supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Feb 12, 2014 20:24:47 GMT -5
Why, too many symptoms?
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Post by wenonah4th on Feb 14, 2014 11:36:52 GMT -5
Just too much for their bodies at once. If something went wrong, too many "suspects" to figure out!
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 11, 2014 17:35:32 GMT -5
The Pike Plague, while I felt awful for the family, was the best, at least most entertaining part of this book. I loved how it was Kristy and Jessi who took the all day job that included Dee and John. We had just been talking about their friendship, too. I still wonder why a cleaning service couldn't have been hired, though thinking about it the BSC was the perfect answer because they knew the Pike kids and could clean. Maybe a "mom-sitter" schedule (Stacey's Choice) was needed in this one with at least one adult friend of the Pikes helping out. I know in at least one book Mal tells us she is going to visit her grandparents. Depending on their health and where they lived, bringing them into this story could have been interesting. MA/Dawn fight is just awful. Typical young teen maybe but for MA to outright insult Dawn and in front of the other BSC members about her weight was plain nasty. I might be one of the few here who also didn't care for how Dawn scared MA with Jared. Thank goodness Richard finally stepped up with his chore chart idea and finally, at least for this one book, Sharon suggested that she and Dawn prepare meals in advance that they enjoy while MA and Richard do the same. My idea of cooking is a blue box of mac and cheese or something easy like that, but I would have enjoyed reading about both girls spending time with their parents making meals. The other thought that occurred to me was had Jeff even met Richard before the wedding? I know he met MA several times and perhaps in brief instances if Richard drove Dawn home or something. I mean for a longer period of time. Dawn got to meet and know (when she let herself) Carol before her dad remarried and Jeff obviously met her from the beginning. I just felt for Jeff coming back to CT for the first time and into what had to be an awkward situation. I did like that from CA he invited the Adam, Byron, and Jordan as his guests to the wedding. I was glad he had some CT friends and still would have enjoyed reading about the triplets at least being invited to the CA wedding. Did any of Jeff's friends attend or maybe he wouldn't have wanted them too--too mushy an occasion. Something different. extra to think about.
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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 Sept 20, 2014 8:03:05 GMT -5
I didn't like Mary-Anne or Dawn in this book. I'm not a fan of either anyway, especially not MA.
Glad to be finished with this one to be honest.
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Enigma
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 128
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Post by Enigma on Dec 30, 2015 0:47:35 GMT -5
I thought this had the overtones of the earliest BSC books in personality and story structure. At first they get all excited about having a live-in best friend and want to share a room. I liked how they acted like real 13-year-olds when they were a little spooked about being in the house overnight without an adult for the first time when Richard and Sharon went on their one night honeymoon (unlike mini adult Jessi who had no qualms about taking care of her sister and baby brother for an entire weekend).
After a few weeks of conflict and bickering, Dawn recognizes the need for personal space and uses a very childish solution; using the ghost legend and some trickery to fool gullible Mary Anne into moving into her own room. I also liked that Mallory actually acted like a kid again when she was sick.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,254
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Post by oldhickory on Jun 12, 2018 8:27:03 GMT -5
Bringing an old thread back to life! This book has been sitting on this miscellaneous table at my mom's house and I have been reading a little bit every time I visited. I finally finished it after like a year, haha. This is one of the books that I have such good memories of, and it seems so typically early BSC. I like the how the later books clearly call Dawn and Mary Anne stepsisters, because the push in this book to become "sisters" is exhausting. And even though I still think Dawn was pretty crappy to pull such a mean prank on Mary Anne, I really enjoyed reading the secret passage chapters.
I skipped the Pike chapters. I normally skip the sitting chapters in rereads unless I'm unusually interested. I just don't understand how, in a house with so many sick people, there were at least three different illnesses (chickenpox, pneumonia, and colds) and nothing spreads. Are you telling me that Nicky shared a room with the triplets and didn't catch pneumonia? And Margo and Claire are exposed to all sorts of things in the house and yet they both come down with colds instead? If they were all hurt in different ways, that makes perfect sense to me. Vanessa's injury makes sense to me, especially in the context that she is doing something different because of the illnesses in the house.
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msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
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Post by msstock87 on Jun 12, 2018 22:54:59 GMT -5
I honestly need to go re read this one. I remember loving it when I was younger, but it's been so long since I have read it! I do remember the subplot about the Pikes though.
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Post by Sideshowjazz1 on Jul 20, 2018 2:11:03 GMT -5
. I just don't understand how, in a house with so many sick people, there were at least three different illnesses (chickenpox, pneumonia, and colds) and nothing spreads. Are you telling me that Nicky shared a room with the triplets and didn't catch pneumonia? And Margo and Claire are exposed to all sorts of things in the house and yet they both come down with colds instead? It was likely Nicky had to sleep somewhere else while the triplets were ill. In the case of chickenpox, all seven of the others had already had it in an earlier book. Mallory had already had it at the time, but apparently this time she was unlucky enough to catch it again. And Claire and Margo did end up with bronchitis, not just colds.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,254
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Post by oldhickory on Jul 23, 2018 9:11:15 GMT -5
I guess that's true. It's been a while since I read the book so some of the details are fuzzy.
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Post by rabbitbongo on Aug 16, 2018 11:44:28 GMT -5
I had liked Dawn prior to reading this book but now my opinion of her has changed! She's now my least favourite sitter
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Post by wistfuldreamer86 on Oct 14, 2019 21:30:57 GMT -5
I actually liked the Pike subplot in this one better than the main storyline. Dawn seemed unreasonably critical of Richard and Mary Anne. It was just weird since they were friends first and she insisted on MA sharing a room with her. And for someone who was always neat and tidy to be annoyed by cleaning. That was strange. And then her playing a prank on MA to get her to move out instead of talking to her about it. And she didn't seem to feel bad about it? Odd.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Dec 7, 2019 1:08:17 GMT -5
Dawn was really mean. You'd think moving clear across the country she'd be a bit more understanding. Mary Anne did live in that house her whole life.
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Post by merrymelody on Jun 18, 2020 18:04:41 GMT -5
I find Mary Anne more irritating in this book, if for nothing else than how catty she is (which seems to be a big Mary Anne trait, like when they visit New York to see Stacey; lash out verbally, then play the victim by crying), the weight and boyfriend comments are spiteful.
But then again, Dawn generally as a rule of thumb seems to have a psychopath's lack of empathy; and is pretty vile to Sunny when they live together in California Diaries, and iirc, also irritates Kristy and Claudia when they share in one of the specials, so she's 0/0 in terms of roommates.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Feb 5, 2021 10:39:35 GMT -5
Dawn could have been more patient with MA. After all MA was the one moving not her .
I don't like Sharon.
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Post by sparklymouse on Feb 12, 2021 18:04:32 GMT -5
I don't care how much I love my sister. I would never ever want to share a room voluntarily. Richard and Sharon should have stepped in at the beginning and insisted on separate rooms.
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