|
Post by greer on Apr 6, 2009 21:18:49 GMT -5
^Well, OK then.
Yeah, scrounge, I feel like WSTO could have been made more relevant to the rest of the series if Claudia had hung out with Ashley after their show was over, or if Claudia had retained an interest in broadcasting. But that didn't really happen.
|
|
valuemeal2
Sitter-In-Training
California Girl!
Posts: 295
|
Post by valuemeal2 on Apr 8, 2009 3:05:18 GMT -5
^I agree that Baby Parade and the Mystery of Stoneybrook are totally pointless. I just reread Mystery last week and just... ugh. There's no ending! It's like "OMG mystery!!!111 K guyz wait a sec nothing really happened after all." And I'm rereading Baby Parade right now... I'm totally LOLing over how Kristy is like "OMG WE HAVE TO TAKE AN INFANT CLASS" and she knows nothing about sitting for Andrea, yet somehow they all sat for Lucy Newton and Laura Perkins without incident before that? (I also LOLed about the infant class itself, where they taught cloth diapers with cornstarch powder and heating bottles on the stove... so very dated.)
|
|
Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
|
Post by Amalia on Apr 12, 2009 21:31:26 GMT -5
^ Yeah, and what's strange is that Kristy showed that she knew all of these things about taking care of babies in Kristy's Worst Idea and she needs to take an infant class? I think that she just wanted to take it to show off by getting good grades in it. I mean, why talk about getting a perfect score and have Dawn be irked that she just missed that mark.
|
|
|
Post by sparklymouse on Apr 13, 2009 14:55:18 GMT -5
^But the infant class in Baby Parade came way before Kristy's Worst Idea, so technically you could say that was a bit of continuation and Kristy was applying what she learned in an earlier book. Anyway, I thought Mrs. Prezzioso insisted that anyone who was going to sit for Andrea take the classes. It didn't have anything to do with the club members being insecure with their baby knowledge. I kinda like the Baby Parade book. It's stupid and funny and I can't imagine any town in the universe thinking it would be a good event to hold but that's part of the charm of Stoneybrook.
|
|
wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
|
Post by wanderingfrog on Apr 13, 2009 18:48:35 GMT -5
^I was just reading the Note From Ann at the back of the new-cover version of Baby Parade, and she said that one of the beach towns she based Sea City on had a baby parade every year, and that's where she got the idea for it.
|
|
fluffycakes
Junior Sitter
A silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells
Posts: 868
|
Post by fluffycakes on Apr 13, 2009 22:54:18 GMT -5
I'm beginning to think I like books that no one else does. Me too. I think I might be the only person here who acutally likes "Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook." As for books I wouldn't mind getting rid of, my number one vote is for "Dawn Saves the Planet." I'm actually a Dawn fan, but she was so irritating, I have a hard time rereading it. I think you can pinpoint the exact moment when Dawn becomes such an unlikeable character down to this book.
|
|
|
Post by booboobrewer on Apr 13, 2009 23:45:57 GMT -5
I really like Mystery of Stoneybrook. I hadn't thought of Saves the Planet, but that actually IS one that could have been left out and I wouldn't have missed it.
|
|
|
Post by greer on Apr 14, 2009 1:05:32 GMT -5
Dawn Saves the Planet is the book that's the hardest for me to get through. I can't stand it. I agree--get rid of it!
|
|
|
Post by m0drnmoonlight on Apr 15, 2009 12:42:19 GMT -5
Kristy and the Baby Parade has slowly become one of my favorites, believe it or not lol (I only read it once growing up; their fighting made me upset, now I love reading about the girls getting into stupid fights over nothing hahaha).
The reasons I like it are why I think it does have a role in the series - the girls take the parade way too seriously, they get into a patented Stupid BSC Fight, and most important of all, they make complete fools of themselves and lose, which I think is one of the first instances of the BSC failing at something. It humanizes them in a way lol, they aren't Super Sitters, and it shows what happens when they go in over their head and they acknowledge that at the end.
