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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 1, 2006 18:55:14 GMT -5
I read The Secret Life Of Mary Anne Spier for the first time yesterday. It was...odd. It's like a lot of the later books. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't exactly like it either.
I usually only like Mary Anne in her own books and I did like her in this one. I enjoyed reading about her shopping sprees and her secret life as a department store elf. The gifts she bought her friends and family, however, were beyond ridiculous. A lot of those gifts were expensive. She must have spent several hundred dollars! She bought Sharon a breadmaker and a huge cookbook, catchers mitts for Kristy and Abby (who she barely knew), a big art kit for Claudia. I love that poor Mallory just got a photo album.
Shockingly enough, I actually liked Sharon in this one. Richard was a total ass though. He loaned Mary Anne his credit card with the understanding that she only spend what she could afford to pay back. Okay, that's understandable, but then he waits until she's returned the card to inform her he's going to charge her interest. WTF is that, Richard? And he makes this speech about how Mary Anne needs to learn responsibility, including the responsibility that comes with using a credit card. Well then, he should have explained to her how a credit card works before she used it. Mary Anne didn't know anything about interest or when the bill had to be paid.
The subplot with Mary Anne's fellow elf, Angela was bizarre. This seventeen year old girl is thrown out of her house, living in a woman's shelter, and saving for a plane ticket to California so she can move in with (supposedly) college-aged friends. And this plan of hers is presented as a good idea. It just seemed very unBSC-like for that to be the appropriate solution. I would have expected Mary Anne and her family helping Angela reunite with her parents, or convincing Angela to finish high school and move in with relatives.
I totally skipped all the chapters dealing with the Santa-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa Town. That was just dumb.
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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 Jun 2, 2006 10:43:22 GMT -5
This is one of the later books that I really DID like. I found it sort of unrealistic that a short, young-looking 13 year old passed for 16. Don't they check these things? Maybe they were so hard up for elves that they didn't care. I can understand Mary Anne buying all those expensive gifts without really thinking about the consequences. She hasn't had all that much exposure to credit cards before, and overspending is a pretty common mistake for first time users.
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Post by sparklymouse on Jun 2, 2006 11:52:33 GMT -5
In my state if you're under 18 you have to get a work permit for jobs and you have to either have your parent with you or a written permission slip from them to get it. I can't think of any place that can even hire you before you turn 14. Needless to say, I was quite confused that Mary Anne could walk into a mall and get a secret job all on her own.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Jun 2, 2006 18:21:38 GMT -5
I also found it really unrealistic that Mary Anne was able to pass for 16 and that they didn't even bother checking. I don't think that's likely to happen in real life.
I think it would have been fine for Richard to charge Mary Anne interest if he had explained to her beforehand how a credit card works. But, as lovelylemontree said, he didn't explain it, so I agree that the way he handled the situation was assholic.
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Post by lovelylemontree on Jun 2, 2006 18:46:23 GMT -5
I think we're supposed to assume that the receptionist and Ms. Cesari were in such a rush to get through the interviews and hire anyone that they didn't bother to check applicants' ages. Mary Anne's hiring was kind of a whirlwind and the actual job wasn't even explained to her. The receptionist and Ms. Cesari were both rather short and rude, and I honestly don't think either cared if Mary Anne was really sixteen.
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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 3, 2006 1:14:31 GMT -5
Off topic, but is this the only book that has gold-glitter on the cover? And why?
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Jun 3, 2006 9:25:07 GMT -5
Maybe because it's Christmasy or something? I don't know. But I like glitter.
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lisa
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 201
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Post by lisa on Jun 4, 2006 9:17:41 GMT -5
^ Glitter is good. Unless, of course, you come from the Pike family.
There was some big conversation between Mary Anne and Angela and changing their age on their application forms. Why was it so difficult for tem to change? Couldn't they write the wrong age to start with instead of writing their real age, then fidling around with it?
And how did Mary Anne manage to get to the mall every day? I don't remember that detail.
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Post by aln1982 on Jun 4, 2006 9:45:53 GMT -5
Off topic, but is this the only book that has gold-glitter on the cover? And why? Sounds like Mallory would have loved this cover but her parents might not have let her have the book. I haven't read this one because the library doesn't have it. Is it worth trying to get?
