personality seemed to change depending on the plot. Pete was definitely in the Cool Kids group in the early books and like someone else pointed out, I think he's taken several BSC members to dances. At least Stacey and Claudia and maybe Dawn? And sometimes, he was the awkward dorky kid. Alan Gray was the same way - wasn't he in the Cool Kids group too? And Kristy definitely went to a dance with him, I think in Kristy's Big Day. But then other times, Alan is the goofy class clown and sometimes he's even the class bully.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Feb 26, 2021 5:05:24 GMT -5
What the heck is with Stacey forcing Pete on Laine who's clearly not interested and has a boyfriend ? I would have told Stacey to get lost if she tried that on me.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Feb 26, 2021 5:06:46 GMT -5
I was thinking the other day that I like how the BSC think that they made up their usage of the word "fresh." Sorry, girls, but no. It was lame late-'80s/early-'90s slang before you ever appropriated it. THANK YOU! I'd never heard anyone actually use the word other than in old try-hard teen magazines, but I was certain that slang wasn't invented by the BSC. I don't think the negative "stale" was ever really used outside the BSC though. Correct me if I'm wrong. The BSC-slang didn't really last for many books, though. Poor Mallory was overrun with "dibble" and New York, New York had the expression "chilly" on every other page, but perhaps they realised how dorky the made up words were and stopped using them. And Stacey did force Pete on Laine also. Laine didn't even say yes into coming to Stoneybrook.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Apr 29, 2021 11:04:20 GMT -5
When I was reading this at age 7 the part where Laine talks about her reading material made a very distinct impression on me. I was just sooo impressed by Laine’s sophisticated and intellectual literary tastes. Now I realize it was a trashy Fabio dime-store romance novel, LOL. That was funny! To me, Laine really wasn't all that "sophisticated." If Laine had been oh-so-sophisticated as she pretended to be, she would not have been such a snob and she definitely would never have shunned Stacey when Stacey was diagnosed. No wonder Laine got mixed up with the Q-Anon and ended up dead. Laine had a lot of false, ignorant notions and probably relied on tabloid "news" and trash television for her "information." That's a good point, reading other books set before this and some after makes me thing that she was never that good of a friend to Stacey. If their mothers weren't friends I can imagine Laine being the one to pick on her. Agreed there...I can see Laine being that sort. Laine reminds me lots of Sweet Valley's Lila Fowler, Jessica Wakefield and Suzanne Hanlon...Lila and Suzanne think they're ultra-sophisticated and "mature," but in reality, all three of them are immature, narrow-minded, ignorant snobs throughout the books. Contrary to common misconception, snobbishness is not sophisticated at all.
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 29, 2022 13:48:51 GMT -5
Stacey's outfit is pretty funky. Laine looks a little punk. This is too tiny to tell, but Stacey may be wearing velvet pants. There's not really anything snarky going on in this one. Title: Petra and the broken friendship
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Post by hurricanebill on Jun 5, 2022 2:49:15 GMT -5
They look like 13 year olds on the last two covers. I like the artwork on the international covers.
This book was entertaining!
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Post by wistfuldreamer86 on Jun 14, 2022 20:56:26 GMT -5
^ Yeah I like the original American BSC covers but they rarely looked their age. lol.
Not much to say about this one, it was a slow read for me. I didn't really enjoy it. Laine isn't my favorite but it wasn't fun to read about their friendship ending so dramatically. They could have just stopped talking as much and became "old friends" that you don't talk to that often anymore, I feel like that's more realistic.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Jun 15, 2022 9:00:02 GMT -5
I agree. It's dramatic to have a big fight, and by the end of this book I wanted to fight Laine, but most friendships just fade away. Especially when you move.
I'm thinking about the sitters who moved and how those friendships ended. Stacey's NYC friends were all jerks who took Laine's side, but we don't really hear about any other old friendships. Sunny barely gets a mention until Dawn moves back to California, and Abby doesn't like talking about her life on Long Island. The only friends we hear about from Jessi or Logan's hometowns are literally their cousins. Surely there were others but who knows. Laine is really only hometown best friend who gets any regular mileage.
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Post by oldmeanie on Aug 24, 2022 1:02:22 GMT -5
Just finished this one. For some reason, this was one I re read a lot.
