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Post by aln1982 on Apr 15, 2007 23:42:57 GMT -5
I've recently read a lot of the CA books and think I changed my opinion of Carol. I didn't like her at first but now I do. I don't think, really, that she tries to act young and like a kid to get Dawn and Jeff to like her. I think this is just natural. It's mentioned a few times that she's only 32 - this is just 8 years older than me. Sometimes the adults in the BSC books seem so "old" (Jessi called Wes "ancient" at 22 ;D) that I almost forget how close to my age they are. As for Carol, I could understand why Dawn didn't like her (just because she didn't want anyone new with her dad) but didn't think a lot of her criticisms were accurate. She is really awful to her, in my opinion, in CA Girls. To be fair, Carol didn't give the advice for Mal (I think it was her - maybe it was Claudia - my mind isn't functioning well to change herself. All she got out before Dawn jumped all over her was "I have known people who have changed themselves..." She could have just as easily been giving advice not to change. And it wasn't her place to stop Mal from buying the makeup and dye and using it. I have a feeling, though, that Dawn would have found something to blame Carol for no matter what. In all, I like Carol pretty well. I think she is one of my favorite CA characters and am glad that Jack married her - especially after some of the other awful women he dated in Dawn and Whitney Best Friends. Thoughts on Carol?
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Post by sugarmonkey on Apr 16, 2007 12:33:37 GMT -5
I didn't like her at first either. When I read about her later on, she wasn't so bad.
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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 Apr 16, 2007 12:43:30 GMT -5
I actually liked Carol. I liked how she eventually found the balance between being a responsible adult and acting "young" so to speak. She seemed to really care about Dawn, Jeff, and Mr. Schafer in my opinion.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Apr 16, 2007 13:19:22 GMT -5
I liked her, too. At first I was a little hesistant, like Dawn, because I really dislike adults trying to 'fit in' with kids and I thought she should know better. I like how, in the end, she did.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
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Post by alula on Apr 17, 2007 1:59:24 GMT -5
Even when I first read California Girls, as a li'l thing, I completely assumed that she was, in fact, going to tell Mallory that changing herself was a bad idea, and that Dawn had just conveniently cut her off before she got to make her point. To me, it sounded very much like she was trying to give the correct-if-inconvenient advice about being yourself, but without sounding all grown-up and didactic about it.
It's been awhile since I read California Girls, and I don't remember if it was stated if Dawn knew that her dad had a pretty serious girlfriend who was going to be around all the time--I tend to think she wasn't really prepared for that, and a big part of that is her dad's fault, IMO. I mean, yeah, she was totally a brat, but on the other hand, I think if a parent is dating someone who's going to be around that much, they owe it to the kid (and the SO) to do some prep work, and not just expect everything to be all sunshine and roses. (Especially since it seems like this dynamic largely gets replayed in Dawn and the WLKC, although I remember thinking that the letter Dawn wrote when she ran away was particularly nasty, but I have no actual memory of it--just of reading it and being like, "Wow, Dawn is cold.)
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 17, 2007 7:49:05 GMT -5
Glad to hear there are other Carol fans. I was glad to see Dawn start slowly building a relationship with her and agree with alula that a lot of the animosity Dawn felt toward her might have been prevented with more preperation on Jack's fault. He should have expected problems and not tried to "force" Carol on the kids as much as he did. I think he, rather than Carol, was more to blame.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 17, 2007 12:33:28 GMT -5
I don't mind Carol. I like her and Dawn's struggle to form a relationship, I think Dawn's reactions to Carol were VERY realistic for a young teenager who was bitter her dad was dating someone new. I do believe that is where her animosity towards Carol stems from. I think Carol could've been mature, grown up, etc and Dawn STILL would've hated her just because she was the new woman in her dads life.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 19, 2007 23:50:16 GMT -5
Agree with Sotypical's views on Dawn's reaction to Carol. A question about Carol - I thought I remembered a book where she and Jack had a baby daughter. Is this true or was it part of one of the muddled up dreams I've been having lately
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lyricalangel
Sitting For The Newtons
Logan's love-bunny
Posts: 1,918
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Post by lyricalangel on Apr 20, 2007 0:16:46 GMT -5
No, they did have a baby. I think her name was Gracie or something. I can't remember exactly which book she first appeared.
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 20, 2007 0:27:30 GMT -5
Well, she was born in the California Diaries series; I'm not sure when she's mentioned in BSC (if she even is). Her full name is Elizabeth Grace.
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lyricalangel
Sitting For The Newtons
Logan's love-bunny
Posts: 1,918
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Post by lyricalangel on Apr 20, 2007 1:55:49 GMT -5
Ohh.It was in one of Dawn's Diary's wasn't it
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 20, 2007 7:52:36 GMT -5
Glad to know I wasn't imagining things. I don't think it was in Dawn's Book, if that's the one you mean. Maybe it was in one of the later books from the series. Can't bring myself to reread Fire at MA's House (too depressing and freaks me out) so maybe it was that one. I thought I remembered the baby's name Elizabeth too. (Another name Ann loves to use ) Thanks booboo.
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Post by liss31d on May 2, 2007 4:15:20 GMT -5
Her name was Elizabeth Grace Schafer Olsen but nicknamed Gracie for short. She was born in CA Dawn Diary 2 I think.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on May 9, 2007 16:47:52 GMT -5
I don't particularly love Carol, but I feel kind of bad for her character because Dawn was so completely terrible to her at times. I mean, if my fiance's daughter flew across the country to escape me after my engagement, I'd be kind of insulted!
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Post by aln1982 on May 21, 2007 23:46:14 GMT -5
I just saw in MA and the Great Romance that Jeff mentioned the name Carol - "apparently his dad had a girlfriend". For some reason, I always thought that she was mentioned in Dawn on the Coast, which comes earlier. I wish we would have gotten to read more about Carol and Mr. Schafer after they got married. Were there many books that did take place then? I like Carol and enjoy reading about her trying to form a relationship with Jeff and Dawn.
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