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Post by zoar3 on Feb 12, 2012 22:37:38 GMT -5
I said that because of what you suggested above, Celaeno. I was just going off that. I tend to agree with what Oldhickory said above because Alma was only mentioned on the sidelines. I wonder if Sharon had not come on the scene, whether, eventually anyway, Richard would have opened up about Alma. I hope he would have. I would guess R and A met sometime early college and had a whirlwind courtship. Maybe after losing Sharon so unexpectedly, Richard was quicker to marry Alma because he did not want to lose another woman he loved. Aw, that is so sad if true because he did. :'/ Darn Ann for killing off Alma, it does seem like she would have been a wonderful mother, very hands on.
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on Feb 17, 2012 21:55:56 GMT -5
Some other comments: -I really like Dawn, but I guess what I mean is that I like early Dawn, since it drives me crazy when certain things about her were changed later in the series. I loved that she was so neat and organized (without being a typical uptight and anal neatfreak, like Mr. Spier), and I HATED it when she suddenly became sloppy in later books, like this one. -I love Shannon, and I really like seeing her one-on-one friendship with Kristy, so I love that she and Kristy got a chapter in this one.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Feb 18, 2012 0:50:56 GMT -5
^ ITA. I like early Dawn too. I was just thinking about this yesterday. I really love The Ghost at Dawn's House and also liked Dawn when she was first introduced in Mary Anne Saves the Day. I guess I can't really explain why she went downhill for me. Maybe the inconsistencies were more evident in her?
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Post by BuckinghamAlice on Feb 21, 2012 18:55:38 GMT -5
^ for some reason it bothers me that richard could be so much older than alma. i have gotten so used to the idea that he ended up with his high school sweetheart and they experienced all the dances, graduation, milestones together -- the idea that he was nearing thirty while alma was just wrapping up college just sounds weird. It seems like Ann kind of wrote the earlier books like they were taking place during her childhood (late '50s-'60s) instead of the '80s-'90s. A few decades ago, people didn't usually date for quite so long and they didn't stay engaged for quite so long as is more common now. And a 6 year age difference wouldn't have been at all unusual. I said that because of what you suggested above, Celaeno. I was just going off that. I tend to agree with what Oldhickory said above because Alma was only mentioned on the sidelines. I wonder if Sharon had not come on the scene, whether, eventually anyway, Richard would have opened up about Alma. I hope he would have. I would guess R and A met sometime early college and had a whirlwind courtship. Maybe after losing Sharon so unexpectedly, Richard was quicker to marry Alma because he did not want to lose another woman he loved. Aw, that is so sad if true because he did. :'/ Darn Ann for killing off Alma, it does seem like she would have been a wonderful mother, very hands on. ITA with all of this. And as for Dawn, I liked early Dawn a lot too, but by Little Miss Stoneybrook... and Dawn I was more or less done with her.
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Post by sillybillygoogoo on Oct 12, 2012 9:45:04 GMT -5
I loved this book! I like that it wasn't a typical BSC mystery. It could have been a book in the regular series. It really played on the emotions.
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Post by zoar3 on Oct 29, 2012 22:47:42 GMT -5
I'm editing after finishing this story. As so many others have said up-thread, I wish the Heritage Day part had been nixed and this combined with MA's portrait--the IA parts in that were just not well written, IMO at all. Back to this book, In #5, 7-year old Buddy was given the Family Tree Assignment. In this book, it appears as though it is required (for Heritage Day) of all 3rd (and 4th graders disguised as 3rd graders--Charlotte). I find it hard to believe Mary Anne was never asked to make one. Perhaps because what would have been my Grandma's 94th birthday is approaching, I find it so very sad that Richard never even took MA to Alma's grave. (Page 45). I hope and pray to never know the grief of mourning a husband while caring for an infant. I admire Richard for eventually moving forward. I just don't "get" how in thirteen years, particularly before his re-marriage to Sharon, he never wanted to tell MA about Alma. If nothing else as a way of making sure MA knew of his love for her mom and that Sharon wasn't a "replacement," merely an addition to his heart. I learned something "new" that I had missed in all my million re-reads of this that make MA being clue-less to her past even more odd. Page 48 at the very bottom when MA is looking for her mother's grave. "I knew she was buried near some of her relatives." Alma had family in Stoneybrook and maybe even lived there for a while herself! One tiny thing, MA's Portrait says Alma was not yet 25 when she died. So, if Richard was 43? in #4, He would have been 5 years older than Alma. We are also shown Alma's report card from Maynard Middle School 8th grade so maybe she went to college in CT? Two nitpicks in both this book and MA's Portrait. When the "social worker" comes on page 95 she asks "Is this the Spier-Schafer residence?" In MA's portrait on page 153 MA answers the phone, "Hello, Spier-Schafer residence."
