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Post by mafan4life on Oct 28, 2009 13:17:42 GMT -5
Poor Ma was in the middle. Mallory told Mary Anne first before Jessi. I'd be mad, too.
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Post by anzuhana on Mar 29, 2010 11:00:06 GMT -5
I felt really bad for Mary Anne and Mallory. I felt bad for Mary Anne because she was being kept put in the middle by Mallory and Jessi. I felt bad for Mallory because Jessi was acting so bitchy towards her and her siblings were angry with her for leaving as well and Jessi tried to turn them and the Barrett-Dewitt's against her. I did feel a little sorry for Jessi because she was losing her best friend in Stoneybrook. But despite feeling a little sorry for Jessi, I didn't like how she tried to turn Mallory's siblings and the Barrett-Dewitt's kids against her.
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Post by mafan4life on Mar 31, 2010 12:01:22 GMT -5
i like the end when MA helped Mallory and Jessi to work things out
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Post by sparklymouse on Jun 5, 2010 14:14:57 GMT -5
I always really like Jessi's friends at the slumber party, when they are so warm and friendly to Mal, and positive about her decision. She's been surrounded by so much negativity and hostility; I know what it's like to try to make what you believe is the best choice in that atmosphere, and I know what it's like to get a straightforward, warm-hearted reaction from someone with no prompting or agenda. And then Jessi follows it up with a bit of passive-aggressive brattiness that rivals anything my dear MA has ever pulled. The more times I read this, the more firmly I am on Mallory's side. The slumber party chapter in particular made me feel like Jessi was mad that she didn't have the guts to leave home and go to dance school. Needless to say, I didn't sympathize with Jessi at all. I thought Mary Anne was an odd choice as storyteller until I remembered her experiences with the Pike family as a whole. After two Sea City vacations and the time in Snowbound, Mary Anne probably knew Mallory and the Pike dynamics the best even if she and Mal weren't the best of friends. My favorite part of the book was when Mary Anne was frantically trying to wash off the "Spaz Girl" written on Mal's locker before she saw it and only got off "Spa" in time. Mal was like "Z Girl, I wonder what that could mean? Pizazz Girl?" Lol. You know she was so over SMS at that point.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 24, 2011 11:21:36 GMT -5
I thought Jessi was horrible in this one. It's one thing to be upset about your bf leaving and/or needing to make the choice to move on her own but it's quite another to basically complain about the friend to young kids! I wish the book had touched on whether this made Jessi regret her own choice not to attend Dance NY, fulltime. I truly believe she must have, before and even more so, during this time. But then I would haver much preferred her leaving forever for NY than Mal for MA.
I had the thought last night of if only Mal's family, friends, the charges, etc had put on "I We Love Mallory" Day earlier, Riverbend might not have even come up. If we had seen the Pikes and BSC band behind Mal, sticking up for her at school, or talking with Mr. Taylor to find out why he wasn't doing anything..could have nipped all this in the bud. On the other hand, it was just as worse than not one person, not even 6th grader, "remembered" everything Mal had done for the fundraiser. Speaking of that, when Mal tells MA she "(Mal) has not "real BSC duties," I wanted to scream at them both that maybe, just maybe, Mal could have finally been made head of special events and/or fund-raising. She seems to take the special things on anyway, not to mention, the mysteries. How easy it would have been to give her some type of title/"official" recognition. I never did like or "get" "Junior Officer."
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 24, 2011 18:49:22 GMT -5
^So I have to agree with Sparklymouse above when she said that Jessi is mad b/c she didn't have the guts to leave. I totally thought that throughout the whole book.
I feel like the slumber party was also a way to show that Jessi and Mal were drifting in separate directions anyway so it at least made me feel glad that Mal was leaving and starting a live of her own.
Also, Zoar totally agree with your last paragraph there about them coming together and giving her a title. Why does it take people leaving for others to show how much they care about you?
