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Post by sugarmonkey on May 12, 2006 19:22:46 GMT -5
How much description of looking for a cat can one person take? I think there was too much detail sometimes. I don't care if MA had to balance the tray against the wall in order to get the front door open. Who cares? I can understand the Perkins girls getting involved in Tigger's disappearance since they live next door, but Jamie Newton? and the Barretts and Braddoks finding out about the ransom note? (BTW: what kind of a 2 1/2 year old kid talks as well as Gabbie does. and acts as mature as she does?) And what kind of a 10 year old kid fakes a freakin' ransom note in order to make some money? He needs therapy. Kerry needed therapy also. She needed more than just a human friend and a hairless pet. How cruel to keep a kitten in a box. And that light punishment? Please. All she had to do was wash a couple of cars. When I was her age I had to help my family wash vehicles every week as a regular chore. Logan was jerk. If he was upset about maybe getting kicked of the baseball team (or quitting) he should've just told MA in the first place. Although, MA was out of line by accusing him of being involved in the kidnapping. MA does a lot of 180's doesn't she? As soon as something isn't ideal she accusing a person she supposedly cares about of doing something against her. I did like how MA made a couple of snarky remarks about Kristy being bossy. My favorite part was when it was revealed that up until Claudia sat for the Perkins girls she thought that the singer's name was ELBOW Presley. Duh I guess that gives Claudia's character's parody type transformation later in the series a little bit more credibility. It wouldn't have killed ANM to come up with more current pop culture references. Even if she made some up. I understand that when the books were written there was no way of knowing what elements of pop culture would be understood in later years, but still, there had to be some other way. How many young kids even back then know so much about tv shows and singers from decades earlier?
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on May 12, 2006 22:18:34 GMT -5
That book was boring and pointless. And I got sick of seeing the word Tigger so many times, don't ask me why. Mary Anne, as a character annoyed me, so as much as I love cats, I didn't want to read about "Tiggy Tiggy Tiggy". Don't like the name either. As we discussed earlier, terrible cliche. And Tigger the Tiger is orange, not grey. So why did MA specifically want a grey cat to name Tigger? Sorry for the tangent.
That may not be as unrealistic as it sounds. A few years ago, a popular TV-manufactured band was interviewed and claimed not to have heard of the Beatles! And they were in the industry! Freakin' idiots.
That seemed a common trend in both the BSC and Sweet Valley books.
I'll have to skim through that book again to comment on some other points. It wasn't exactly memorable.
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inge
Junior Sitter
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Post by inge on May 13, 2006 13:47:49 GMT -5
I definitely thought Kerry got of waaaay too easy. And I agree, this book was boring and pointless. Also, kid who was in it for the cash? Scary!
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Post by aln1982 on May 13, 2006 15:29:10 GMT -5
I haven't read this one for a while but remember hating it - maybe because I can't stand Tigger and was glad he was lost. Wish he would have stayed that way. Do remember thinking Logan was a jerk and Kerry needed major help. Might have to reread so I can see why I disliked it so much.
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Post by bscfan24 on May 13, 2006 19:56:38 GMT -5
Didn't Kerry know that Tigger was Mary Anne's cat?? I don't understand why she'd hide a kitten in her room. I mean, shouldn't she have just told her parents? I mean, in the long run, it would have been a lot better. That whole book bugged me. As for the kid wanting ransom money- he needed help. I guess he's one of those people who want to capitalize on someone's misfortunes.
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Post by sparklymouse on May 13, 2006 20:26:26 GMT -5
People think these books are outdated as it is. Just imagine how bad it'd be if they used 80s pop culture in them. (The clothing references are bad enough.) I remember not having cable in the early nineties and in the afternoon during summer vacations the only thing on would be infomercials or stuff that now plays on TV Land (Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, etc.) Its not completely unbelievable that they'd be familiar with "classic" shows. Although in one Karen book Andrew was watching cartoons and Karen was pissed cause she wanted to watch Mr. Ed and I thought that was a little strange.
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Post by buffykay70 on May 14, 2006 20:24:21 GMT -5
yeah, this book was so zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz boring! i liked Tigger and all, but thats no reason to have a whole book dedicated to his being stolen and returned. and Kerry was an idiot. and that whole part where that boy was trying to bribe them was dumb too.
AMM must have been short on ideas or had some sort of weird cat obsession or something.
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Post by booboobrewer on May 15, 2006 19:47:31 GMT -5
This one sounded boring to me as a child and I never read it, but it seems like I wasn't missing much, lol! AMM definitely had a thing for cats. It even translated to the LS series - "Karen's Kitten" is all about the Brewers finding a pregnant cat in their toolshed and then later trying to find homes for the kittens. Oh, and "Karen's Kittycat Club", which is like the fourth book in the series.
Ann has acquired some pet dogs in recent years which also explains some later plots like "Kristy Thomas, Dog-Trainer." (Another relative snooze of a read.)
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lisa
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 201
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Post by lisa on May 17, 2006 6:38:19 GMT -5
This was the first one I ever read, and for some unknown reason it was the book that got me hooked on the series. Reading it a couple weeks ago make me wonder what sort of twisted child I was.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on May 17, 2006 8:57:12 GMT -5
Kristy and the missing child is the one that got me hooked; I can't really imagine why anymore, either I think a lot of us got hooked by books that turned out to be our least favorites in the end.
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Post by sparklymouse on May 17, 2006 22:18:09 GMT -5
Was there also a Kristy book about her troubles with her softball team? I've never heard of a middle school so intense about sports. High school, yeah, but getting cut from a middle school team? That's harsh.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on May 18, 2006 14:11:02 GMT -5
^There are two that I can think of. #74 Kristy and the Copycat is about when she first starts playing for the softball team and she commits a little bit of vandalism as part of a hazing ritual. #129 Kristy at Bat is about her going to a baseball camp with Watson, and she feels bad because she was demoted to second string on the softball team, and also because the famous baseball player who runs the camp is kind of a jerk.
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ktag
Junior Sitter
Posts: 694
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Post by ktag on May 18, 2006 16:49:14 GMT -5
People think these books are outdated as it is. Just imagine how bad it'd be if they used 80s pop culture in them. (The clothing references are bad enough.) I remember not having cable in the early nineties and in the afternoon during summer vacations the only thing on would be infomercials or stuff that now plays on TV Land (Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, etc.) Its not completely unbelievable that they'd be familiar with "classic" shows. Although in one Karen book Andrew was watching cartoons and Karen was pissed cause she wanted to watch Mr. Ed and I thought that was a little strange. It doesn't bother me that they know about them, because, yeah, they played them all the time. I also understand their thinking "classic" pop culture references are more likely to last. But why do it so often? There are so many old references that you just know AMM's throwing them in because she likes them. It's like the girls didn't know anything after the 1960s.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on May 22, 2006 6:36:52 GMT -5
This was the first one I ever read, and for some unknown reason it was the book that got me hooked on the series. Reading it a couple weeks ago make me wonder what sort of twisted child I was. Don't worry, Jessi Ramsey, Pet Sitter was what hooked me strange kid, or just easy to please? I dunno. I find it difficult to believe that a kid could keep a kitten hidden for so long. They're not toys, they're living creatures who make noise and waste ;D
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Jun 16, 2006 10:16:17 GMT -5
both kerry bruno and the boy who wanted the "fast cash" appeared to be sociopaths in this book.
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