macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 16, 2006 2:54:18 GMT -5
While I thought this one looked hideously boring (I'm NOT a math fan), I was pleasantly surprised - it's got all the ingredients of a Classic BSC Book. - Pike kids over-enthusiastic involvement in every the current 'project' of the moment - A BSC member 'kicking ass and taking names' when it comes to the competition at hand. Winning streak continues and now Stacey's apparently the Connecticut math champ. - BSC bitching when a member dares to have an interest or associate with people outside the clique (all those little jabs at the mathlete "nerds") - Divorced parent issues - Parents relying on 13 yr old eighth graders for all their tutoring needs (this is dumbass Claudia's THIRD tutoring job or something. Give me a break). Stacey's father is such a jerk, but Stacey's not exactly easy to tolerate either. She was fed up with Mr McGill's super-dad efforts when he was unemployed but then equally annoyed when he got a job and reverted back to workaholic-dad. Okay, so what does she want? Kristy the dictator... when Stacey had to miss a BSC meeting to participate in the Mathlete meet (one of the state championship finals!) she made sure to explain that she'd checked with Kristy who'd said it was okay for her to miss the BSC meeting that evening. FFS, girl! So if Kristy had insisted she not miss the meeting, Stacey would've just blown off the mathletes meet? After missing the U4Me concert for it the night before?! The BSC are never satisfied - they hated Stacey's "too cool" friends (you know, the Robert crowd) but now they hate her Mathlete friends because they're just "nerds"... Interesting to see the last problem for the Mathlete final was featured on a Simpson's episode! ;D Complaint - WAY TOO MUCH MATH TALK. Ugh... I suppose it was necessary for the story though.
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Post by liss31d on Oct 23, 2006 8:06:28 GMT -5
The BSC are the ultimate clique. They act like they're all so diverse and open, and yet they laugh or snicker or b*tch about anyone who's different, smarter or "cooler" than them in some way (Ashley Wyeth, the Mathletes, Stacey's other friends, etc...) and yet when they come face to face with them they go all silent and don't talk to them. Argh can't stand maths! Luckily I don't have to do it as a subject anymore But it was interesting seeing the different problems they were set... although I found it a bit weird that the mathletes, who were meant to be the best at maths in their year/grade, could not get the problems that Stacey could get, which were pretty straight forward ones (the ones with the cube, the prime number sequence and the rods in particular). Did anyone else find that?
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Post by spazgirl on Oct 23, 2006 19:46:45 GMT -5
Was I the only one not able to solve ANY of the math problems? I did like this book though, its cool Stacey did something else other than shop, get a new boyfriend, or have issues with diabetes.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Oct 23, 2006 21:20:38 GMT -5
Was I the only one not able to solve ANY of the math problems? Hell no!! ;D
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Oct 23, 2006 21:51:26 GMT -5
Hahaha, I love math. I need to find this book.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Nov 5, 2006 21:48:46 GMT -5
Heehee, macca, I love your succinct summary of this book. It's perfect!
Mmm, lobsters.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Nov 12, 2006 15:58:14 GMT -5
Hee! I used to be in "academic" competitions (like quiz bowl), although I never did the math--basically, I covered most of the non-math and science, especially literature and art (and ballet, thanks to the Jessi books). So that may have skewed my reading--as in, no way would that many people show up to a meet, even a state championship meet. (I know--my freshman year, we won second in state and everyone was like, "Huh. Okay then.") And that elaborate "mathamania" wheel makes me go "Whaaa?" Especially since they have that d**n wheel, but use hotel-desk style bells as opposed to a buzzer system. (Especially for something like that, you can get confused if two bells seem to ring at the same time; even a cheap buzzer system "locks out" everyone after the first buzzer goes off). But it also made me vaguely nostalgic for the days when, say, knowing the pen names of Charlotte Bronte, Mary Ann Evans, Karen Blixen and H.H. Munro was actually of some practical use in my life.
And sadly, I knew way too many boys JUST like Jason Fox, although none of them literally wore suits everyday like that Alexander kid.
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msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
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Post by msstock87 on Nov 12, 2006 17:08:10 GMT -5
Mr. Mcgill annoyed me so much in this book. I was not able to solve any of the math problems either, math is my least favorite subject...
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Nov 13, 2006 0:49:07 GMT -5
Mr McGill always bugs me. One of the most annoying BSC parents.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jan 1, 2007 18:17:04 GMT -5
I definitely liked this book more than I was expecting to. I could have done without Stacey being so awesome at the math meets, but that might have been because I was secretly rooting for George Singh, because he sounded Indian. Yeah, Stacey, Mr. McGill (and his magical changing alma mater), and the rest of the BSC had their annoying moments, but A WHOLE BOOK ABOUT MATH! I love math!!! The last problem made me want to barf, though. If I were George Singh, I totally would have been pissed that the competition was decided by a problem that was only vaguely based on arithmetic. This book made me think of my own high school experience, and how we didn't really have nerds like Jason. The people who had the highest class ranks weren't really social outcasts. Then again, I was excited to find a Baby-sitters Club book about math at the age of 20, so I might have been the nerdiest one there and just not realized it
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2007 18:26:52 GMT -5
Does anyone else totally picture George Singh as Kevin Gnapoor from 'Mean Girls'? Just me?
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jan 1, 2007 18:37:57 GMT -5
^HAHAHAHA. I totally missed the Mathlete similarity. Claudia could be his Janis.
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gabbie
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 144
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Post by gabbie on Jan 3, 2007 8:32:13 GMT -5
I reread this one recently. I didn't even attempt to solve the math problems. I just sort of skipped them. I do think it is good though that math is shown in a positive light.
Mr McGill is really quite rotten. Spending all of his time with his daughter when he has nothing better to do and then going back to work and ignoring her again is not great parenting. At least he is consistent, since he has already demonstrated possessive qualities when it came to Stacey.
Seriously Claudia as a math tutor sends shivers down my spine. Personally I would like anyone who tutors my kid in math to have a basic grasp of addition and subtraction.
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Jan 4, 2007 2:58:06 GMT -5
Seriously Claudia as a math tutor sends shivers down my spine. Personally I would like anyone who tutors my kid in math to have a basic grasp of addition and subtraction. Haha, word. Although I think in this book, Claud did understand subtraction - she was able to explain borrowing, at least.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Mar 4, 2007 16:14:40 GMT -5
I just read this for the first time and WOW. There are really no words... but I'll try to find some Magically when Stacey joins the mathletes (dorkiest name ever, I'm sorry!) SES is having a math fair?!?!?! wtfff??? whose school has EVER had a math fair?! and the kids are SO into it. good lord. when did Stacey start tutoring Lindsey? Was it before this book? Cause they just kinda threw it in there like it'd been going on for ages, but I don't remember ever reading about it. I thought the math problems were pretty hard... I didn't sit there and try to figure them out, but I did glance at them and say "huh?" I guess it's nice to see Stacey actually being good at math rather than just hearing about it in every friggin chapter two. and of course Claudia ends up with the tutoring job... god who would EVER allow Claudia to tutor their child? I LOVE how Franklin was like "wtf is she doing here?!" when Claud showed up for her first session with Lindsey. hehe!
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