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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Sept 30, 2008 1:20:22 GMT -5
For whoever was wondering how the Lowells found out about the BSC, the Complete Guide says they found out about the BSC from one of their fliers.
This is one book I never got a chance to read. How did the BSC break it off with the family? Did Kristy tell her on the phone when she called up, "I'm sorry, we're no longer babysitting for you" or did they just pull a Mary Anne and say that everyone was busy? I don't even want to think about that band...how could the BSC think they could organize a band when everyone in the club has zero musical talent? Well, everyone except Shannon. Did she show up in this one?
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bsclover18
Junior Sitter
God loves you!
Posts: 813
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Post by bsclover18 on Sept 30, 2008 8:44:21 GMT -5
They had fun with it-to quote Kristy. They told Mrs. Lowell that there were no blonde-haired, blue-eyed people available. And Shannon didn't show up...I've been wondering about how good this band would be...because the paino is the only real instrument and I'm sure the music from the Fiddler on the Roof is quite complicated and I don't think Marilyn and Shea could play it, honestly.
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Post by candykane on Sept 30, 2008 8:46:25 GMT -5
^ What happened was Mrs. Lowell called the BSC again (this was after Claudia sat for them, and after Mrs. Lowell woulnd't let Jessi in her house) asking for the "blue-eyed, blonde-haired babysitter" that she'd heard about. It was never specified whether she was referring to Stacey or Dawn. Kristy told Mrs. Lowell that they were all out of blonde-haired, blue-eyed babysitters, but they could send Logan instead. Mrs. Lowell responded that boys don't baby-sit, and Kristy came back with (paraphrasing here) "Well, I might be able to sit for you after all, unless I'm sitting for my adopted sister - she's Vietnamese!" Suddenly, Mrs. Lowell decided she didn't need a sitter anymore, and Kristy hung up the phone and announced to the rest of the girls that they just lost a sitting job. That was the last time they heard from Mrs. Lowell.
ETA: Haha, bsclover18 beat me to the punch by two minutes!
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Post by wenonah4th on Oct 20, 2008 6:02:07 GMT -5
There are probably basic arrangements out there of the songs from Fiddler.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2008 17:58:36 GMT -5
I'm trying to remember which of the other books dealt with racism at all -- I remember the book when Jessi came to town, some of the girls in her class were making fun of her and speculating on her "African" name. Then in the winter vacation, Jessi assumed Pinky was racist, when really she was just...what...homesick? Anyone remember any others?
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Post by sparklymouse on Nov 9, 2008 20:03:15 GMT -5
I know Mrs Lowell was racist but were the kids?? The kids said racist things, which were most likely things they heard at home and then repeated. I would say that they were racist and that they were taught to be.
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Post by wenonah4th on Nov 10, 2008 10:13:36 GMT -5
^It's possible they outgrow it eventually; since this is the only book where we encounter them it's hard to say.
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Post by sparklymouse on Nov 10, 2008 19:23:06 GMT -5
I think if they, or anyone, change their views on stuff like that then it comes after they are removed from the environment that they're in. Think of how many people go away to college, away from their families and exposed to a more diverse crowd than they're used to, and come away with a different way of thinking. It's rarely an overnight change, but I think they would learn more tolerance away from home than at the Stoneybrook Community College.
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Post by booboobrewer on Nov 11, 2008 21:02:18 GMT -5
Mrs. Lowell seemed like the type of mom that liked to keep her kids close. I always thought the kids would stick around Stoneybrook and pretty much grow up to be like their mother. I mean, they just look so mean and scornful on the cover, I think I've always been pessimistic about them.
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Post by booboobrewer on Nov 11, 2008 21:30:01 GMT -5
^Yeah, agreed about the prejudice, I just meant that the kids always looked mean to me and that colored my view.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 27, 2009 21:52:10 GMT -5
Haha, well, I don't mean to post three times in a row, but given the disappearing posts and that it's a year later, I think it's all right.
There's a part during Claudia's sitting job where Mrs. Lowell tells her that their next door neighbor is "Mr. Selznick" and he's at home during the day. Claudia asks if he works at home, thinking he might be an artist. I wonder if this is a reference to author/illustrator Brian Selznick, who has worked with Ann in the past.
ITA. I wanted somebody to say something to her, anything, especially when her last interaction with Claudia was brushing past her while giving her an ugly look. UGH. Kristy tells Mrs. Lowell Mary Anne's and Jessi's last names (and her own), so I assumed Mrs. Lowell was told Claudia's as well. Did she ever stop to think a girl with the last name Kishi might not be the fair-haired, light-eyed dream she was hoping for?
I've always been bugged by the nickname Mackie. It's just not cute at all to me. Why not Ken or Kenny?
It would have been nice if Mimi had still been around for Claudia to talk to about the whole thing.
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 406
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Post by alula on Jul 28, 2009 20:10:25 GMT -5
^That's interesting, because it makes me think that, for all the ways the sitters were mini-adults, or at least not realistic thirteen-year-old girls, they are very reluctant to speak directly to adults about problems/issues--whether with the charges or with issues in their own lives (Jessi and the Dance School Phantom, Mal feeling overwhelmed at home, Mary Anne and the Secret in the Attic, Kristy and the Copycat, Claudia and talking to her parents about school. . .it's pretty much all of them. Which is, in a way, a very young adolescent trait--both the desire to be able to solve everything oneself and the fear/anxiety over confronting an adult, and worrying that you will get in trouble or be seen as a baby or a whiner.
I know that for myself, there were times when I or one of my friends would be treated rudely or unjustly (or sexually harrassed) by adults and it was very hard for me to say anything.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 28, 2009 23:57:13 GMT -5
Yeah, that was also difficult for me too. When I was the BSC's age, there were a lot of times when I wish I had spoken up, but was too shy or afraid to do it. I always liked reading about the girls struggling to assert themselves and how they handled it.
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cosmo
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 15
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Post by cosmo on Aug 7, 2009 5:29:11 GMT -5
I'm trying to remember which of the other books dealt with racism at all -- I remember the book when Jessi came to town, some of the girls in her class were making fun of her and speculating on her "African" name. Then in the winter vacation, Jessi assumed Pinky was racist, when really she was just...what...homesick? Anyone remember any others? Summer Camp when the other campers called Jessi an Oreo...
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Post by sugarandspicexx on Aug 26, 2009 3:27:18 GMT -5
This book could have easily come earlier and been a Jessi book imo. But I'm glad they didn't take it that way.
I actually like that while so often the descriptions are something like "Claudia is exotic looking, with almond shaped eyes and silky black (not dark brown) hair." And some of the Jessi descriptions are "Jessi is... *gasp* black!" That when a book about racism came up, it was directed equally at Claudia.
Years ago at high school, my English teacher gave us an article from the newspaper about two young girls from the US and her mother. She was extremely anti semetic mostly from memory and the girls were taught to sing and dance these horrific hateful songs that were drilled into them. I remembered them immediately as soon as I read this book and could easily picture Mrs Lowell and her kids as similar.
I really wish the girls had of acted more like some 13 year olds might have and egged the house, or left "Racist bigots" on a banner or sprayed onto their driveway. That woman really needed a taste of public humiliation and strong hate directed her way.
The kids would either grow up to have their own ideas, or the problem will just keep going.
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