Natasha
New To Stoneybrook
BSC Reread Update: no 115:Jessi's big break.
Posts: 198
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Post by Natasha on Mar 6, 2015 0:13:22 GMT -5
Not one of my favourites. Just read this for the first time and it would have made more of an impact if they had killed off a character thats been around since the beginning. Alan Gray, Pete Black or Emily Berenstein. Even Shawna would have made more of an impact rather than some random.
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Post by Honeybee on Mar 6, 2015 0:39:39 GMT -5
^yeah, let's just killed a random person, that the readers barely knows. Can you imagine, if Pete Black passed away? Wonder, what the BSC members would think.
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Post by anzuhana on Mar 6, 2015 8:24:05 GMT -5
MalloryPike, the first time Amelia actually shows up is in Dawn Saves The Planet.
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Natasha
New To Stoneybrook
BSC Reread Update: no 115:Jessi's big break.
Posts: 198
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Post by Natasha on Mar 7, 2015 8:12:59 GMT -5
MalloryPike, the first time Amelia actually shows up is in Dawn Saves The Planet. I see, well I skipped that book because I dislike the storylines that has something to do with save the environment. I'm not much of a tree hugger.
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Post by anzuhana on Mar 7, 2015 8:18:00 GMT -5
It's fine. Dawn was pretty obnoxious in that book.
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Post by stolenbooks on Mar 9, 2015 4:04:58 GMT -5
I didn't relate to this book until I was a junior. My friend's brother committed suicide. I barely knew him (my friend and I got closer after his death) and we only ever had one class together. But it hit me hard because I didn't know him well. I thought about all the what ifs and maybe I could've saved him and it really messed with me emotionally (I'm better now but it was still a hard time too go through-his wake was the worst, seeing everyone from school there and watching his best friend break down and seeing his father-the town fire chief-sobbing...it was horrible). So I sort of got what Mary Anne was going through but at the same time, he was connected to one of my friends so that's probably why. Mary Anne had very little connection to this girl. I agree, if it was maybe Erica or Pete or someone along those lines.
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Post by zoar3 on Mar 9, 2015 11:35:13 GMT -5
^I just wanted to offer you a hug Stolenbooks. This is not a BSC book I enjoy much and I prefer the lighter stories.
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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 Mar 18, 2015 11:13:20 GMT -5
I don't know if my school was unlucky, but we had quite a few deaths. One or two a year. The school never stopped to grieve for anybody. I guess you can't really afford to when it happens that often, but it always made me sad. The death of a teenager is always senseless, and they deserved to be talked about and remembered, and not just glossed over.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Apr 28, 2021 2:03:26 GMT -5
I didn't relate to this book until I was a junior. My friend's brother committed suicide. I barely knew him - my friend and I got closer after his death - and we only ever had one class together. But it hit me hard because I didn't know him well. I thought about all the what ifs and maybe I could've saved him and it really messed with me emotionally - I'm better now but it was still a hard time too go through-his wake was the worst, seeing everyone from school there and watching his best friend break down and seeing his father-the town fire chief-sobbing...it was horrible. God, I'm so sorry you and your friend went through that.😢😢 HugsSo I sort of got what Mary Anne was going through but at the same time, he was connected to one of my friends so that's probably why. Mary Anne had very little connection to this girl. I agree, if it was maybe Erica or Pete or someone along those lines. I think Mary Anne's reaction was on target...she is unusually sensitive and even if she had little practical connection with Amelia, she did have an emotional connection with Amelia because they were working on an English project together and Mary Anne liked her. In addition, Mary Anne was affected by Amelia's family's grief. I love how Mary Anne reached out and hugged Amelia's brother Josh...I'm glad she didn't use the Well, I don't know Amelia's family that well as an excuse to ignore Josh's grief. I'm so glad Mary Anne saw the therapist, Dr. Reese...it was good to see her have that good cry.
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Post by oldmeanie on Mar 26, 2023 9:32:45 GMT -5
This wasn't an easy one for me... hit a little too close to home and felt like a slog, but not because it's boring (it's not). It's just depressing.
