|
Post by candykane on Jan 23, 2008 18:11:10 GMT -5
They really made Mrs. Lowell...extreme. Calling up to ask for the blond, blue-eyed babysitter? Who is she, Hitler? I thought of this book a couple years ago when I had an encounter at the library I worked in back then. This guy asked me for help with the photocopy machine and as I was helping him, I realized he was photocopying flyers for a "White Supremacy BBQ" that was to be held in a local park! Eeek! I pretended like I hadn't noticed anything at all and just tried to hurry and finish helping him as fast as possible. Mrs. Lowell would have liked to go to that BBQ, I'm sure. Yikes.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Jan 23, 2008 20:29:16 GMT -5
^ Mrs. Lowell definitely would have wanted to go.... I think they almost made her too extreme - not that people like that don't exist. I just think it would have been a bit better if the racism had been more subtle - not sure why, though. ;D
|
|
|
Post by greer on Jan 23, 2008 20:44:20 GMT -5
i agree, aln. it presents a more interesting problem, i think. in this book it is easy to just say that mrs. lowell is a villian. but how do you deal with someone you like and respect when you find out that they secretly harbor such views?
|
|
Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
|
Post by Penny Lane on Jan 23, 2008 20:49:37 GMT -5
It almost seems like there might be a family who "has a secret" so to speak. Who was Mrs Lowell talking to when she got the name of the BSC? And who told her about "the blonde haired, blue eyed babysitter".
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Jan 23, 2008 20:51:12 GMT -5
i agree, aln. it presents a more interesting problem, i think. in this book it is easy to just say that mrs. lowell is a villian. but how do you deal with someone you like and respect when you find out that they secretly harbor such views? This is how I feel about it. Thanks for spelling it out since my mind is cloudy tonight. ;D
|
|
|
Post by greer on Jan 23, 2008 20:59:38 GMT -5
It almost seems like there might be a family who "has a secret" so to speak. Who was Mrs Lowell talking to when she got the name of the BSC? And who told her about "the blonde haired, blue eyed babysitter". the ohdners!
|
|
lyricalangel
Sitting For The Newtons
Logan's love-bunny
Posts: 1,918
|
Post by lyricalangel on Jan 23, 2008 23:45:53 GMT -5
^LOL ;D That's why they were in hiding.
|
|
starrynight
Sitting For The Kuhns
The Royal Diner of Pizza Express
Posts: 4,004
|
Post by starrynight on Jan 29, 2008 12:59:00 GMT -5
It almost seems like there might be a family who "has a secret" so to speak. Who was Mrs Lowell talking to when she got the name of the BSC? And who told her about "the blonde haired, blue eyed babysitter". Good point!
|
|
|
Post by booboobrewer on Jan 29, 2008 13:57:04 GMT -5
I always thought Mrs. Lowell might have asked one of their clients if there was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed sitter in the club, not that the client volunteered that info to her...
|
|
mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
|
Post by mckay on Jan 29, 2008 16:46:26 GMT -5
I always thought she just called and asked for that without having heard anything about them. She just wanted a baby-sitter who was Aryan-looking and figured there would probably be at least one.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Jan 29, 2008 17:16:52 GMT -5
^ That's what I assumed, too, but it's been a while since I've read this one. What exactly did she say when she asked?
|
|
|
Post by ringdings on Jan 29, 2008 18:14:57 GMT -5
Hmmm...I always pictured it as Mrs. Lowell having a conversation with some other parents, and then saying something like, "so, what does she look like?"
|
|
|
Post by greer on Jan 29, 2008 18:31:22 GMT -5
stoneybrook seems like a town that is like 90% white, especially in the earlier books before they made an effort to bring in more diversity. Mrs. Lowell probably just didn't even consider the possibility that they would send a black or asian sitter.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Jan 29, 2008 18:34:33 GMT -5
^ Agree. I think she just assumed that any sitter would be white and that's why she let Claudia sit - because she was so shocked that she didn't know what to do.
|
|
|
Post by wenonah4th on Jan 29, 2008 18:34:37 GMT -5
I like that he tries to tell a joke at the show and calls everyone "ladies and germs" I think...and Kristy saying, "Who does he think he is, Johnny Carson?" Unless this book is older than I think, wasn't Leno doing the Tonight Show by the time this was written? He started doing it in 1992.
|
|