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Post by the admin man on Feb 9, 2006 2:15:50 GMT -5
macca wrote: Halfway through this one at the moment - it's pretty good. Well, not good good, but enjoyable, if you know what I mean. Dawn and Jeff's relationship is somewhat endearing, even if he is kind of bratty.
I had to laugh at Richard making Jeff's bed with hospital corners and then saying "There. Jeff should appreciate that" - okay, I know this guy wouldn't have a ton of experience with 10 yr old boys, but FFS. He's not from another planet, is he? Ah well, maybe they did it just to highlight how out-of-touch he is.
Also, the way Jeff's move back to California was described seemed kinda strange. "Jeff kept getting into fights and trouble. So Mom decided he'd be happier in California" (not the exact quote, but words to that effect). It didn't say anything about Jeff not adjusting and wanting to be "home", the wording just sounded as if Sharon was shipping the "bad" kid off to live with his father - which, knowing her, wouldn't be too unlikely :rolleyes:
The Barrett-Dewitt subplot is alright, kinda boring, I'd prefer to read more about the Schafer/Spier issues. Also, Mrs Barrett annoys me, expecting her kids to instantly become best buds with the DeWitt kids, just because she's dating their father Franklin. Also, if you think about the BSC timeline, the Barrett's difficult divorce was only about a year earlier. The kids had barely enough time to adjust to that before their mother brought home Frankie and his four children.
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Post by the admin man on Feb 9, 2006 2:21:21 GMT -5
nanamik622 wrote:
Well, remember this the BSC timeline in which you can get divorced, remarry and have children with your new spouse in a very short time period. And of course it won't be difficult your children to adjust. This book was good but all of the bratty behavior got on my nerves. I think that Dawn, MA and Jeff were are all brats. However, rare good parenting from the Spiers with not taking sides and not tolerating the brattiness.
Also would Jeff come to visit and his stepfather take off from work and not his mother? I would think his mother would the person he would want to spend the most time with, especially since Richard had no idea what to do with him.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2006 10:22:37 GMT -5
Remember when Mary Anne and her dad went to Boston Chinatown? I think Imperial Tea House on Beach St is the unnamed restaurant to which they went...
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Post by buffykay70 on Feb 12, 2006 23:07:08 GMT -5
i remember that i used to love this book as a child, and then i read it recently and it wasnt as good as i remember it being, hahahah.
jeff was bratty and their whole vacation was them fighting. were dawn and mary anne ever not fighting??
and dont get me started on mrs barrett. and in regards to franklin, what happened to his ex? did she die? cos why does he have all 80 of their children? is she an unfit mother and does he have full custody, how dumb.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Feb 12, 2006 23:51:41 GMT -5
^I wondered that too. Did Franklin actually have full custody of the kids? I can't remember much after he and Mrs Barrett got married.
Normally Jeff seemed pretty cool, but he was a downright brat in this one.
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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 Feb 13, 2006 0:41:22 GMT -5
Yeah there's alot of loose ends that don't get tied up in the series.
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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 Jul 19, 2006 17:47:14 GMT -5
I just reread this one...the main thing I took away from it? I'd really like to go to Boston someday.
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Post by spazgirl on Jul 26, 2006 17:20:00 GMT -5
Dawn is sooo immature in this book, more than usual even! The ghostwriter of this one is horrible. She uses "you see" about 10 times in the first chapter when Dawn's describing her family and Jeff's upcoming visit. Then she used "forlorn" twice to describe Jeff... within the span of 2 paragraphs or so. And Dawn used the word "immaculate" to describe Mrs. Barrett's house. What 13-year-old says "immaculate"? Boston does sound pretty cool though, parts of this book just felt like parts of a tourist guide packet.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jul 26, 2006 18:55:51 GMT -5
Who was the ghostwriter again? The "you see-ing" was a bit of a Nola Thacker trait. I've noticed in a LOT of chapter twos that annoying phrase is used repeatedly.
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Post by spazgirl on Jul 26, 2006 21:17:55 GMT -5
Jahanna Beecham and Malcolm Hilgartner get thanked for their help with the manuscript in the beginning of the book. I'm assuming Jahanna wrote it since her name is first. Maybe Malcolm helped with the Boston stuff? Dont know if she wrote any other books though...
ETA: Theres also a part where healthfoodfreak Dawn eats fried ice cream (jeff too) and sometimeshealthfoodfreak Jeff gets a big bucket of pop corn and jr. mints at the movie theatre.
I had fried ice cream once and wouldn't think Dawn would touch it with a 10ft pole (as she might say). Its a scoop of ice cream with a crunchy sugary cinnamon-ny shell surrounding it. mmmm
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Post by greer on Jul 26, 2006 22:28:37 GMT -5
Those two ghostwrote together, I believe
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janey83
Sitter-In-Training
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Post by janey83 on Nov 12, 2007 16:27:52 GMT -5
I just read this yesterday, and there's a part where MA is so mad at Dawn & Jeff that she decides to room with Richard & Sharon instead, while they're in Boston. This annoyed me because I'm sure Richard & Sharon would have liked to have their OWN room, not with MA just barging in. What a brat.
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Post by aln1982 on Nov 12, 2007 16:31:32 GMT -5
^ I know Dawn and Jeff are brother and sister but I always found it kind of weird that they shared a room and MA stayed with Richard and Sharon. Of course, I don't have siblings so I don't know about this kind of thing. ;D Agree about parents probably wanting their own room. I've finally convinced my parents to go on vacation (just a long weekend) without me ;D Figure it's about time and a good way for them to celebrate their 30th anniversary. ;D
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Post by liss31d on Nov 13, 2007 2:22:11 GMT -5
For someone who's meant to be sensitive, MA can pretty naive and dim when it comes to things like this. Wouldn't she think that Sharon and her Dad would want to be alone? But then again romance in the bedroom does not exist in BSC Land as far as Ann and the Ghostwriters are concerned
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Post by aln1982 on Nov 13, 2007 10:14:38 GMT -5
^ Of course, at that age (even now ;D) I would be grossed out even thinking about possibilities of why parents would want their own room. ;D
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