I'm on the fence about killing off a more well-known character. Since this is a kid's series, they definitely shouldn't kill off a main character. But I think someone like Pete Black being killed might be tough for readers too (although as many have said, it would have been more impactful).
I only really remember one student death when I was in high school. Every morning the student news team (that's a bad way to put it but I can't remember the actual title) put out a short news video that we all watched. It was normally silly things or informative things... not very memorable tbh. But one morning, it was entirely about someone who died. Even though I didn't know her at all, it did hit me hard and I couldn't help crying. Honestly, it is jarring to hear about someone your age dying when you're just a teen. It's scary to realize you'll never see that person ever again... or if you never met them, that now you won't get a chance.
Aside from that, I don't remember the school doing anything else. We definitely didn't have a big memorial and if I'm being honest, for the most part, the day went on as normal. I'm torn between thinking the reaction in this book was unrealistic or not. For one thing, they live in a small (ish?) town where everyone seems to know each other (I definitely don't). It seems rare that something truly bad happens in Stoneybrook, so something like this really could shake everybody up. I really can't say if this is accurate. I think it is realistic for Kristy to take it so hard, because people react in unexpected ways when it comes to grief. It felt in-character too... her world was definitely shaken up.
Other points: subplot kind of pissed me off if I'm being honest. It's a very serious book and it's just jarring to read about some abandoned lot. I'm very much like Dawn: I care about the environment and I hate litter. But this book really didn't need a subplot. In a way, it feels shoehorned in. It does tie together in the end with Mary Anne being inspired for the memory garden, so maybe it can be forgiven, but I think it could've been done better. Don't get me wrong, what Dawn and Sunny did is great, I just feel like there's a time and place.
A couple more points:
“I wish we could keep them up forever,” I said, “but if we wait any longer, I’m afraid this house will be declared a fire hazard.”
“We don’t want that,” Sharon replied, drying her hands on a potholder. “This place pushes the limits as it is.”
"Sharon was referring to the fact that our farmhouse is two hundred years old, and naturally, is mostly wood."
Foreshadowing? Good God this book is depressing.
Finally something more lightheaded, Claud's news in the end:
“I have sensational news!” Claud cried as I ran to join them."
“Let me guess,” I said. “You won the lottery and you are splitting it with the BSC.”
“Better news than that.” Claudia was beaming. “Peaches is pregnant.”
I think this book needed good news. And it contains the only truly snarkable content in the book- Mary Anne, the BSC already won the lottery! Not the jackpot but still.
Yeah, this one was tough for me. But I think it's pretty good actually.
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Post by booboobrewer on Mar 26, 2023 15:46:22 GMT -5
Four boys in the same grade at the first school I taught at were killed in a car accident after I stopped teaching there. I taught three of them and it was so shocking to hear. It’s just so sad when young lives are senselessly cut short.
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Post by oldmeanie on Mar 26, 2023 18:30:03 GMT -5
Four boys in the same grade at the first school I taught at were killed in a car accident after I stopped teaching there. I taught three of them and it was so shocking to hear. It’s just so sad when young lives are senselessly cut short. I'm so sorry. That's awful. I feel for their families.
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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 Mar 27, 2023 9:35:46 GMT -5
I'm on the fence about killing off a more well-known character. Since this is a kid's series, they definitely shouldn't kill off a main character. But I think someone like Pete Black being killed might be tough for readers too (although as many have said, it would have been more impactful). It should have been a more prominent character. Amelia was invented to die in the book, but there are soo many named characters in the series who could have been used instead - people like Jamie's cousins the Feldmans, one of the Shillabers, or even one of the kids from the beauty pageant would have been more impactful. It would be a name we're familiar with, and they never came back anyway.
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Post by oldmeanie on Mar 28, 2023 11:00:21 GMT -5
She did appear earlier, though, in Dawn Saves the Planet. I think that's the only time, to be fair.
The Shillabers would have been interesting (is that an awful thing to say?). Kristy and Mary Anne's grief would be pretty strong and I bet they'd feel guilty (I don't think they should, friends grow apart, I just know they would feel that way. I know I would).
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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 Mar 29, 2023 9:17:44 GMT -5
Huh, I hated that book so much I haven't read it in years. Was she a major character?
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