wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Apr 10, 2010 18:05:43 GMT -5
Lol, on a lighter "Patrick" note, did anyone else think it was a bad mistake that DM's AWOL baby-sitter was given the surname of Patrick? I noticed that, too. I thought it was pretty unfortunate.
The best thing about Kristy's chapters is that she knows Patrick won't be showing up for her birthday, but somehow she manages to believe that he will anyway. It's more realistic than her being completely deluded about it.
I don't remember if it was in the Entertainment Weekly article, but Ann told us that one thing that surprised her when she was writing the prequel was how young all the characters seemed when they were just getting out of sixth grade, as opposed to at the end of the series, and I think it comes across in the writing. In a good way.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 10, 2010 18:24:30 GMT -5
^Wanderingfrog, as I finish re-reading this book, how young the characters seem stood out more for me as well. I also have to say how refreshing it was to read about them as true 11 going on 12 year olds as opposed to boom a year later (ever increasing once they began their 13 years of 8th Grade)"adults." I am really liking Stacey and her family in this. They came together nicely for the move and I liked how Mr. McGill was the one to say that "All of us are looking forward to a change in Stoneybrook." For their drive to CT and as they unpacked, the three of them seemed like a neat family. Too bad AMM decided to not only have the divorce but Ed change his ways as well. Also too bad Stacey never did go through with getting a dog, would have been cool, possibly help[ed her through the pre and during "Bad Girls" days. You know what was truly amazing? Not one of the "new" characters were named either John or Elizabeth! AMM is slipping.
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 10, 2010 19:21:25 GMT -5
I am really liking Stacey and her family in this. They came together nicely for the move and I liked how Mr. McGill was the one to say that "All of us are looking forward to a change in Stoneybrook." For their drive to CT and as they unpacked, the three of them seemed like a neat family. I agree. I thought I wouldn't be that into Stacey reflecting on life before the move, but her chapters did interest me a lot. I think my favorite storylines were hers and Kristy's.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 10, 2010 23:54:19 GMT -5
I didn't expect to give much thought to Stacey's move either. I also agree with you, BooBoo, that I liked Kristy's and Stacey's chapters the best. In fact, I was thinking earlier that the Thomases, all 6 of them (Louie also seemed close knit--closer then Kristy's Portrait showed with it's Elizabeth gone mad making slaves out of her children. But, that's a different subject. My point is just this book really does make the lack of time spent with or in a lot of cases the need for their families, more glaring than before....if that makes sense? Though really only Kristy and Stacey (for the move did). MA and Richard hung out evenings. Claudia with Mimi... I did finish reading this for the second time and have to say I'm most "saddened" by the fact that within 4 books the supposed closeness between MA and Kristy will be gone forever. I fail to see any efforts on Claudia, Mary Anne, or Kristy's parts to keep their promise of not losing their friendship again. I was pondering what if Kristy and Claudia (because Claudia had been given the original baby-sitting job with Andrew and Karen) had been the only 2 Sitters to go to Maine, in BS Haunted House. Perfect opportunity for the two of them. Maybe I'm getting old and feel wistful for what could have been. Either that, or I have spent way too much time thinking about the BSC! The other thing, I wanted to mention was Mary Anne. In this prequel she is assertive, take charge, has her own ideas and voices them. Why she even planned Kristy Day. So to have her so completely regress become passive agressive,a t times plain mean for the rest of the Series truly stinks. Lol, she was a likeable, a "real" character and person.