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Dec 17, 2006 16:53:57 GMT -5
God. I thought I would reward myself for studying for finals by reading one of my new BSC books (I started Don't Give Up, Mallory! but kept getting distracted. By the fact that it sucked), and since this was the only sparkly one in the pile, I went for it.
Richard's twuntitude in not explaining interest to Mary Anne before telling her he'd charge it was one thing that's been discussed, but there were some other parts where I wanted to smack him. His excuse for charging her interest, for one -- "I'd end up buying my own gift!" As someone who had to save her own birthday money from parents and relatives to buy them gifts (and my birthday is in May), in effect having them pay for their own, can I extend a SHUT UP to Richard? You're a partner at a law firm, and your daughter is thirteen! Also, not wanting her to hang around Angela because her parents didn't approve of her? SHUT UP, RICHARD!!! I know Mary Anne hadn't told him how jerky Angela's parents are, but like Sharon said, the Porters disapproved of Sharon for dating Mr. Uptight, so, you know. Yeah.
Dawn was also annoying in this one, with her 2 cool 4 school front. However, I was pleased to actually be justified in hating her for once.
I also skipped most of the Santa-Hanukkah-Kwanzaa Town stuff. I went to all the trouble to read a Jessi notebook entry (hate her handwriting so much), and it was about Jessi being proud of her African heritage. I thought my eyes were going to fall out of my head from rolling them so hard. I always thought the "JESSI IS BLACK LOL!" stuff in the fandom was exaggerated too much to be funny, but now I'm seeing that she really was quite the little female Al Sharpton.
Did anyone else think Mary Anne would give her money to Angela when their last day of work was cancelled and Angela said she'd really needed the money to go to California?
I think this is one of the covers where Mary Anne looks less cute than usual, and not even her wacky elf outfit -- something about her face is weird. I also strongly dislike the way she looks on the cover of Mary Anne's Makeover, so seeing that little picture also on this cover combined with her weird face just upset me a lot.
One thing I liked about this book was the mention of how the elves were supposed to do sprightly dances. I cracked up at the mental image of a girl in an elf costume and fake head cavorting about.
Weird that MA wasn't called out on lying about her age. Nice example you're setting, AMM. Speaking of Ann, her little author's note at the back of this one was a hoot. She ran a backyard carnival (no wonder the BSC characters think these are normal) to buy an anniversary gift for her parents, made seven dollars, and bought the Martins orange juice glasses, which sound hideous to me, but it was 1964. Ann's Great Idea!
And...is there some secret to using the search on these boards I'm not getting? Because I tried searching for the thread for this book, like, five different ways, and always got nothing, but I remembered seeing one, so I went to each page of topics and ctrl-F'ed for the title. I think it was like page 7 before I found it, so that was pretty annoying.
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Post by baseballchica03 on Dec 17, 2006 17:29:14 GMT -5
BSC in the USA has a silver holographic sparkly thing going on.
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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 Dec 18, 2006 11:24:27 GMT -5
[quote author=lisa board=bsc thread=1149206114 post=1149430661 And how did Mary Anne manage to get to the mall every day? I don't remember that detail.[/quote]
I believe it was mostly the bus that got her there.
I didn't love the "Holiday Town" stuff (it's easier just to type that than the whole title), but I loved the Mary Anne plot. I honestly don't know why, but this is one that I never ever get sick of. Rare, especially for a newer book!
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Post by booboobrewer on Dec 18, 2006 16:57:31 GMT -5
I like this one. Especially when MA is wrapping all her elaborate presents with elaborate ribbons and bows and has sooo much holiday spirit...corny but I like that.
Yup. Her aloofness was hard to buy.
That sappy part near the end where Hunter recognizes MA thru her elf costume and makes her cry always makes me laugh. Funny that Logan's brother can recognize her body language, I guess?, but Logan can't.
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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 Dec 19, 2006 12:07:03 GMT -5
I was going to make a dirty joke about Mary Anne and Logan and"body language," (since they never did anything but hold hands it seemed like), but I won't.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Dec 19, 2006 13:37:57 GMT -5
I thought that part was so cute. Especially because if you've read the back of the book, you know what's coming, and when she mentioned all the ribbon and wrapping paper she got, I was like, "Nooo, Mary Anne! Swim away!"
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