Later Jessi Books

[greer]

Does anyone else find the last two Jessi books, Happy Holidays, Jessi and Jessi's Big Break to be especially good? Both of these books show enormous possibilities for Jessi's character, with all the David Brailsford/Dance NY stuff and more insight into the Ramsey family. Most Jessi books, if not all, are entirely forgettable and/or Issue-Of-The-Month (Hello, Danielle Roberts!), but these two really stand out as quality BSC books to me. I just feel like Jessi got gypped: they finally figured out how to really use her character and Mallory leaving could have been the impetus for at least one book from Jessi's point of view, but they all but wrote her out of the series.

Why, Scholastic, why??

[wanderingfrog]

I do, too. I especially like Happy Holidays, Jessi. I think the tension in the family is portrayed very realistically.

[aln1982]

I really like Happy Holidays, Jessi but never got into Jessi's Big Break much - too much dance stuff. But I'm getting my own copy (yeah!) so will reread and might like it better this time. Agree with wanderingfrog on the family tensions portrayal in Happy Holidays, Jessi. I really liked Daddy standing up to awful Aunt C.

[booboobrewer]

I love them, and enjoy reading them more than Secret Language and Superbrat, for example. I thought David Brailsford was an interesting character, for some reason, so I liked hearing about him as well in European Vacation.

[msstock87]

I loved Happy Holidays Jessi more now that I did when I was younger. I agree, the tension in the family was portrayed pretty realistically, I think thats how most families would react in that kind of situation.

[starrynight]

I loved "Big Break." It didn't seem very BSC to me, though. In fact, I felt it was less BSC than most of the later books. Maybe it was how different Jessi's character was when you got her into that new situation.

[jen]

I loved "Big Break", But I didn't really like "Happy Holidays". I really liked meeting the new characters and seeing NYC again in "Big Break", and yeah, these two do seem completely different to the Jessi in earlier books. But at the same time, I think you could say the same about most of the characters and their later books.

[aln1982]

The last time I read it, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Big Break. It was nice to see Jessi in a different environment where she felt more sure of herself. I could really relate to a lot of her feelings in this book.
I also really liked the interaction in the Ramsey family in Happy Holidays. I wish they would have written more Jessi books in general, though, because I also really enjoyed earlier ones like Secret Language and Jessi's Wish.

[greer]

I actually had a dream about jessi's big break last night. ;D

[aln1982]

^ Were you one of the dancers? ;D I've had those kinds before.

[greer]

No, i dreamed about HAVING the book and reading it. Haha.

[icequeen]

^ Haha thats hilarious.
I loved Jessi's Big Break, Jessi following her dream to the city and finding a group of friends she could really relate to. I could imagine it as a "spin off" kind of series, just like Dawn's California Diaries, but if Jessi is much older. I don't even know what it is about this book that I like so much. Maybe because it is still BSC but its an insight into lives away from the Stoneybrookers.

[ringdings]

^^Big break was one of my favorite Jessi books. It does seem though that the junior members seem to do much better when out of the BSC web. Maybe it's because the ghostwriters can write about new characters instead of recycling the "Kristy's so bossy" "Stacey's sophisticated!" "Claudia is bad in school but is an ARTIST".

[sweetvalleygirl99]

Never read Big Break but I did like Happy Holidays Jessi, one of the few Jessi books I actually liked .

[anzuhana]

I think Happy Holidays, Jessi and Jessi's Big Break were really well written. I liked reading about the family and I thought that the family tension was written realistically in Happy Holidays, Jessi and I liked reading about Jessi in NY with her dance friends in Jessi’s Big Break.