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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 15, 2011 10:17:37 GMT -5
This book really didn't need to exist in my opinion. It seemed that this book was a book with just 4 different subplots and no main plot. Lou is good b/c she doesn't want to be given away, Sean is mad at BSC and moving away, Abby needs extra credit so makes a project, and new dad is abusive so give some foreshadowing. Nothing in this book tied together for me at all.
I did think it would have been cute to see all the kids in the quaker style clothes.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 16, 2011 11:27:05 GMT -5
I really don't like this book, though not as much (for different reasons) than the one that follows. I've only read a few chapters and it seems like anytime Lou is mentioned, so too, is the tag-line of "how good" she suddenly has become. Labeling kids, either positively or negatively bothers me. In this book, it angers me because like in "Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever," I felt the sitters were judging Lou as a person as opposed to her behavior. As someone said, when Lou behaves impeccably that''s "good" but when Jenny P tries to do likewise, she's "impossible" or "Miss Priss?" Poor Jenny.
The mural Corrie and Claudia were working on sounded awesome; I wish we could have seen it. Loved the Mimi mention.
As for the Abby part, this is another example of an idea in a later book having promise but fizzling in how it was carried out. It would have been awesome to (finally) learn just how the farmhouse helped runaway slaves. If they wanted to thrown in a little more Jared Mullray to lighten things up, I'd have taken that too. I didn't think there was anything special about Abby's project.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,254
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Post by oldhickory on Oct 26, 2011 19:11:56 GMT -5
i think my favorite part of this book is finally seeing sean addison leave. even in his last book he was aggravating.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 8, 2012 1:37:17 GMT -5
Did anyone else raise their eyebrows when it was mentioned that kids would be given *extra credit* for a *Black History Month* project. How PC can you get!?
Sean was an annoying brat in this book. I would have stopped caring, especially after they planned the King Sean day. OF COURSE people are going to dislike you if you act like an a-hole, Sean. Let that be a life lesson to you. So annoying. Of course they needed a troubled kid in Stoneybrook, and Sean fit the bill, but then they end up sending him away.
Wow, it must be nice to have all of these friends caring so much about your 8th grade project. And Abby was a little annoying when she first asked the kids to think up ideas, almost as if she was getting everyone else to do the project. I know she put in a lot of effort herself, but everyone must have spent days working on it...
Edited to add: Yet ANOTHER winter/February Abby book!!!
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Post by greer on Jan 8, 2012 2:01:38 GMT -5
Did anyone else raise their eyebrows when it was mentioned that kids would be given *extra credit* for a *Black History Month* project. How PC can you get!? Hmm, it never seemed that weird or PC to me since Black History Month is a pretty big thing in American schools, at least the ones I went to.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 8, 2012 12:44:09 GMT -5
Maybe that makes sense. It's not a big deal in Canada. But then again, we don't have the same history with black people as Americans do...
I just thought it was funny how Black History Month gets extra credit and not George Washington day, or whatever. And yeah, where was Jessi when you needed her?
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jun 25, 2013 10:18:41 GMT -5
I just read it and have to agree with those that said they didn't like it. All of the plotlines bummed me out. There was too much drama in them for my liking, even Abby's project since she's doing it to save her grade. I liked the Mimi thing and the ending where Sean said that he's going to miss them. I always wondered if someone might have put it in Lou's head that she might be given away. I'm not sure if she thought it up all on her own.
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Post by rachel817 on Jun 25, 2013 14:21:26 GMT -5
I just read it and have to agree with those that said they didn't like it. All of the plotlines bummed me out. There was too much drama in them for my liking, even Abby's project since she's doing it to save her grade. I liked the Mimi thing and the ending where Sean said that he's going to miss them. I always wondered if someone might have put it in Lou's head that she might be given away. I'm not sure if she thought it up all on her own. I have not read the first book about Lou, so I don't know her background, but foster kids often have lots foster homes, and depending on the severity of the behavior, parents will ask to have kids moved if they are to "bad". Lots of them have attachment disorders and don't know exactly how family life works. They act up as adoption gets close, like to test if they really will be loved no matter what. My husband and I just finished our classes to be foster parents, and they talked about that stuff.
