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Post by zoar3 on Feb 5, 2011 11:56:44 GMT -5
^I think Claudia took a remedial math class in Claudia and the New Girl. I just finished reading it and remember Claudia saying she didn't think someone smart like Ashley would be in that class or need to spend time in the Resource Room.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 12, 2011 22:00:42 GMT -5
This book is crazy. I skipped over "Claudia and the Mystery in the Painting" (too boring) for this next one. Claudia went back to 7th Grade "one year ago." (BSC's 9th trip through 8th grade). This book is near the start of their 10th. So, lol, now she's completed 7th grade twice, and is starting a third time. I really wish there had been some (I don't think there was any) discussion between Claud and her parents. I find it very hard to believe they truly left the decision up to her AND (unless Mrs. Amer swore them to secrecy), had not yet told Claudia what was going on before she found out at school. Before this book, it sounded like Claud actually cared about doing well in school for the first time in forever and actually was. As someone said upthread, if she had trouble in 8th grade again (we know she did) would she have been sent back to 7th? Because that never happened, this made even less sense! Was it in 4th grade that she temporarily went to the Alternative School in Stamford? If so, when she came back to SES, maybe she should have repeated the year there. That might have made much more sense than suddenly re-doing 8th grade at SMS. But then, there is no "logic" in the BSC-world.
There is also no "color" choice logic either, especially the infamous "white is right" for the 6th graders. Why Jessi said nothing to that is beyond me. That could have been the subplot and possibly would have been better than the kids' color war which was dumb.
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 14, 2011 18:38:01 GMT -5
^unfortunately, I did not skip over the mystery painting...sigh One thing I found odd was that Claudia said in the book that she had cancelled most of her afterschool/weekend activities to make sure she did well in school? Sooo when she was sucking in school she did whatever in the heck she wanted but now she doesn't so she will magically be able to catch up. UGH - the whole thing is just stupid to me. The changing grades and her choice and so many other things. I didn't like either of these boys. Josh seemed really nice, but he clearly had no idea how to express his feelings. I did like when he took Alan Gray's running shoes!
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 14, 2011 19:47:46 GMT -5
^I'm sorry. The painting was a picture of awfulness.
Good point, also when do we see Claudia cutting back on activities? Never. At the end of this book, right after she made the choice to move back to 8th grade, Mr. Kingbridge had her (and the Kishis) look over a tentative tutoring schedule. Claudia blatantly told "us" that sessions would be after school, on Saturdays, AND that she'd have to cut back on baby-sitting.
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 14, 2011 21:48:23 GMT -5
I'm trying to recall in the many chapter 2's that came in her seventh grade stint if anyone ever said she was taking art classes or not. I don't recall it but it doesn't mean it didn't happen since I tend to skim them. I didn't notice in her books though that she mentioned art classes but I guess I just assumed she was still taking them but they didn't have anything to do with a plot or subplot so they weren't mentioned.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,276
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 2, 2012 15:39:42 GMT -5
finally read this one. lots of thoughts. i could probably think of more but these few things stuck out at me.
1. MA misspells papadakis in her notebook entry for chapter nine.
2. we had class colors at my school too, except they were assigned to us. one grade was given white and they made such a fuss that the school eventually gave in and changed it. it's hard for me to believe that any class would voluntarily pick white as their color when their options include every single color except for orange and blue. and i'm surprised that SMS allowed students to pick when it would have been easier to assign red, yellow, blue and save themselves some time.
3. josh was described as being this fun, goofy guy, but he spent a lot of time saying sarcastic things about mark in front of claudia. if you want a girl to like you, DON'T badmouth someone she cares about. the fact that claudia showed him any sort of attention afterwards was a lucky break.
4. the thing i don't like about the claudia/josh relationship was that she didn't have any sort of interest in him until she learned he liked her, and that was only after things started falling apart with mark. she spent the whole book treating him like a silly little brother, but as soon as she realized she could dump mark but still have a boyfriend, she started considering it.
5. i wonder if mark really had to do those things he said.
6. the kids color war was boring to read, but part of me was excited to see that the experience sucked for the sitters. the charges usually go along with all sorts of lame suggestions, activities, and festivals, and it was awesome seeing the kids take control out of their hands.
