wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Feb 19, 2007 14:53:59 GMT -5
It's been like that ever since she joined! I'm surprised it took about 130 books for it to take a toll. Hee! I thought that, too! Also, Abby's interview is even more obvious foreshadowing, but at the time I wrote my other post, I wasn't at that part in the book yet. (I'd skimmed through the it and read most of the book before, but this was the first time I actually read the whole thing all the way through in order.)
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Mar 29, 2007 10:28:16 GMT -5
I reread this one last night, and I agree with the whoever mentioned that Pete says he can't get a "real" job until he's 16. Uh, Pete? Practically everyone else in Stoneybrook has had a "real" job at age 13.
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Post by booboobrewer on Apr 24, 2007 16:34:35 GMT -5
But then, I think the Sharon/Mary Anne/Richard dynamic should be SO much richer and more interesting, especially as Mary Anne learns more about her mother as an individual, because I do think on the whole, Mary Anne is much more open and welcoming to Sharon in her life than losts of thirteen-year-olds would be in that situation. (Instead we get Bicoastal!Dawn x Infinity). In "MA and the Little Princess," which I think is a very dumb book, MA is, IMO, infinitely patient with Sharon, even when Sharon starts refering to herself as Mary Anne's mom, which would upset me in that situation (even if Mary Anne doesn't remember her mom, she knows she existed, as a person, who can't just be replaced). But Mary Anne has to not only deal with Sharon being her stepmom (and the chaos Sharon carries with her), but the pressure of being the surrogate for Dawn and Jeff, which is a lot of pressure for someone who already spent a lot of her life being the sole emotional focus for her dad. I'm surprised she doesn't snap at or vent about Sharon more often, honestly. I just reread this book, and I'm totally agreeing with this. Fantastic points. I wish the Schafer/Spier family dynamic had been explored more after Dawn's departure, too. I'm reading more books after Dawn has left and MA and Sharon have a nice relationship on the surface, but it's all very obligatory; the writers missed a great chance to explore MA's deeper-seated issues. I love to see Stacey and Mary Anne's relationship as well, and it's cool that it is still very much in mind this late in the series. This book is really becoming a favorite!
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 24, 2007 19:24:30 GMT -5
I also would have loved to see a better relationship develop between MA and Sharon. Just commented about this on the Mary Anne Spier thread. Also would have liked to seen some more interaction between Richard and Jeff. Jeff was so mean to him in Dawn's Family Feud, I thought. I always love Stacey and MA's relationship, too. Would like to see more Stacey and Kristy and Claud and MA.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 26, 2007 0:06:31 GMT -5
Just reread and Emily really irritated me. She was so ruthless. I know this is supposedly part of being a good "reporter" but this was just a middle school project.... Did she act like that in other books? I always get her confused with Erica. Kristy also bothered me like she always does when she gets obsessed with projects like this. I did like the whole idea of making a documentary, though. Just didn't like the way some of the kids handled it.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 26, 2007 0:08:22 GMT -5
Kristy's behavior kind of annoyed me as well. I wanted her to mellow out a bit.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 26, 2007 8:06:33 GMT -5
^ She was like that in Claudia Live from WSTO too. I don't like Kristy when she gets so obsessed. Competative is one thing but when she starts upsetting and pushing the kids, it bothers me.
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nothingtolose18
Sitting For The Johanssens
Mal / Sam / Price / Ben
Posts: 1,059
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Post by nothingtolose18 on May 15, 2008 11:06:53 GMT -5
It's been a while since I read this book, so here goes ...
Same here! I really felt for both Mary Anne and Stacey in this book. Mary Anne was clearly not having the best day and she snapped, revealing something which she clearly regretted. I know that, yes, this is interesting stuff but to me, my moral obligations would interfere. I would feel too horrible to put something like that in a film, especially knowing it was a shy, sensitive individual who would really take it to heart. I wouldn't have the heart to put in Stacey's divorce rant, either. Guess I'm just not able to do that to people.
I did like the idea of the documentary as well, but sometimes I think Kristy gets so blindsided by her competitiveness that she completely disregards the feelings of everyone else, even the children whom she is self-proclaimed super babysitter for. If I remember correctly, she tells some of the kids they're not funny or ignores them, hurting their feelings, and also hurts Jackie's feelings by filming him when he said specifically that he didn't want to be in the film (or something like that). I know it would have been tempting to use Jackie's antics in the movie (comic gold!) but again, my morals would have conflicted with using the film when he clearly didn't want to be videotaped.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book. I liked reading all the interviews, and I didn't even mind watching Kristy trying to get videos of the kids (even if she was annoying).
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starlett2010
Junior Sitter
It's been YEARS but I'm back!!!! :)
Posts: 696
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Post by starlett2010 on Oct 19, 2008 21:33:13 GMT -5
Just read this one for the first time and I've got to say that it's one of my least favorite BSC books of all time. I seriously hated it. It was like "Hey readers! We know what you're going through! We know all of your problems!" It was really lame, IMO and was really boring.
