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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 7, 2012 0:46:59 GMT -5
^ It's because your mom is down to earth. Some people are not... so much.
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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 Jan 7, 2012 15:16:17 GMT -5
This one is funny to me because in 6th grade we learned about the other side of Christopher Columbus (the not good stuff). Our teacher gave us the option to protest Columbus Day (we didn't get the day off from school). Nothing major, I think we all made necklaces to wear around school that day. I always think the parents in books like this or Spirit War or the one about banned books are so weird because when my mom heard about our lesson plan and protest she was all "If I had learned this kind of stuff I would have been so much more interested in school!". She never flipped out about anything. Good story. I still remember when kids DID get Columbus Day off from school. At one point (at least in my state/school district) they switched and gave us MLK Day off instead.
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Post by zoar3 on Jan 7, 2012 16:50:42 GMT -5
My one positive memory regarding "Columbus" is from either 3rd or 5th grade. I want to say 3rd since that was one year I liked my teacher (5th grade not so much). Anyway, the student teacher who was doubling as an want-a-be actress assigned us to write a journal either from Columbus' point of view was he sailed on the Mayflower or that of one of the sailors. Something like that. I just remember it was one of the few creative and fun school experiences I had especially as a kid. Sparklymouse, ITA with your mom and good for her. She sounds like an acute (doesn't that mean cool)? lady.
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Post by anzuhana on Jan 17, 2012 11:34:55 GMT -5
If they did a regular super special about Halloween, maybe some of them could've gone to a costume parade. I know they did in Fright Night but maybe they could've gone to the one in NYC. For some reason, I thought that some of them could be in Lahaina, a city in Maui, for the Halloween parade (for some reason, I thought the parade was on the island of Lanai, not Maui).
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Nov 18, 2012 3:47:26 GMT -5
I actually guessed the ghostwriter from the writing, and I almost never do that with non-Lerangis books. Nola Thacker is the only one who adds in random tidbits from older books, and on page 73:
Which isn't entirely accurate, but it caught my attention enough to make me flip to the front and check the ghostie.
I find it somewhat improbable that the whole class of 8th graders were excited about writing the story comparing modern attitudes toward sex roles and race to historical ones. There must have been at least a few lazy kids like me who were thinking "Can't we just write a traditional play and not have to research?"
I wished we would have seen more of the families celebrating Thanksgiving together. I did like that the babysitting jobs in this took place at rehearsals so there was not a completely out of place sitting job breaking up the flow of the book.
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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 Nov 18, 2012 12:44:11 GMT -5
^ I'm usually pretty accurate about guessing the ghostwriter within the first couple of pages. Lerangis and Nola Thacker are definitely the two that are easiest to recognize, though! Nola likes her facts.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on Nov 18, 2012 18:11:33 GMT -5
I find it somewhat improbable that the whole class of 8th graders were excited about writing the story comparing modern attitudes toward sex roles and race to historical ones. There must have been at least a few lazy kids like me who were thinking "Can't we just write a traditional play and not have to research?" i'm sure there were also kids who didn't want to do any play whatsoever. i would have been the kid in class who was irritated that i had to do a silly play instead of actually having class.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Dec 5, 2013 22:11:18 GMT -5
I'd definitely want to just watch movies instead of creating and running an entire play.
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celaeno
Sitting For The Papadakis's
I have to share a room with Vanessa
Posts: 1,514
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Post by celaeno on Dec 5, 2015 22:52:04 GMT -5
I haven't been on the boards for a while - hope everyone's well!
I hadn't read a BSC book in almost a year. There's about 20 BSC books I'm missing and have never read, and ever since I moved (from CT to VA) this year, I have, unfortunately, had a lot less access to good sources of used books like thrift stores and book sales, so I haven't found any BSC books in that time. So, I decided to treat myself and order this book online, so I could read it around Thanksgiving.
Like someone else mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised when Claudia realized that - political statements aside - their play wasn't very good.
I got an internal chuckle out of this line:
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Post by booboobrewer on Dec 6, 2015 21:05:13 GMT -5
Or naked Native Americans
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on May 21, 2016 20:04:47 GMT -5
It felt a little too weird that the students (especially with Claudia as the narrator when I guess Abby was more influential to the writing) would write a rather polemical play and they and the teacher would not expect objections; some of the views (Alice complaining that the Equal Rights law still hadn't been passed and noting that some Native Americans mourn the anniversary) did seem rather strident, odd if not inappropriate for a school Thanksgiving play and one with third graders. It was disappointing that the objections were very brief and caricatured (thinking not only that the Pilgrims were hero but thinking that because they considered the country otherwise savage) and not even the teachers had better reasons to object. I also couldn't really get into the subplot, you would think most of the parents would want to celebrate the holiday on their own.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Jun 28, 2022 3:00:58 GMT -5
Another one I skip because we don't celebrate Thanksgiving here in Australia and there's really no point in reading this. I skip this one also.
