lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
|
Post by lilafowler on Jan 18, 2007 21:12:36 GMT -5
I reread this book for the first time since I was little, and there are a couple of parts I don't remember noticing: - I know others have commented on it, but -- Claudia assuming Peaches had POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION. Even if you consider Claudia not realizing what a nuisance she's being (and thereby provoking her aunt), that's...a pretty freaking extreme guess to make just because someone snaps at you.
- Ms. Bernhardt telling the girls she'd gotten lost at the Grand Ole Opry. Hee. The Dolly Parton connection must have gone over my head when I was a kid.
- Claudia going to the museum with Melissa because she "didn't know if [she]'d have a chance to see it again". She might have said "when" instead of "if" but it's still a fantastically dumb thing to think, since I've driven from Philadelphia to New Haven County (which is further into Connecticut than Stamford) in under three hours. It isn't at all as though Claudia could never go to Philadelphia again!
- While I appreciate the humor in "What a hunk...of marble," I'm pretty sure The Thinker is bronze. Did they just hand that Harvard degree to Peter Laryngitis?
- Wasn't the trip only for a weekend? I know Claudia is an OMG PACK RAT, but...a suitcase? That she had trouble closing? I took one suitcase on a 12-day school trip once, and I didn't have any problem packing it until the end of the trip, by which time I'd wasted gobs of money on such significant souvenirs as Tic-Tacs and a coffee mug with a lady whose clothes disappeared when it was filled with a hot liquid on it. I ended up selling the mug to a boy in my group so I could fit more clothes in the suitcase, so maybe I shouldn't use myself as an example of a good packer.
- I love how the cover illustration of Lynn has all that hair. I mentioned in another thread that I think little kids with curly hair are adorable, but I also have a soft spot for small children with massive amounts of hair in general.
- Pretzels with mustard are a Philadelphia food? I've always associated them with New York City. How strange.
|
|
wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
|
Post by wanderingfrog on Jan 19, 2007 14:21:36 GMT -5
While I appreciate the humor in "What a hunk...of marble," I'm pretty sure The Thinker is bronze. Did they just hand that Harvard degree to Peter Laryngitis? Hee, yeah. You'd think someone at Scholastic would catch something like that. But no.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Jan 29, 2007 9:02:21 GMT -5
Does anyone actually edit these books?
|
|
starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
|
Post by starrynight on Jan 31, 2007 14:26:06 GMT -5
Someone should put that in the inconsistencies thread!
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on May 17, 2007 19:17:02 GMT -5
Just reread and still love the part about Lynn’s birth and the classic “dumb Claudia” moments. One thing that still bugs me is Claudia didn’t learn her lesson about leaving the group and sneaks off after she gets lost. The way the girls treated Melissa also bothered me. She was a little annoying but just trying to fit in. They kind of led her on with taking her shopping, I think. I guess it just reminded me of the way some of my “friends” acted when we were that age – so I suppose it’s realistic, though unfortunate. I also think Claudia’s mom should have come right out and told her that she was bothering Russ and Peaches. I thought they were incredibly tolerant. I would have killed her. The hanging around didn’t bother me as much as her bossing them and thinking she was the “expert.” As Peaches pointed out, she was Lynn’s mom. Also, I realize that they made Claud the godmother because she has a special relationship with Peaches but I felt kind of bad for Janine. My mom only has two sisters and is much closer with one but they are both my godmothers. Same thing with my cousin. If there were more than just Claudia and Janine in the family, it would be more understandable but just with the two it seems to cut Janine out (even though she said she didn’t care – what is she going to say???). seems like another case of “Janine is smart so she must have everything. Let’s give Claudia something to try to make her feel better.” But then again, I tend to sympathize with Janine and relate much more to her. I do like this book despite all of the little points that irritate me. Just the title explains why I like it so much
|
|
mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
|
Post by mckay on May 17, 2007 20:28:35 GMT -5
That made me feel really bad for Janine, too, especially since it's shown a number of times how much she seems to like kids. If anything, I'd have thought she'd be a better godmother than Claudia, as she would have been able to read social cues and leave the new parents alone! Although I did think it was really sweet how Claudia kept bringing presents over for Lynn. I love shopping for the kids in my family - and baby clothes are so cute I sometimes end up buying things figuring, well, sooner or later someone I know is going to have a baby, and it's on sale and SO CUTE...etc
|
|
|
Post by sotypical42483 on May 20, 2007 22:09:50 GMT -5
Good point about Janine. I never thought of it like that, but you guys are right, another classic "who cares about janine" moment. I should re-read this, I remember liking it a lot, but my 7 yr old niece is borrowing it right now, hehe.
|
|
|
Post by liss31d on May 21, 2007 4:29:00 GMT -5
I always feel terrible for Janine. She always gets tossed aside and whenever she does get attention (usually for an academic prize), Claudia goes mental about it, complaining how Janine gets all the attention and how she must be adopted blah blah blah I would have loved to have had a book from Janine's perspective, to see her side of life.
|
|
mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
|
Post by mckay on May 21, 2007 5:59:19 GMT -5
You know, I never felt like Janine even got more attention from their parents. More approval, yes (can't say I blame them, either, did it ever occur to Claudia that they might be more supportive if she made some kind of effort once in a while?), but I never felt like they were neglecting her in favor of Janine.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on May 21, 2007 7:55:08 GMT -5
^ I never felt like Janine got more attention or that they loved her more, either. This just seemed to be Claudia's jealousy coming through. As for this book, I really like Russ and Peaches in it. I wish more books would have featured them and Lynn. I also found it very funny when Logan was looking at the ultrasound photo - typical guy
|
|
mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
|
Post by mckay on May 22, 2007 4:31:08 GMT -5
Heehee, a friend of mine showed me her ultrasound (it's a boy! yay!) and I said, "Congratulations, you're having a....n underwater fungus?"
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Dec 14, 2007 9:28:14 GMT -5
I'm writing a letter to my cousin right now with memories of her birth - 15 years ago on the 18th (time has flown!) and it made me think of this book. Claudia was really clueless and annoying but I can totally relate to how excited she is. It reminds me of when my cousin was born. ;D Hopefully I wasn't as annoying but can also relate to wanting to "help." I'm glad that she and Peaches made up at the end and hope that their relationship stayed close with Peaches having her own child. I know my aunt and I grew apart but had been really close like Peaches and Claudia. Hopefully that didn't happen for Claudia. I love this book because of the warm feeling it gives me from the memories it brings back. ;D
|
|
|
Post by songheim on Dec 15, 2007 3:55:21 GMT -5
I'm usually not a fan of reading about babies, but I really enjoyed this one cause I love reading about Claudia's obliviousness (i can relate all too well). Though it was a little more cringe-inducing in this one, I admit. I have a morbid fear of breaking things in other people's houses so the coffee machine thing made me wince. Actually, the museum subplot brought back some unpleasant memories too of being left behind on school trips due to my own stupidity. Yeesh. Not fun at all.
I was a little surprised they referenced Catcher in the Rye (seems they used much more real life references in the later books). I wouldn't think they'd have 8th graders read it. I mean I read it on my own when I was 14 but we didn't read it in high school till junior year.
|
|
Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
|
Post by Penny Lane on Dec 15, 2007 9:45:48 GMT -5
^Stacey also read The Cather in the Rye for fun in Super Special #2, Summer Vacation.
|
|
|
Post by greer on Dec 15, 2007 11:12:38 GMT -5
We read catcher in the rye for eighth grade.
|
|