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Post by Sideshowjazz1 on Jul 28, 2015 23:47:43 GMT -5
I just hope Josh having a crush on Claudia wasn't supposed to be a twist. I could see it coming from nine books away. However, I can't get a handle on whether Mark's a nice guy or not. He's annoying in one book, sweet in another. I kind of knew Claudia was going to move back to eighth grade in her next book after "Claudia, Queen Of The Seventh Grade", but meanwhile, I actually found her seventh-grade friends pretty fun to read about. The subplot was boring, yeah, but it had some potential to be better than it was.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Jun 14, 2020 15:38:14 GMT -5
Since I've just reread all the books published in this time period, I noticed that the only book between Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade and Claudia Makes Up Her Mind where someone mentions that Claudia has a boyfriend is in Kristy and the Sister War, where there's that tiny side plot about Kristy and Mark's friend Steve going on a double date with Claudia and Mark. The boys are late and don't apologize for it, largely ignore the girls and mainly talk to each other, and Kristy doesn't think Mark is good enough for Claudia. I don't think the Chapter Twos in any of the regular books or mysteries or BSC in the USA even mention that Claudia has a new boyfriend. This makes it pretty obvious that it was never intended for Claudia and Mark to last very long.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Jun 29, 2022 0:55:23 GMT -5
Claudia getting sent to the eighth grade again is unrealistic. In Australia she'd finish out the year before teachers think she'd be able to handle eighth grade. I mean what if she falls behind again? Do they just keep sending her back?
How on earth will she cope in high school??
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Jul 1, 2022 13:30:08 GMT -5
It makes sense why I hated this one. It's a Peter L book.
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Post by oldmeanie on Jun 30, 2023 18:37:10 GMT -5
First time reading this one. That's always kind of exciting.
This book isn't exactly good, but it's entertaining at least. It's kind of nice to just turn your brain off and read fluff sometimes. The love triangle stuff definitely fits that bill.
Edit: Forgot to talk about the main premise! What the heck lol. I have a lot to say.
I don't buy that Claudia would be given an option to advance to 8th in November. That makes no sense. It makes no sense for her to be put back (first of all, I don't think that happens), then be doing well, then be able to advance to 8th grade again. She's doing well, but I didn't get the impression that she was getting straight As. She was probably getting some Bs as well. I guess I just don't see how she was doing SO well that she was basically able to skip a grade (Janine never skipped a grade, and there is no way Claudia was doing as well as Janine).
I'm not sure it's the best idea either. I think if they were going to do this silly plot point, they should've just kept her in 7th. It doesn't make sense (I'm sorry, I say that a lot lol) to move her up when she's doing well in her classes. She bases her decision on graduating with her friends, and while that's realistic for a 13 yo girl, it just isn't a solid enough reason to go back to 8th. Iirc, in Graduation Day, doesn't she have to go to summer school and is worried about graduating? Argh, this plotline is dumbbbbbb.
I don't buy the students picking white (and I doubt "white is right" would fly nowadays) or orange. Although I don't buy Claudia's reaction to it:
"Orange? The entire class was going to have to wear orange? Who on earth looks good in orange?"
I'm 99% sure one of her crazy getups in the series was very orange-forward. I'm just not bored enough to confirm this right now. Even if that isn't true, wouldn't she find it fun to think of an outfit? And is yellow (from #84) really much better?
I'm also weirded out that the grades could choose colors. I'd assume they were assigned.
It's weird that Claudia calls Mark a serious boyfriend. Their relationship never came across like that to me. They were only together for 7 books anyway. Edit: and I just checked, she never mentions Mark in Claudia and the Mystery in the Painting, which came out shortly before this book. The series never really tried to make Mark likeable either.
I actually like Josh as a character, although for some reason I just don't buy that Claudia likes him that much. Maybe it's because this isn't the best written book.
Subplot was dumb. So many of the subplots lately involve the BSC organizing a smaller event based on something they're doing. Snore.
This one was alright. I guess I'd give it a 5.5.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Aug 30, 2023 1:54:28 GMT -5
The Claudia and the mystery painting is the reason why I stopped reading the mysteries...
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