alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Feb 29, 2008 4:00:10 GMT -5
^I think when I read it, I got the impression that Dawn asked Carol what "sterile" meant without any context, in which case I can sort of see why she'd laugh because that would seem like a fairly odd, random thing for a thirteen-year-old to ask about. That used to happen to me when I asked questions about words when I was little.
I think part of the reason Carol and Sunny became close was because Carol wasn't such a part of the Winslow family history. In a way, she was more "available," and I think her distance also made it easier for her to "read" Sunny, so that she was reacting to what Sunny actually did or said, not what she "should" be doing or saying. I think Dawn was unable to distinguish between her feelings and Sunny's feelings a lot of the time, and I think most of the other adults in Sunny's life were either too closely involved or not close enough. (Then again, I think most teenagers benefit by having relationships with adults who aren't as directly involved with them as family.)
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Post by aln1982 on Feb 29, 2008 16:52:41 GMT -5
I just reread this part (it was driving me crazy ;D) and I had been reading too fast and missed a bunch of what Dawn said. ;D I thought that Carol didn't understand the context (like Alula said she did) and even though I considered both meanings of the word, with no context except "Mrs. Winslow", I would think of hospital equipment first. Now I reread and it's clear but I was reading too fast. ;D I guess I also thought that worrying about sterility was kind of a petty thing (this is just me and I'm probably being judgemental ;D) when someone is dying of cancer.... Never read about Carol and Sunny, Alula, but that sounds like a very good theory. ;D
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Post by greer on Mar 6, 2008 1:21:38 GMT -5
^well, i think that if someone is young and still wants to have kids and doesn't have a condition with as low a survival late as lung cancer, it can be very upsetting to know that even if your cancer totally goes into remission you'll never be able to have biological children--although lots of people are in this situation and they adopt and hopefully give children happy lives.
but mrs. winslow didn't seem to be planning on having any more kids even before she was diagnosed with lung cancer, so i think in her case it'd be the least of her concerns.
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Post by aln1982 on Mar 6, 2008 17:39:17 GMT -5
^ I was just saying it about Mrs. Winslow. ;D Was Sunny her only child? I really liked Carol in CA Girls (just read it ;D) and Dawn and Whitney FF. I was glad that Dawn finally gave her a chance in both of those. ;D
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Post by greer on Mar 6, 2008 17:45:32 GMT -5
^yeah, sunny was an only child.
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Post by aln1982 on Mar 6, 2008 17:54:50 GMT -5
^ That's what I thought but I wasn't sure. ;D
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nothingtolose18
Sitting For The Johanssens
Mal / Sam / Price / Ben
Posts: 1,059
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Post by nothingtolose18 on Mar 7, 2008 1:49:33 GMT -5
I liked Carol. I especially liked her in California Girls. She drove the girls wherever they wanted to go and let them do (generally) what they wanted to do. I also liked how Carol told Jack about the accident (as she should, of course) and that Dawn realized that she would have had to do the same thing if something like that had happened to a child that she was babysitting for. I liked how at the end of this book, they were getting along. I haven't read too many books with Carol in them. I know I also read CD 1: Dawn, and I was sad at how they got in the fight because of Dawn spilling the secret to Jill. I thought Carol could have been a little more sympathetic, though - 13 year old girls are not known for their great capability for keeping secrets, and it's not like she told a lot of people - only Jill, if I remember correctly. They did make up in this book, though, right? I can't remember.
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Rie
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 1,998
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Post by Rie on Mar 7, 2008 3:58:38 GMT -5
^I really liked Carol too.
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Post by aln1982 on Mar 9, 2008 16:24:09 GMT -5
I don't remember if they did make up, nothingtolose, even though I just read this one. For some reason, I think they did but not really (if that makes sense ;D) I can see why Carol was upset and didn't think she really even got that mad. I think that Dawn was pretty mean about her in that book and in a lot of others.