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on Jul 10, 2014 23:26:54 GMT -5
So, they tell us who several of the kids play in Abby's video (like Vanessa plays the newscaster, Nicky is the mob leader), but they never say who plays the runaway slave - so maybe the slave is never supposed to be seen on camera. Which is awkward, because I think the only reason they did that is because of the lack of black kids!
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Feb 6, 2018 14:02:22 GMT -5
I thought there just wasn't much plot/story to any of the plots, especially the main one; Sean's farewell and unreasonableness were pretty unpleasant and while the writing of the other characters was OK I also didn't get why Lou was so disruptive to Abby just for her saying to her (maybe in too non-nicely a tone, though that wasn't emphasized) lighten up.
Agreed it felt annoying that Abby got the kids to do a lot of the work for her.
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Post by oldmeanie on Jul 2, 2023 13:24:43 GMT -5
This is the weirdest thing. I got the rest of the series on kindle, because I might as well. The really late books are only $1.99 and I'm so close to the end anyway.
All of them are available... except for this one for some reason? Wtf? The paperbacks are much more expensive (like $30)... I am definitely not paying that much, especially since this book isn't exactly a masterpiece XD. It's just weird! I'm hoping it's just a weird glitch and that I can add it later.
I remember this one being really boring, though, anyway.
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Post by oldmeanie on Jul 8, 2023 10:37:16 GMT -5
Edit: I am sorry if this shows up as a double post. I was really tired when I wrote this and accidentally quoted my original post instead of editing it. I tried to delete the original one, but it's still showing up. Oy.
This is the weirdest thing. I got the rest of the series on kindle, because I might as well. The really late books are only $1.99 and I'm so close to the end anyway.
All of them are available... except for this one for some reason? Wtf? The paperbacks are much more expensive (like $30)... I am definitely not paying that much, especially since this book isn't exactly a masterpiece XD. It's just weird! I'm hoping it's just a weird glitch and that I can add it later.
Someone linked me to a site where I could read it. Still not on kindle.
I had low expectations, but I didn't hate this one. It's just kind of messy and none of the plotlines are especially strong. It didn't bore me like I thought it would, though (surprising, because all 3 subplots- it doesn't feel like there's a main plot- involve kids. At least Nola wrote this one and not Peter).
The Black History Month project plot was kind of weird. Abby definitely needed an idea earlier and it's weird that she wanted the kids to come up with one for her. I do think her final idea is pretty cool, but like another commenter said, it would've been cool to get more insight into Mary Anne's house (tbh, I still want to refer to it as Dawn's house).
The Lou plot was kind of weird too,and I think it needed more development. I think it's realistic that she's afraid of losing her family. I just feel like they mention "Best Kid Ever" way too often. I did feel secondhand frustration when she erased part of Abby's project and kept accidentally sabotaging it. Someone needed to put a stop to that. I guess it was sort of funny when she became a jokester (and realistic for a kid), but she should have been reprimanded for drawing mustaches on the portraits. I like her brother Jay, though, and the two seem really close.
Sean is super annoying in this book. I seriously wanted him to shut up. I feel bad for poor Corrie, who has to live with him. He needs to get help and I didn't really feel anything at the end when he was saying he'd miss them. Nah.
This book mentions that Corrie and Claudia were close, but honestly, I think this was only brought up maybe twice in the series. I do wish that got more development, because it would've been cool.
The Nicholson foreshadowing actually feels kind of heavy-handed for some reason.
This one gets a 4.5. Not bad, just weak.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Sept 5, 2023 10:52:38 GMT -5
I actually really liked this one. Probably because it wasn't ghost written by Peter L.
I read Claudia And The Terrible Truth before I read this one and this one introduced the the new family of Claudia and The Terrible Truth.
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