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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 24, 2007 21:43:00 GMT -5
Ugh, I totally couldn't stand Alexis at all. I hated that she had to go and read Mal's journal and then destroy the care package that she got from the BSC . Didn't she also go into some kind of rampage near the end of the book? I remember Mal or somebody mentioning that, "Hurricane Alexis just swept through room nine" or something like that. I liked that Mal got to live with Jen at the end, I liked her (I was jealous of Jen's private room) ;D. Was there ever another Mal book after this one or was this the last one written? And did she ever appear in other books before the end of the series (like her coming back to Stoneybrook for holidays, vacatons, etc.)?
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Oct 24, 2007 22:30:04 GMT -5
This was the last Mallory book, but Mal is home for vacations from school in some of the FF books.
I couldn't stand Alexis, either. I was going to say that I didn't feel any sympathy for her, but then I remembered that she is only eleven (I'd been thinking as if these girls were all eighteen or so) and that is kind of young to know how to behave yourself if no one's ever taught you. It doesn't excuse her at all, but it does make me at least not really hate her.
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 24, 2007 23:46:05 GMT -5
^ You're right about the girls being 11. I honestly forgot that's how old they were and was also thinking of Alexis as 18. ;D I liked Jen, too, Sweetvalleygirl. I don't think there were any more Mallory books and can't remember if she came back. I don't think she did, though.
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Post by greer on Oct 25, 2007 1:15:01 GMT -5
i also am a pretty bad roommate... i am ok with boys i am dating but some girl? can't deal with it. so i kind of could relate to alexis but rereading recently, she took it so far she couldn't even see where the line was anymore.
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Post by liss31d on Oct 25, 2007 3:31:59 GMT -5
But then again most of the time Mallory was teased for being smart and the Spaz Girl episode was an unfortunate incident but I think it would have eventually gone away even though at the time it was horrible for Mallory. I still think it was good for her to go to boarding school as it seems to be giving her the opportunity to find herself and express her individuality from her big family where she is one of 8 kids and from the BSC which she didn't even need to be replaced for... I know they had an explanation for that but I still felt bad for Mal that she wasn't replaced as they made a fuss about Stacey and Dawn leaving.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 26, 2007 22:05:55 GMT -5
^ You're right about the girls being 11. I honestly forgot that's how old they were and was also thinking of Alexis as 18. ;D I always forget that the girls are 11 too. In this book, I pictured Alexis as being a 16 year old rather than an 11 year old just because of her behavior. I picture the rest of the BSC as 16-17 years old too just because their behavior in my opinion is more relevant to that age group. I also don't picture Karen as a seven year old second grader. I picture her more to be 8-9 years old and in 3rd or 4th grade.
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 26, 2007 23:34:13 GMT -5
^ Glad to know I'm not the only one who imagines those ages. It just makes more sense for me that way. ;D
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Post by liss31d on Oct 27, 2007 10:53:32 GMT -5
I picture Mallory and Jessi as 13 or 14 and the BSC as 15 or 16... it just seems more logical!
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 27, 2007 14:43:56 GMT -5
I think I picture Mal and Jessi as 15 and the rest of them as at least 16. Not sure about the driving, though, because that enters a whole other element into it. But I guess lots of kids don't get their licenses until they are 17 or 18.
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Post by Sweet City Girl on Oct 27, 2007 14:55:27 GMT -5
I picture Jessi and Mallory as 15 and the rest of them as 17 as well. Even when I was younger, I felt like they were older just because of the way they looked on the covers. Maybe that's why I wasn't as interested in them at the time.
I think it's better for kids to wait until they are older to drive anyway. I'm 19 and still don't have my license (but of course, I've never been too keen on driving....I know I'll have to someday, but I rather take public transportation any day. I'd love living in NYC. ;D )
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 27, 2007 16:53:38 GMT -5
I think I picture Mal and Jessi as 15 and the rest of them as at least 16. Not sure about the driving, though, because that enters a whole other element into it. But I guess lots of kids don't get their licenses until they are 17 or 18. Where I live, you can't get your licence until you're 18 (other states are different, though), so that would never have occured to me. But I think making them older than 11-13 would bring other more "adult" issues into the equation which would be less wholesome for the intended reading age.
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Post by Sweet City Girl on Oct 27, 2007 18:18:55 GMT -5
I agree.
It works out for the best that they were really so young but didn't act their age all the time, in my opinion. I think there’s something appealing about the way the characters seem grown-up and innocent at the same time, creating a happy medium. There aren’t any books that I know of nowadays that involve teenagers and innocent/sweet topics at the same time, such as babysitting, caring for others in general, and going on fun trips. Sure, there’s gossip and boy talk in the books sometimes, but it’s nothing heavy. To me, that’s what’s so great about the Baby-sitters Club. It’s like getting to read about older girls without the trashy or dark components that other series about teenagers revolve around today. The sitters can be like mini-adults but still remain childlike somehow. It’s unrealistic, but it’s comforting somehow, perhaps because it’s like a soothing temporary escape from reality. Hopefully what I'm saying makes sense; it's kind of hard to describe.
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Post by booboobrewer on Oct 27, 2007 19:07:04 GMT -5
Me too, definitely. Same here! I like to drive but I'm pretty inexperienced at it and so I refrain from it. Plus I live in a big city and it just seems too daunting. I'm fine when I visit my little hometown...I know those streets well Getting to be a good driver is something I really want to do, though.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Oct 27, 2007 21:12:56 GMT -5
The Alexis thing is creepy and kind of sad to me, because that behavior is just so far from normal, and I can't help feeling a little bit bad for Alexis, too. That kid needs help, both for her rage issues and for what seems to me to be a big lack in understanding of social cues and boundaries. (Today I would almost wonder if she had something like a high functioning form of autism). Obviously that doesn't excuse her behavior, and obviously it's not Mallory's job to provide it or to deal with it on her own, but it was pretty awful of Riverbend to be so passive about it. And it was downright wrong for them to put someone with past problems likes that with a new kid and no warning.
I agree that there don't seem to be as many "wholesome" tween series today--I kind of dislike the trend of the Gossip Girl books etc, which focus so much on social climbing and materialism. But even other series tend to be heavier in tone and topic.
I didn't get my driver's license until I was 24, because I was hugely phobic about driving. And if I move some place with decent public transit, I wouldn't miss it at all. (And also, I totally just had to have part of my brakes replaced, which was totally stale!).
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 27, 2007 23:38:04 GMT -5
^ I agree about lack of good "tween" series and I know this is a big problem for my 14 year old cousin - especially since she's not a real "girly" girl. I keep telling her that you're never too old to read the BSC but... ;D I really need to reread this one because I don't remember much about Alexis or any of it really. I do remember thinking boarding school didn't sound appealing to me at all but everyone is different. As for driving, I used to like it as soon as I could get my permit - 14 years 9 months in MI - and drove all the time (my parents liked that ;D) but now I prefer to just sit back and let someone else drive whenever possible. ;D
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