macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
|
Post by macca on Feb 20, 2006 16:35:13 GMT -5
Yet another I-miss-dad-and-Jeff book with another boring 'big fundraising event' plotline (I swear, how many carnivals, fairs, fundraisers can one town have?!). This is where Dawn rants about "carnivores" and animal "carcasses" - um, okay Dawn. Up until recently, you only avoided eating RED meat, but we'll forget that minor detail.
Does anyone else agree that Sharon seemed kinda selfish (not really in this book, but in general) ... moving your kids clear across the country when they're already having to deal with a major life-changing event.
Also, how realistic is it that she'd really want to move to Connecticut to be near her parents when she'd lived in California since she was in college and undoubtably built a life there? Plus, most fathers want to play an active role in their children's lives after a divorce which seems somewhat impossible if they're living on the other side of the country.
Oh! Another point about this book. It's the first one that mentions Mary Anne living with her grandparents as a baby. Wasn't there a book that dealt with that revelation? If so, which one?!
|
|
Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
|
Post by Amalia on Feb 20, 2006 17:29:33 GMT -5
I think the one where MA finds out about her grandparents was in MA & Secret in the Attic. Not sure if previous books mention them.
I don't know if Ann Martin thought of that. I think she just had Sharon move across the country just so MA & Dawn could find out about her high school relationship with Richard, so they can get hooked up together. I think the move was done in the interest of developing an entertaining plot line. And yeah, Sharon was selfish. Uprooting her children from the only place they've known and loved, etc., so it couldn't have been for them. For her parents? Maybe. But they were the ones that sent her out there in the first place because they disapproved of her dating Richard.
|
|
|
Post by spazgirl on Feb 20, 2006 21:51:38 GMT -5
The Sharon thing does have some holes in it now that I think about it. I don't even think courts would allow that, unless Dawn's dad was an unfit parent or something. Funny how Sharon never mentions anything about California- friends she had there, missing the weather, etc.
Anyways, by this point I was so sick of Dawn's coast swapping that I was glad to see her go. When Stacey moved back to NYC scholastic was inundated with letters asking for Stace to come back. I don't know what happened when Dawn left, but personally I wasn't to sad to see her go.
|
|
jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
|
Post by jen on Feb 21, 2006 7:05:05 GMT -5
In "Dawn and the Older Boy", there's a mmention of Sharon missing California. It doesn't seem to be a very big deal for her, though. I didn't like this book that much. I kept getting it confused with "Farewell, Dawn"
|
|
|
Post by buffykay70 on Feb 22, 2006 19:36:31 GMT -5
this book is a bit zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz boring. who cares if dawn is going to calif. AGAIN?? let her go if she wants too Sharon. Sharon is so annoying. a spacehead who didnt even think about her kids when moving them away from their dad and home. god.
|
|
macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
|
Post by macca on Feb 23, 2006 1:20:15 GMT -5
^Yeah, I agree. Every second Dawn book is about the dilemma of whether she wants to be in Connecticut or California. Also, word on the Sharon hate. When they first moved to Stoneybrook, she didn't get home until 7pm every night and then raced out on dates. Her kids never seemed to be priority.
|
|
Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
|
Post by Amalia on Feb 23, 2006 3:34:03 GMT -5
Wasn't Mrs. Thomas like that in Kristy's Great Idea?
|
|
jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
|
Post by jen on Feb 23, 2006 6:14:29 GMT -5
Kristy's mum never went on many dates, I don't think. With Mrs Thomas, it was more "wow, look how she works so hard to support four kids after her husband ran out on her!". With Sharon, it seems to be more like "she moved her kids across the country and then doesn't pay attention to them?!"
|
|
macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
|
Post by macca on Feb 23, 2006 16:26:54 GMT -5
^ Yeah, I agree.
It sounds as if Mrs Thomas did it tough for years after Patrick walked out and didn't really date at all until she met Watson, probably just before Kristy's Great Idea. Sharon on the other hand, divorced Mr Schafer, moved her kids across the country and within weeks was spending all her spare time dating. Now I don't have an issue with single parents dating, but come on. If you've just divorced and moved your kids three thousand miles away, the least you can do is spend time with them and help them adjust to the change. Jeff was only 10, FFS.
|
|
|
Post by booboobrewer on Feb 24, 2006 18:52:17 GMT -5
Sharon moving her kids cross-country and everything surrounding that bothers me too, but I agree that it was probably done for an interesting plotline and to add to the romantic Sharon-Richard reunion that would follow. Mary Anne and Dawn meeting and becoming best friends and stepsisters just adds to the lovely story as well. They did call it "Mary Anne and the GREAT Romance", after all.
|
|
macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
|
Post by macca on Feb 25, 2006 5:38:58 GMT -5
Sharon moving her kids cross-country and everything surrounding that bothers me too, but I agree that it was probably done for an interesting plotline and to add to the romantic Sharon-Richard reunion that would follow. Oh, I'm sure that was the intention and when I read the books as an 8/9/10 yr old kid (you know, when you're kind of supposed to read them ;D ) I thought nothing of it. It's only reading these books now as an adult that I don't think the situation is entirely plausible.
|
|
jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
|
Post by jen on Feb 26, 2006 2:42:03 GMT -5
I don't think AMM really thought about whether it was plausible or not. It was probably just a cool storyline--romantic reunion with a high school sweetheart!--and the how/why came later as a filler, and probably wasn't thought out that well. Or, if it was, she was hoping no one would pick up on it/care.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Feb 26, 2006 9:48:33 GMT -5
I guess I always just overlooked the "un-plausibleness" (I know that's not a word but can't find a better one) of the situation because I know that many divorced women do return home to live by their parents. (Don't Sharon's parents still live in Stoneybrook). I focused on this as Sharon's reason instead of on how it didn't make much sense to uproot the kids and move across the country. One thing I just thought of, did she have a job when she came to Stoneybrook? Maybe she found a really good job close to her parents? (That sounds good, doesn't it
|
|
macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
|
Post by macca on Feb 26, 2006 16:44:30 GMT -5
Oh, it was always mentioned that Sharon moved back to Stoneybrook because her parents lived there and only now that doesn't make much sense, considering she was 42 yrs old and been living in California since college.
In regards to the job thing, I vaguely remember Sharon going to numerous job interviews in Dawn and the Impossible Three. She obviously found a job quickly enough, but didn't have one lined up before they moved IIRC.
And don't mind me, I'm just over-analysing these books WAAAAAAAAAY too much.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Mar 1, 2006 10:46:40 GMT -5
Funny you should mention analyzing the books. :)I was just about to get on and say that I was getting too analytical and that I think I've been doing too much thinking "outside of the box" in other areas and it has carried over in my posts. I agree that it seems dumb what Sharon did moving across the country but this caught my attention because it made me think of this friend of my family who just got a divorce and has done all kinds of stuff like that. And she always has a reason that she "has" to do it. Surprisingly, she can almost convince you sometimes that she is right. I guess I was seeing some similarities and thinking that if it is plausible for the lady I know to do all of these dumb things with explanations, anything is plausible. Just another thought that Sharon isn't always the most rational, responsible person in the world. Hedge clippers in a kitchen drawer...need I say more???
|
|