Jessi

[spazgirl]

I've been trying to read the series from beginning to end and I find myself feeling a deep sense of dread whenever I see a Jessi book is up next. I made it through "Jessi's Babysitter" and "Jessi and the Superbrat", but skipped "Jessi Ramsey Pet Sitter", "Jessi's Wish", and "Jessi's Gold Medal". And any other Jessi book that might have been in that sequence, she's just sooo boring. Were they trying to make the black character as non-controversial as possible in order to avoid conflict? Cuz Jessi was as close to a Mary Sue as I can remember in the BSC. Pretty, thin, smart, funny, talented...

[jen]

I actually liked Jessi's Wish and Jessi's Gold Medal more than Jessi's Baby-sitter and Jessi and the Superbrat... They had better subplots, at least.

[Amalia]

I liked MA in the Middle. Jessi's comebacks against Mal were kind of snarky.

In Jessi & Dance School Phantom, I didn't really like the way Hilary incriminated herself. The incriminating words just happen to slip out of her mouth? I mean words-happening-to-slip-out-of-mouths technique to incriminate someone has been used to death in BSC land. Cokie does it all of the time (Bad Luck MYstery, Mystery Admirer, etc). Other people too. I forget though.

[jen]

In "Hello, Mallory", where we first meet Jessi, she says that she'll need to get braces. And that she wears glasses. Do we ever see this actually happen?

[hitzpink]

I usually find myself dreading Jessi's books (I am reading the series in order right now), but sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised by them. Jessi and the Superbrat wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but I could hardly get through Jessi's Wish. Next on my list is Jessi's Gold Medal. I remember getting this from a book order when I was younger and being pissed that my only new BSC book was about Jessi. haha.

[sparklymouse]

In "Hello, Mallory", where we first meet Jessi, she says that she'll need to get braces. And that she wears glasses. Do we ever see this actually happen?

I think maybe she had reading glasses? Mary Anne did too. The braces thing bugged me because there's no way all the older members had already gotten through their braces/retainers. Some of them must have had bad teeth.

[macca]

^Jessi and Mary Anne's glasses were never mentioned after the early books in the series. And it was definitely suggested that Jessi would also need braces around the time Mallory got hers, which as we know, never happened.

I've never had braces and neither did several of my friends, but I get your point. It did seem weird that Mallory was the only one who had problems with her teeth. Although there was the issue with Stacey's horse teeth on the new covers! ;D

[ktag]

Well, I didn't get my braces until I was 14. So maybe if they ever aged...if all of Claudia's teeth don't fall out from all the candy...

[sparklymouse]

I just thought of another time I hated Jessi. The Hobarts had just moved to town and were being made fun of. The Pike kids called them "Aussies" and Mal wondered if that was a nice name. She reminded them to be nice because their family had been called "Spider" for a long time (because there were 8 of them) and the name hurt their feelings. Mallory totally got her point across to them, but Jessi had to add how when she moved to town she got called lots of names and "nothing as cute as Spider". She completely took the focus off the Hobarts and put it on herself all "Me Me Me! I was abused by Stoneybrook!" Shut up, Jessi.

[macca]

^Oh, I remember that! Because, ya know, being teased about something other than being black is just trivial crap. Only Jessi knows the pain of being a True Outcast, what with all that chocolatey brown skin and stuff

[jen]

Heeheehee, macca. So much Jessi love.

[macca]

Until I started chatting on these forums, I had no idea Jessi was such a good character for snarking. She was always just the boring black one, not much else. But there's so much more to her!

[ktag]

Three pages into Secret Language and she's already bugging me. I became fluent in Spanish after spending a week in Mexico! I'm really good at languages. Ballet is like a language, and I'm really really good at that. Have I mentioned I'm really good at languages? I have the darkest eyes I've ever seen. I have long, long legs. Becca doesn't. That's probably why I'm so good at ballet. Becca isn't. Oh yeah, and I'm black. I have to say it because I'm not white.

I think she overcompensates. She has to feel really good about herself to make up for some people not being nice to her. Like how Kristy always has to be loud and in control to hide her insecurities and vulnerability. Probably applies to Claudia as well.

[jen]

Wait, is the stuff in italics word for word? I do remember her saying how good she is in languages and ballet, but that paragraph seems like overkill! "I'm really good at stuff! Did you not hear me the first time? I'M REALLY GOOD AT STUFF! Oh, and I'm black."

Heehee, macca, before I went to the boards, I had no idea how much fun it was to snark on the series as a whole

[ktag]

Lol, no...I was paraphrasing. That's basically what she's saying though. She also says later that she's a "good dancer, a good joke-teller, a good reader, good at languages, and most important, good with children."