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Post by anzuhana on Aug 24, 2011 19:10:23 GMT -5
I'm guessing it's because people take each other for granted, so when someone leaves, they want to make sure that person knows that people will miss them.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 24, 2011 19:52:36 GMT -5
^Which is what MA says doesn't she about Dawn or just in general? (Right at the beginning). I just think if I were Mal or Jessi, after a few years anyway, I might want to be called something other than "Junior Officer." I wonder if any of the parents (or kids) ever asked what that meant?
Wiggirl and Sparklymouse, after reading "All-New Mallory," I agree even more about Jessi. I also think (this was never mentioned so I don't know if it were an option) Jessi could have tried Dance NY (permanately) for a month or so just to see if she'd even want to stay there. I don't think at 11, she'd have any way of truly knowing that (I agree with her there in terms of timing) until she did.
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 24, 2011 20:09:54 GMT -5
Well Zoar keep in mind, it wasn't really a few years that they had been "junior officers" just several of the same time warp years
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 24, 2011 21:17:20 GMT -5
Lol, how very true. Thinking about it, I'm actually surprised Kristy didn't want to clarify their positions at least a tiny bit more, simply to show how expansive the BSC was.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Dec 12, 2011 0:22:40 GMT -5
i don't understand why this is MARY ANNE'S book--why didn't mal or jessi tell this story? I wondered this myself, especially since Jessi's last book was #115. I guess part of it was because if either Jessi or Mal were the narrator, the story would have been biased. Although they could have shown the other girl's perspective through the sub-plot development? Also, I think part of it was to show an experience where a friend is in the middle of a situation, since that happens a lot. And as other people have mentioned, Scholastic probably wondered which character was best to tell that story, and sympathetic Mary Anne was probably the first choice. I agree with it being very much a Jessi, Mal and The Pikes book, and that's fine since they're all BSC characters. What would have been cool was a separate Mary Anne subplot, maybe, and not another holiday party for a hospital or nursing home, although it's definitely a nice gesture.
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Post by zoar3 on Dec 12, 2011 12:04:46 GMT -5
I think it should have been called "Jessi's Conflict or Regret." Or "Jessi's Trial." Heck even "Jessi's (Big) Choice." The story could have mainly been about (which I think it was--why Jessi was being not very nice to Mal) Jessi's regrets at not having gone to dance NY full-time. Perhaps other things are moving on/occurring in her family and she feels stuck and like she might have made the wrong choice. Ideally, she'd move to NY while maybe, just maybe, Mal would come to peace in CT and stay. That's just my preferences anyway!
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Post by anzuhana on Dec 12, 2011 12:10:26 GMT -5
^ I like the fact that Mary Anne was the narrator of this book, instead of Mallory or Jessi. I think that Jessi should've had a book after Mallory went to boarding school so that we'd get her point of view on whether or not she now regrets not going to the dance school in NYC, etc.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Dec 12, 2011 19:25:00 GMT -5
Now that I think of it, Jessi's story line was kind of lost. She didn't really get an "ending" or "finale" book. But they could have easily put Jessi into another book where we could have heard about some of the things you brought up, zoar. She could have even had Little Liar or Big Party or something (haha poor Claudia, I'm giving away all of her books).
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Post by zoar3 on Dec 12, 2011 20:37:10 GMT -5
^Lol to "giving away all of Claudia's books, Virgo." You're brilliant. The book should have been called "Jessi and the Little Liar." Sure, Haley or whoever, still could have told tales about something as the subplot. The main plot would be Jessi realizing that she was the true "little (big) liar" for not being honest enough with herself about Dance NY. The story would end with her trying out living/going to school in NY for at least one semester and going from there. I would hope if such a book occurred Jessi, if not before the end, once in NY would thank Mal for her friendship and her part in helping her (J) live her dream. Lol, now, I am making this sound like one great Jessi story; scary! (Normally, IMO, "Jessi" and "great story" don't go together).
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