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starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
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Post by starrynight on Oct 23, 2008 15:48:44 GMT -5
I didn't mind this one so much, and I kinda side with Emily. The Mary Anne/Stacey stuff was good, and sincere. I would have wanted it left in.
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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 Oct 23, 2008 16:45:31 GMT -5
Just read this one for the first time and I've got to say that it's one of my least favorite BSC books of all time. I seriously hated it. It was like "Hey readers! We know what you're going through! We know all of your problems!" It was really lame, IMO and was really boring. ^ I agree. I didn't like how the author tried to show a sensitive side to Alan. That just made it that much more "preachy" besides the interviews, as if telling us that bullies are sensitive creatures too.
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fluffycakes
Junior Sitter
A silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells
Posts: 868
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Post by fluffycakes on Oct 26, 2008 14:04:31 GMT -5
I just finished this one and I can't decide if I liked it or not. It had its merits, but there were a lot of things I didn't like about it. For one thing, I didn't like how Emily said that once Mary Anne agreed to the interview, she gave up her right to change her mind. Um, no. This isn't the same thing exactly, but in psychological studies, the researchers need informed consent from the participants. Among other things, it allows the participant to withdraw at any time. Now, the rules might be different for film making, and I know this was just an eighth-grade class project. But it really bugged me how Emily acted like the be-all end-all voice on the matter. Working on a middle school newspaper doesn't make you an expert on journalism (and film making), Em. Sorry. As for the interviews, well, I found them slightly more compelling. I thought it was weird how short they were, though. They really asked the interviewees a couple of questions before ending the interviews abruptly. I thought it was a it weird how, with the exception of Emily and Erica, all of the interviewees made these big, startling revelations or exposed their deepest, darkest secrets. Yeah, right. At least they acknowledged that they had an advantage interviewing their friends. I didn't really like Claudia's interview (though I love how proud Stacey is of herself when she sets up the interview in the art room - how original ). Maybe it's because she says things she's been saying since the beginning of the series, but I found it sort of unnecessary. And I didn't get why Stacey was soooo surprised that Claudia felt that way - shouldn't she know all of this already? Poor MA. I really felt for her. I liked her interview, but I think they should've left it out. Like a lot of you, I wish the authors could have explored the dynamics in the Schafer-Spier household better. I really didn't like the idea of the add-on interviews they do at the end, mainly because it didn't seem fair that only Stacey and Mary Anne got to do it. If they got to add on to what they said, why not everyone else? I'm sure Abby and Jessi and maybe even Alan and Claud would've liked to say more. I guess it was more of a time issue, though, than anything else. I couldn't be bothered to read the sub-plot. Kristy was truly hideous and I just wasn't into reading about how funny kids are, or whatever. Yawn, like anyone other than the BSC would find that interesting. Oh and since when is Stacey such a movie buff? In the beginning, she's all OMG I LOVE movies!!!! But we don't really see that in other books, do we? Sorry for the long and somewhat negative rant. There were parts of the book that I liked, I swear. I guess I'm not in the best mood today. But overall, this wasn't one of my favourites. Maybe I'll like it more during a re-read.
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Post by booboobrewer on Oct 27, 2008 10:00:13 GMT -5
About Stacey being a movie buff...it did always kinda seem to me that she was interested in them. The mention of Stacey and Laine seeing a movie being filmed on the streets of NYC - I could be wrong, but wasn't that mention in a previous book? And watching movies with her mom was something they both enjoyed doing together.
I wonder if the inspiration for this book was Ann's real-life connection to movies...her sister worked for Woody Allen and is married to a screenwriter/director, and Ann's young nephew has even been in a film.
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fluffycakes
Junior Sitter
A silken-haired beauty with a laugh like pealing bells
Posts: 868
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Post by fluffycakes on Oct 27, 2008 22:24:17 GMT -5
Cool, I didn't know that about Ann!
Stacey mentions she and Laine going to watch a movie being made was in this book. It's true that she probably watches the most movies out of anyone in the club, which is something I didn't think of when I first posted in this thread. I guess I just thought it was a bit strange that she's going on and on about wanting to be a director since she loves movies so much, and it came out of nowhere. I guess that's allowable, though, since it's not uncommon to be changing your mind about your future career when you're that age (I do that now, and I'm 23!).
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Post by booboobrewer on Oct 28, 2008 9:56:07 GMT -5
Oh yeah, I knew that was in the book but was wondering if it had been something she talked about in a previous one Agree about changing your mind about your career...what was disappointing to me was that Stacey doesn't spend the project being the director, though, which is what I wanted to see her as after hearing how much she wanted to do it!
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