As for books we can do without? As much as I love this book (it's another favorite of mine), Mallory's Christmas Wish really has nothing significant in it. I guess you could say that it shows Kristy once again being attention-hungry and trying to get "publicity" for the BSC, but she does that in so many other books too (Live at WSTO, the We <3 Kids Club, etc).
I also wish they didn't get rid of Mimi so quickly, despite the significance AMM had for writing it. Mimi was a wonderful character, and it would have been interesting seeing how Claudia coped with being left back, and losing Stacey as a friend and everything with Mimi supporting her.
Stacey's Choice is another one that could be left out of the series, despite it again being one I like lol. We already had the "Stacey torn between her two parents" plot in Stacey's Emergency, and didn't she tell them in that one to knock it off? The subplot was also one of the dumbest in the whole series, the whole mail-order thing. The only funny part was Claire wanting to know what a bust developer is.
|
|
Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
|
Post by Amalia on Apr 15, 2009 13:04:38 GMT -5
Kristy and the Baby Parade has slowly become one of my favorites, believe it or not lol (I only read it once growing up; their fighting made me upset, now I love reading about the girls getting into stupid fights over nothing hahaha). Oh, I hated Kristy and the Baby Parade (no offense). The only thing that salvaged it for me was Charlie swallowing his pride and driving around that butt-ugly float while his friends watched on. That was sweet. The others are Claudia Kishi, Live From WSTO & Claudia's First Thanksgiving. I mean, why change those girls (Ashley and Betsy) from what they were to something else, as if to suggest that being a prankster and an weird-artisty person was something that they should move away from and not wholly embrace. To Wanderingfrog, the town that I live in sort of has those things. But the floats are of local stores trying to advertise their businesses.
|
|
tiff85
Junior Sitter
Posts: 583
|
Post by tiff85 on Apr 19, 2009 11:40:25 GMT -5
The fire at Mary Anne's house. Too sad and so sudden! I would be okay leaving this one out of the series! To me, this is the worst book in the bsc.
|
|
|
Post by Kylie90210 on Apr 20, 2009 22:23:07 GMT -5
^ This thread is more about which books could have been left out, and not affected the overall series, not which books we didn't like. Therefore, my list of books books could have been left out, and not affected the overall series (whether I liked them or not): 18: Stacey's Mistake 22: Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter: 25: Mary Anne and the Search for Tigger 27: Jessi and the Superbrat 32: Kristy and the Secret of Susan 33: Claudia and the Great Search 35: Stacey and Mystery of Stoneybrook 38: Kristy's Mystery Admirer 39: Poor Mallory! 40: Claudia and the Middle School Mystery 42: Jessi and the Dance School Phantom 47: Mallory on Strike 48: Jessi's Wish 53: Kristy for President 54: Mallory and the Dream Horse 55: Jessi's Gold Medal 57: Dawn Saves the Planet 58: Stacey's Choice 59: Mallory Hates Boys (and Gym) 61: Jessi and the Awful Secret 66: Maid Mary Anne 68: Jessi and the Bad Baby-sitter That's up to where I am up to right now... 71: Claudia and the Perfect Boy Wow, that's alot
|
|
|
Post by greer on Apr 21, 2009 9:39:03 GMT -5
^I would argue that a lot of those have plot points which affect the rest of the series. Like Bart and Kristy's relationship, Laine and Claudia meeting, etc. I mean, I suppose you could argue that you could just leave Bart out of the series altogether, but Mystery Admirer is where they kind of get together, right?
|
|
|
Post by sparklymouse on Apr 21, 2009 12:52:33 GMT -5
Haha, I was just thinking about Jessi's Gold Medal and how Jessi learning to synchronize swim was such an integral part of the series.
|
|
|
Post by m0drnmoonlight on Apr 21, 2009 13:15:25 GMT -5
I know the BSC series is supposed to have a positive message about it, but I can't help but want to leave Jessi and the Bad Babysitter in, because it shows the BSC and Kristy in particular at their worst. And it's the prelude to Mallory getting mono, and everyone thinks she's just being lazy and/or faking it!
|
|