Laine irks me. She didn't HAVE to go to Stoneybrook. Yes, Stacey was pushy about her staying, but she had to make arrangements to come and buy a train ticket. I don't get why she came for a week... I agree that she should've just came for the weekend. How fun is it to hang around someone's house all day and tag along with them to school for one of them (why was that allowed?) It's on her though lol. But she wasn't doing herself any favors by being so snide about absolutely everything. She also didn't have much of a sense of humor. Being rude and acting superior to everyone do not equal maturity.
She was likeable in Stacey's Emergency, so why the sudden change here? I have to guess it has 99% to do with King. Ugh, the "Babe and Heart" stuff is so cringy. I do NOT like the idea of someone calling a 13 year old Babe. It's disturbing that she's on a diet and wants Stacey to go on one too (also, wow, SO NOT COOL Laine. Way to make someone feel insecure about their diet when they were in the hospital for diabetes complications not long ago. Not to mention are very thin already. Good lord. Sophisticated doesn't have to mean insensitive). It feels like a sudden character change and if I were Stacey, I'd be concerned.
I have to say that Stacey was quite pushy in this. I really don't like that she pushed Laine to go to the dance with Pete. She barely wanted to go to the dance in the first place and made her opinion of him clear, and Stacey still pressured her to go with him. Argh! I feel that no one should be pressured to date someone they don't want to. I also think it's fair that Laine would feel uncomfortable going to the dance with another boy when she has a boyfriend. Why couldn't Laine just go stag?
Haha, this has the famous Mal and Ben card catalog fight. It's even funnier than I remember because they got kicked out of the library. Good lord, only them lol.
So the towel code is in this book, but I remember it appearing earlier. Why am I obsessing about this?
The masquerade was actually a good idea. I think the idea of putting codes in the valentines to figure out who sent it is a really fun one.
Kristy was great in this. "Your boss has my sympathies." LOL.
The ending of this book hit harder than I thought because I've had a few fallouts with friends and know how tough it can be. I wonder if Stacey and Laine would ever reconnect.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 24, 2022 10:09:04 GMT -5
I genuinely think the team wanted Laine gone because she wasn't in the club and they wanted to portray the club as the ultimate friendship. Nobody else has outside friends, and if other characters are introduced it's only to serve as a lowly comparison to the BSC. It's a terrible lesson for kids but Scholastic went all in.
I had a falling out with one of my closest middle school friends and I was the Stacey in that instance. If we see each other in town we say hello, but we'll never be friends. Stacey has now been burned twice by Laine and I don't see her going back either.
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Aug 25, 2022 8:49:15 GMT -5
Loved Laine and the relationship in Stacey's Emergency, this felt very forced, probably would have worked better, at least felt less jarring, in the 80s or 90s.
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Post by oldmeanie on Aug 25, 2022 11:22:18 GMT -5
I genuinely think the team wanted Laine gone because she wasn't in the club and they wanted to portray the club as the ultimate friendship. Nobody else has outside friends, and if other characters are introduced it's only to serve as a lowly comparison to the BSC. It's a terrible lesson for kids but Scholastic went all in. I had a falling out with one of my closest middle school friends and I was the Stacey in that instance. If we see each other in town we say hello, but we'll never be friends. Stacey has now been burned twice by Laine and I don't see her going back either. Sad thing is you're probably right. Keisha and Sunny are very rarely mentioned throughout the series (unless I'm missing something in Chapter 2. I skim them now lol. I think Jessi does mention Keisha when she's describing herself) until Dawn starts staying in California. I actually had a falling out with my best friend in ninth grade, and we reconnected when we were both 20. We're really close friends again and actually roommates (it sounds like an awkwarc situation, but really isn't). I do think they Stacey and Laine's fallout sounds worse than mine, though. I guess it is possible for Laine to change so drastically after meeting King, but I've noticed that the series likes foreshadowing, so this does seem to come out of nowhere. I agree it'd have made more sense if it was a later book after Laine hadn't appeared for awhile. I don't like the Friends Forever books I have read (just wayyyyy too different and the quality is... not great. Also hate the Stacey and Claudia fight), but I kind of want to read Stacey's Problem now because Laine appears again.
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