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nothingtolose18
Sitting For The Johanssens
Mal / Sam / Price / Ben
Posts: 1,059
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Post by nothingtolose18 on Mar 9, 2008 23:47:10 GMT -5
^ I know what you mean. And seeing as it's been a while since I read this book, maybe I would have a different opinion of it now that I'm older. Sadly, I'm not sure where it's too - lost amongst the mounds of books in my room, I guess. Definitely going to have to look for this book next time I'm home (actually.. all my BSC & Co. books, I want to find them all)
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Post by aln1982 on Mar 10, 2008 16:54:21 GMT -5
^ ;D It would be interesting to see if your opinion was different now. I think I like Dawn less than I did as kid....
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 6, 2010 11:35:48 GMT -5
I like Carol. I think she really tries to be there for Dawn and Jeff and that she really cares for them.
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Post by zoar3 on Apr 28, 2014 21:58:32 GMT -5
Carol saved the day for me this time around in CA Girls. I haven't read any of the CD's but it sounds like she was also a good friend to Sunny. I'm not much of a Dawn fan as, lol all of you know, but thought it was awesome of Dawn, at the end of CA Girls, to ask Carol if the two of them could write to each other. Carol's reply, "Was of course, they could and that she understood how Dawn felt at home in both CT and CA." That also reminded me a little of Mr. Staples telling Kristy that of course the two of them could be pen pals and sometimes talk on the phone--I will always wish they had. Back to Carol, ITA with those of you who said that Jack could have let Dawn know she would be around more. Also, I felt badly for the rest of the BSC--that situation had to be so awkward for them. Here they were guests at Dawn's CA home--3,000 miles away from their homes--and in the middle of the first time Dawn is spending more time with her dad's new girlfriend. Mr. Schafer was extremely nice to play host for 2 weeks and Carol for sure chaperoning so much, I'm just wondering if somehow Dawn could have come out a little ahead of her friends first. I was glad Jack and Carol ended up happy and that Dawn and Jeff came to be also.
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Post by merrymelody on Jun 9, 2020 11:09:42 GMT -5
^ I was just saying it about Mrs. Winslow. ;D Was Sunny her only child? I really liked Carol in CA Girls (just read it ;D) and Dawn and Whitney FF. I was glad that Dawn finally gave her a chance in both of those. ;D IIRC, Sunny's mom had a miscarriage after Sunny was born, I think it's mentioned in CD #12. Probably in part that's why she and her mom were so close. And as for Carol's closeness to Sunny, I'd guess that while having a younger stepmom embarrasses Dawn (maybe in part because of the difference in ages between her dad and her stepmom - like Sharon married a guy she went to school with, whereas Disneyland Dad picked a younger woman), to Sunny, you've got this adult figure around who's separate from the two other main adults in her life who are not only physically not present (obviously that's not their fault - or not Mrs. W's, at any rate - but they cannot adequately parent at this point) but also both in a seriously depressing situation. And as a bonus, she's comparatively carefree in a way that Sunny and she share but irritates Dawn (the rollerblading, music blasting, not taking subjects seriously) - might even remind her of her mom before she got sick. We don't see that much of Betsy prior to her illness, but the descriptions of her dancing around (to Teeny!Dawn's horror) or leaving out pennies for people to find suggest she too probably did things without worrying about the propriety (like how Dawn thinks Carol's not proper because of her age, she's initially repelled by the Winslows for being unconventional; and similarly to how Dawn comes to realise Carol, despite her goofy habits, is 100% reliable, Dawn came to recognise that the Winslows are decent and even adopt their ideas as her own.) And triple bonus for Sunny, not only is this person closer to her age and able to accept her feelings without taking them personally (as her dad or Dawn do) or be worried about their legal responsibilities to her (like the school might); but she's also having a baby. It's not uncommon for people suffering bereavement (particularly a long, drawn out one like this) to want to be around babies, etc. (As we see when Mrs. W. visits the baby before she passes.) - your mom's connected with death, you attach to a mom figure who's creating life. You know in nine or five or however many months or so, your mom's life will end; so you fixate on the new person who'll be there then.
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