Jessi's Dance School Friends

[aln1982]

I noticed the consistency of Jessi’s dance school friends in Secret Language, Dance School Phantom and Awful Secret, which I appreciated, and it made me like reading about them even more. I really like how she kind of forms a relationship with Katie Beth and some of the other girls over the course of those books. I enjoyed reading about Jessi interacting with kids outside of the BSC and also liked this aspect of Big Break and her friends in that one. It was interesting to see how she acted in different environments like dance class. I know I’m different sometimes in different situations and around different people in terms of confidence and it was nice to see Jessi struggle with the same thing.

[fluffycakes]

I liked reading about Jessi's interactions in Big Break as well. Rereading over the summer, I could really relate to how she was feeling. When I went away to university, I met some incredible people who I clikced with right away. I changed a lot in such a short amount of time that when I hung out with my friends from back home, it felt a little weird. Like Jessi, I also didn't miss my old friends as much as I thought I would and felt guilty about that. I can totally relate to Jessi when she felt she belonged with her Dance NY friends in a way she never did with her Stoneybrook friends and - to an extent - the other girls in the BSC.

I liked a few of the dance school characters as well. Not too crazy about Katie Beth or Hilary, but I liked Lisa. She seemed really nice, and it would have been cool to see Jessi interact more with her. I wonder if any of the girls in her class lived in Stoneybrook as well? Considering that the Stamford school was the only one around in the area, it isn't too unlikely that one or two of the girls lived in Stoneybrook too. It would have been nice to see Jessi develop a friendship outside the BSC.

[greer]

i LOVE jessi's big break. i think it's my favorite jessi book.

[wenonah4th]

Most of those girls live in Stamford rather than Stoneybrook, right?

[greer]

we don't know... i wouldn't be surprised if they were also from some of the other towns around stoneybrook/stamford, since this was a very prestigious dance school.

[aln1982]

^ I wouldn't be surprised by that, either. I don't think it ever mentioned where the other girls were from. I guess I never paid much attention to it.
Also a big fan of Jessi's Big Break. Like it better each time I read it. I've been meaning to post on it so maybe I'll get around to that soon. ;D

[candykane]

I liked seeing Jessi hang out with the dance school kids at Burger King in Awful Secret. I always liked any book that showed a BSCer interacting with peers outside of the club.

[greer]

or going to a restaurant like burger king or mcdonalds. i guess they do go to a howard johnson's, but those aren't really around anymore. is stoneybrook devoid of national chain restaurants?

I always thought Carrie sounded cool. She had a neon jacket.

[candykane]

Yeah, I always liked it when they'd go to real places in books, instead of Burger Town or some other made-up place. Stoneybrooks seems to consist soley of fictional stores and restaurants. For a real one you had to go to Stamford

[wenonah4th]

Where was the McDonald's in LS #15? Was that in Stoneybrook or another town?

[aln1982]

^ I don't remember.
I agree about liking the real restaurants. I always find it strange that there aren't any in Stoneybrook and that's why I wouldn't want to live there. ;D

[booboobrewer]

wenonah4th said:

Where was the McDonald's in LS #15? Was that in Stoneybrook or another town?

I'm pretty sure it was in town...

[anzuhana]

I liked reading about Jessi and her dance school friends because I liked reading about her hanging out with people other than the BSC.