oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,263
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Post by oldhickory on Jul 6, 2022 9:50:59 GMT -5
Interesting - this is one of my favorites! It was one of the later series books I had as a kid, so that probably influenced my feelings toward it.
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Post by oldmeanie on Jul 31, 2023 11:55:18 GMT -5
Oops! I read this one before Abby and the Notorious Neighbor, which came before this one. I totally read the list wrong lol.
I remember starting this one as a kid and giving up partway (halfway?) through. Not sure why- maybe it felt too different from the rest of the books to me, and I think I wasn't familiar with Abby.
I actually finished it this time, and it's pretty good! I like the books that deal with family. I admit I'm sort of confused about something, though- I thought Abby's grandparents lived in Florida (where Mariam and Daniel went to live)? I thought maybe they were her paternal grandparents instead, but no. I feel like a dork because I probably missed something obvious XD.
I liked that the Stevensons were going to visit extended family. It's realistic. I really enjoy the summer books, and this one has a nice feel. Abby's grandfather seems super fun and I liked how he and Abby generally wanted to do the same things. The area they visited seemed super nice- although I do wish we got more descriptions of the beach (also, Abby says she doesn't burn in this book. She absolutely does, that was a whole thing in Aloha, lol).
I felt really bad for Abby having to carry around that secret and not feeling right about talking to anyone about it. I actually really like how she dealt with it, though. It seemed very mature. It was actually really sweet how she got all her relatives to show up for her grandma. I like how she decides it's not her news to tell.
It's weird that we don't get closure on whether or not her Gram has cancer. I don't think it comes up in later books? If the series had gone on longer (I cannot believe there's only 10 main series books left! Decided to go ahead and read FF because I'm just not done yet. Lol), I think it would have been confirmed in another Abby book.
The party idea was fun. Alice in Wonderland is a great theme imo.
That silly fued is pretty darn silly, but my family has gotten into similarly silly fueds and I 100% believe it lol.
I love that Kristy goes to visit her. I think they're becoming my favorite friend pairing? When did that happen?
I actually really like the subplot! It's one of the best later series subplots for sure. It was actually entertaining and funny. Vanessa's poem was funny, the party was great (I LOVED Mrs. Pike getting back at the triplets, so great. And the water disaster was pretty funny too). Loved the backyard campout idea, although I think there were too many people for it and I could understand their fatigue.
I like how Nicky said he prefers those over actual Sea City XD.
A couple of weird things:
She mentions she feels comfortable around Stacey and that they have similar ideas about what's cool or not. Since when? I did enjoy the Abby, Stacey, and Claudia group in #97 (I think it was? It was a school trip to Philadelphia), but Stacey and Abby seem very different to me personality-wise. I guess I can see how they have a bond because they both suffer from chronic illness.
I'll just copy paste this: "Since Mallory wasn’t there, and wasn’t part of my family, she’d have been a good person to tell. Still … I couldn’t do it. For one thing, Mallory is only eleven." (Mal had called her and Abby was considering telling her about Gram). It's so weird. She doesn't give any other reasons. I think the main reason is that they aren't that close. Idk what Mal being 11 has to do with it XD.
I think I'd give this one a 7. It probably would be higher if it was a little longer... the main plot was good, but I think we needed another chapter for it.
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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 1, 2023 9:57:18 GMT -5
I don't remember the book, but in one of Abby's chapter twos she says something like "everyone thinks Stacey is so cool, but I think she's kind of selfish and makes bad decisions about boys". I wish I remembered where it was so I could pull it up. They have almost nothing in common and their motivations are totally different. I like that Abby always says what she's thinking and she calls out another club member who is kind of a jerk during the time when Abby is getting to know everyone.
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Post by booboobrewer on Aug 1, 2023 18:27:08 GMT -5
Wow, that’s so true, they almost never interact in the series. Never thought about it before!
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Post by oldmeanie on Aug 4, 2023 0:14:10 GMT -5
I don't remember the book, but in one of Abby's chapter twos she says something like "everyone thinks Stacey is so cool, but I think she's kind of selfish and makes bad decisions about boys". I wish I remembered where it was so I could pull it up. They have almost nothing in common and their motivations are totally different. I like that Abby always says what she's thinking and she calls out another club member who is kind of a jerk during the time when Abby is getting to know everyone. I found the passage you're talking about! It's from the chapter 2 in Welcome to the BSC, Abby (I actually read that one in full because I was interested to see how much Abby knew): "She’s from New York City originally, and probably the other members of the BSC think she is the most sophisticated of them. True, she is, at least in the way she dresses and views the world. But from what I’ve scoped out, she makes some pretty unsophisticated choices. For instance, recently she almost quit the BSC altogether, because she was hanging out with a way cool crowd... "Fortunately, Stacey came to her senses and now she’s back with the BSC."
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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 5, 2023 22:38:56 GMT -5
Yessss,thank you for finding it. I knew it had to be somewhere in the bad girls era, but it's actually pretty awesome that it was Abby's first book.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Oct 8, 2023 1:24:42 GMT -5
The B plot seemed weird. The Pike kids were sulking because they couldn't go to Sea City. It's not the end of the world. There's more important things than a vacation to Sea City. And II'm glad the BSC stopped using the triplets as second sitters. They might be ten but they're way too immature.
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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 Oct 9, 2023 9:40:34 GMT -5
My in-laws are like that. They spend an astounding amount of money on vacations, and if they don't have enough fun the first time they will redo the trip the next month.
I haven't had a true vacation in like six years, so I just don't have the same mindset about vacations being required (everything since then has been tagging along to my husband's work travel or similar stuff).
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