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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 Apr 12, 2010 14:37:36 GMT -5
I finally got my copy on Saturday. Here's an initial rundown of my thoughts: Stuff I liked - How Claudia and Stacey were both dealing with feelings of not belonging in their old worlds anymore. I can really identify with that right now. - The ending being so similar to Kristy's Great Idea. I know the general consensus was that it was lame, but I felt like doing it that way made the series come full circle. - The Berks being the first family to visit the McGills after their move. They were mentioned once before in the series: in book #13, Charlotte mentions getting her dresser at the Berks' garage sale. I wonder if that was intentional, or if Ann just used that name? - The way that Stacey came across; she was so much the Stacey of book #3. - Mary Anne's introduction to baby-sitting; I never gave much thought as to how she got started. - I really liked the book overall; just the fact that I was reading a new BSC book was pretty exciting. Stuff I didn't like - Claudia and Stacey meeting. They were supposed to run into each other at school, not be introduced by Emily Bernstein. - Frankie. - Jenny P. suddenly liking Kristy so much. When did that happen? Overall, I liked Stacey's chapters the best, then Claudia's, then Kristy's, then Mary Anne's. I felt so bad for them all, though; they really had a tough time of it, and if I didn't have such a history with the BSC, I would have thought that this book was really depressing. I also noticed how many big words Claudia used, ktag. It was a little jarring, but I don't think it's totally out of place. It's always been said that Claudia is smart, but just doesn't try hard enough in school.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Apr 13, 2010 22:23:30 GMT -5
So I haven't been here for a few weeks because school has been crazy busy but I thought I'd come back and share my thoughts on the new book ;D. I've only read the first half so far but I'm looking forward to reading the rest. I'm absolutely loving the book so far. It's so cool to actually have a new BSC book. Reading it, I feel like I'm a little kid again. It's been awhile since I've read any BSC books, but I still remember every character and their quirks, backstory, etc. I love coming across the little things I remember from the series such as Mary Anne's favorite colors being navy blue and yellow, how Richard was so overprotective, outfit descriptions, food descriptions, MA's pink room, chapters where they baby-sit for the Newtons and the Pikes, Mimi and Louie being alive and the list goes on ;D. A lot of what I've read is stuff we've already known for years. Kristy wanting her father back in her life (I'm really feeling for her in this book), Mary Anne wanting her dad to treat her like a grown-up (which so far is reminding me of MA Saves The Day, but that's my all-time favorite BSC book so I like it and Stacey dealing with Laine and the girls and her move from NYC to Stoneybrook. Claudia's plotline was the one that seemed new to me. Has Frankie ever been mentioned in the regular series? There was also a couple of random characters that were in the whole Dori, Emily, Pete Black group that weren't there in the regular series. I was like, "who are those people?"haha. So far, there doesn't seem to be any glaring inconsistencies, although I read that Claudia and Stacey meet a different way in this book than in the regular series. And apparently, Laine was already being a snob to Stacey before she was diagnosed with diabetes and before the whole bed-wetting thing (although they at least mentioned that). In the regular series, in the Baby-Sitters Remember, I remember Stacey and Laine still being best friends pre-diabetes and pre-bed wetting. I'm sure I'll find more as I keep reading ;D Was anyone else a bit surprised when they had MA mention American Girl Dolls? I was. I thought it felt a bit out of place, especially since the series never really mentioned brand names. As far as plots go, I love all of them so far, even if a lot of the plots were ones I already was familiar with. Can't wait to read the rest .
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digigirl02
Junior Sitter
The P is for Princess
Posts: 698
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Post by digigirl02 on May 5, 2010 18:27:09 GMT -5
I got this book today, and I already finished it, I couldn't put it down. Kristy and Stacey's chapters were my favorite. I felt so bad for Kristy and how badly she wanted her family back together. Even though it was sad, I thought it was sweet how Kristy cried to her mom at the end of the book, it showed the softer side of her, which is something I always enjoy seeing in Kristy. I couldn't believe how mean those girls, especially Laine were to Stacey. It is horrible how cruel some girls can be, especially in middle school. I thought it was cute hearing about all the new things like the sounds of crickets that Stacey wasn't used to hearing. Claudia's chapters weren't my favorite but I still enjoyed reading about them. I thought it was nice to see Claudia's interaction with Janine, I thought it showed a different side of both of them. One of my favorite parts of this book was Mary Anne organizing Kristy day. That really showed how close their friendship was and I thought that was so sweet. It really made me wish I had friends like that in middle school! Sorry for posting such a long review, I actually could go on forever. I loved so many parts of this book. I enjoyed reading about Kritsy Day as well. I thought it was a really sweet gesture.