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Oct 31, 2012 18:55:27 GMT -5
i love the idea of alma having family in stoneybrook. MA had such a sad, lonely childhood (even before she learned about her dad sending her away) and it would have been so nice for her to have a cousin to play with, or maybe spending the evening with an aunt instead of richard hiring a sitter. and that also would have meant richard wasn't mourning the death of alma all by himself. but i feel like that was probably an inconsistency, because nothing like that was ever mentioned anywhere else. the only family that is ever mentioned for alma is her parents.
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Post by zoar3 on Oct 31, 2012 21:46:45 GMT -5
^ MA being sat for by an Aunt sounds so sweet and like something that really would have made a difference to her and her dad. Richard could have seen/felt even a little bit on a daily basis that he isn't alone in his grief. I at least wish his dad, the mailman, had not died. I still think that would have made a great character, particularly for all the BSC's advertising! Not to be mean, because I don't like the idea of anyone being "killed" off, except maybe Patrick, , but Richard's parents seemed much more necessary (to both his family and "us") than Granny and Pop Pop Porter were to Sharon. We rarely saw Dawn's Grandparents anyway. Maybe they could have lived in Queenstown like Aunt Cecelia did or somewhere nearby to make a token appearance while not being the only extended family outside of Verna.
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Post by candykane on Nov 1, 2012 23:26:50 GMT -5
I was thinking about the census taker coming to the door. This book came out in 1992, and the most recent U.S. census had been done in 1990. I vaguely remember our census forms getting mailed to the house back then. I think the census takers only showed up at your house if you failed to send the forms back - Sharon must have stuck them in the freezer or something.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Nov 2, 2012 0:20:57 GMT -5
^ Bwahaha., That's true to character and would make sense!
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Post by wiggir13 on Nov 7, 2012 11:43:52 GMT -5
Every time I read this one I just get so mad at Richard. My dad died when I was 6 and I had similar issues with my mom not wanting to talk about him, but I was lucky enough to have my grandmother around to tell me stuff. I feel like a lot of these parents are really overprotective of their kids knowing about their younger life.
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Nov 8, 2012 0:33:25 GMT -5
I think Richard had issues around his personal grief as well with the baby being a huge reminder of Alma's loss, and a lot of times, men have a harder time with expressing emotions than females do.
Ann once said a BSC book is a completed a year before it's published and released (when talking about writing the abby/anna books with the names blank until the contest ended) , so it was completed in 1991, the year ending with 1 is usually the year the census stats are released to the public, so the book was worked on in 1990/1991 for sure though they could have edited that part out to keep with the times.
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Post by zoar3 on Nov 8, 2012 20:42:02 GMT -5
I finished re-reading "Claudia's Book" last night. When Claud is recounting how she went with Kristy to Hammond Beach she tells us MA couldn't go because she and her dad were visiting relatives. What relatives? Did Morbidda Destiny cast a spell of memory erasing over Mary Anne and Richard so that it took 2 more years for Verna to "appear?" Were Richard's parents secretly alive? I have always wished his dad, the mailman was. Most likely this was another typo/inconsistency but it stuck out to me after the recent discussion on this book.
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Nov 9, 2012 22:14:44 GMT -5
did richard have siblings, uncles or aunts?
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 23, 2016 21:41:40 GMT -5
Wow, this thread has been inactive for over 3 years! I enjoy this book, it's one of my favourite mysteries. I feel that this mystery is also one of the most significant in the series as it sets up Mary Anne's life history and becomes a major part of her Chapter 2 summaries. This is one of my favourite photos of Mary Anne. I guess I like this Mary Anne model a lot as I feel she's also the one on the cover of Snowbound.
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