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Post by anzuhana on May 6, 2010 8:51:42 GMT -5
^ I thought Kristy Day was a sweet gesture as well.
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Post by helsieboo on May 28, 2010 5:56:58 GMT -5
My copy arrived last Saturday...and was read last Saturday. I enjoyed it - on the whole I thought it was a very sweet read.
I loved Mary Anne in this - she is usually one of the characters I don't like, as I feel she became too passive-aggressive and bitchy as the series went on. However, in this book, she was the MA of old - she was adorable! I also really loved the way Ann showed off her babysitting skills and how good she actually was and how Kristy and Claudia were surprised. It was nice to see Richard relaxing his rules towards her sitting as the book went on, but they were fairly OTT to begin with.
Ah, Claudia. I felt sorry for her in some respects, as she was growing up and feeling she was growing away from her friends. I loved her relationship with Frankie and I felt so sorry for her when he dumped her. It was also interesting to read about, as she clearly felt bothered about growing apart from Kristy and MA. I thought it was nice of the Goldman's to give up their pool, but slightly unrealistic.
Poor Kristy, I felt sorry for her! How hurtful must it have been to get the letter returned to her? I loved her friendship with MA and I liked the 'decorum' bit at the end of the book - straight into Kristy's Great Idea! She was slightly obnoxious at times, but I think that is fairly realistic of a pre-teen who's life is changing around her (Watson).
Stacey's chapters bothered me, although I did enjoy them. I liked seeing her act childish and awkward for once. I also enjoyed reading about her feelings as she arrived in Stoneybrook. Reading about her first day at SMS was also enjoyable, however I always remembered her meeting by Claudia by literally bumping into her. So, an inconsitency there. I also thought it was really sad reading about the party where Laine and the girls were so mean to her. It's interesting seeing how the relationship with Laine began to break down, however they were still 'best friends' at that point and not all of the girls in the class were invited to the sleepover - only the ones in 'The Group.' There was another inconsitency aswell, but I can't think what, right now.
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Post by otempora541 on Jun 20, 2010 13:02:03 GMT -5
Kristy's chapters I loved because we don't see a lot of pre Watson Thomas family life; I liked that Kristy was a brat to him and just wanted things to be back the way they used to be. I was surprised the boys tolerated him so well.
Claudia's chapters I could relate to; I cringed at the behavior and totally know how a first crush feels. I'm surprised Janine, who gets painted as a dork, is friends with a guy who sounds... Kind of Cool.
Mary Anne's chapters were interesting because I liked seeing Richard overreacting and really being strict.
I loved the Stacey chapters (and the pig theme!) and how Laine's friendship with her was so... Precarious already.
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Post by wenonah4th on Jun 20, 2010 13:35:38 GMT -5
You almost have to wonder what had happened at camp. Was Laine not th cool girl at camp?
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 26, 2012 21:59:33 GMT -5
Okay so it looks like I'm starting a reread again (wanting simpler times in life I suppose), so I started with this one! This thread has already stated a lot of opinions that I felt.
For some reason, I can't stop thinking about the dolls because in my head I'm imagining some creepy naked old ratty looking things with stains from like the 1800s, so I would have bolted like Claudia.
I think reading this now at the beginning of the series let me accept the things I didn't like because after so long of wanting a new book, I may have been a little too snarkily judgmental. Def worth a reread .... Just skip the doll part or u may have nightmares!
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Post by Kylie90210 on Oct 18, 2012 23:01:40 GMT -5
^ We were bound to be a little judgemental with it... Now some time has gone by, I think I might re-read too
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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 Nov 2, 2012 17:28:41 GMT -5
I think I've only read it twice now, but my opinions didn't change. I liked it the first time, and I like it still. I find a hard time considering it as part of the series, though. To me, it's a standalone book.
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Post by Kylie90210 on Nov 20, 2012 22:57:17 GMT -5
Interesting you say that, because I have trouble thinking of most things as stand alone, even when I really want to.
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