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Post by oldmeanie on Mar 15, 2023 23:49:00 GMT -5
This was my first time reading this one, so that made it more fun!
For some reason, I don't generally like the "Short Takes" plots. I'm not sure why... I guess it's because I often find the assignments unbelievable, like in Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies (a month is wayyyyy too long for the egg project) or Stacey and the Mystery at the Mall (making all the kids get temporary after school jobs wouldn't happen). This one is more tolerable, though. I don't the assignment is too crazy and it's a good idea.
I knew somewhat what went on in this book, that it's a "serious issue" book, so I kind of expected different. The protests against the play (quite ridiculous honestly) don't happen until more than halfway through, so I felt it didn't have time to develop (although, after School Spirit War, maybe that's a good thing). The protests were actually pretty OTT for a third grade play, though. I think kids should learn the actual history behing Thanksgiving, and it never felt like they were forced to learn it all. It was educational and I think the kids found it more interesting. I don't see how it was offensive. Maybe Stoneybrook is just very old-fashioned; it definitely comes across that way at times. I can find some parents complaining about it to be realistic, but they were acting like extremists.
But it's interesting nonetheless. I love Abby here and think she has some killer lines. Like these two:
“Oh, yeah?” Abby shouted. “Tell that to the Native Americans! And then ask the Pilgrims what they believed about Jews. Europe wasn’t civilized, it was bigoted and prejudiced. Just because you believe a bunch of lies and propaganda doesn’t mean we have to!”
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance,” said Abby suddenly. “That’s a quote from Thomas Jefferson, I think. But even if it’s not, it’s still true. If we give in, we’re not being vigilant. And we lose freedom.”
She is going places. I like her activism more than Dawn's and I'm having trouble explaining why for some reason (I've been super tired lately).
In a way, I kind of enjoyed the subplot more, although I found it unbelievable that EVERYONE'S Thanksgiving plans were cancelled. Like come on lol. The dinner with 36 (actually, 37) people attending is good in theory and for a BSC book, but OMG is that my idea of hell! Growing up, it was just the immediate family who attended Thanksgiving, not really extended family. No friends, either. I can't even imagine. For the sake of a BSC book, though, it is a really nice idea. And I'm glad Dawn makes a surprise entrance, although I wished she and Abby interacted more. I'm curious to read more about how they interact. I feel like they have a lot in common beliefs-wise but are very different personally-wise.
So yeah, overall this one is pretty good. It was just sort of weird that the conflict happened so late in the book.
I haven't read the next one, either! Can't wait.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on Mar 20, 2023 9:43:35 GMT -5
I think kids should learn the actual history behing Thanksgiving, and it never felt like they were forced to learn it all. It was educational and I think the kids found it more interesting. I don't see how it was offensive. .... I can find some parents complaining about it to be realistic, but they were acting like extremists. This is still happening. People think kids learning history as it happened is dangerous and "anti-white". Bad things happened and it's important to learn about them. A thousand percent, parents would protest this play in 2023. love Abby here and think she has some killer lines.... I like her activism more than Dawn's and I'm having trouble explaining why for some reason Definitely agree about Abby. She has genuine hardship in her history and that gives her a powerful platform. Not to take away from Dawn because the environment needs everybody speaking up, but Abby has losses in her life that Dawn just doesn't. When she's speaking for the Jewish people, she's talking about her family.
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Post by oldmeanie on Mar 24, 2023 12:25:28 GMT -5
I think kids should learn the actual history behing Thanksgiving, and it never felt like they were forced to learn it all. It was educational and I think the kids found it more interesting. I don't see how it was offensive. .... I can find some parents complaining about it to be realistic, but they were acting like extremists. This is still happening. People think kids learning history as it happened is dangerous and "anti-white". Bad things happened and it's important to learn about them. A thousand percent, parents would protest this play in 2023. love Abby here and think she has some killer lines.... I like her activism more than Dawn's and I'm having trouble explaining why for some reason Definitely agree about Abby. She has genuine hardship in her history and that gives her a powerful platform. Not to take away from Dawn because the environment needs everybody speaking up, but Abby has losses in her life that Dawn just doesn't. When she's speaking for the Jewish people, she's talking about her family. I think I live in a bubble tbh. I guess I didn't want to believe that people would still act like this. I think in a way, Abby is more passionate about her causes. She comes across as less judgmental too (and in the case of drunk drivers for example, I would 100% understand). I think it would be interesting to see them together more often. I can see them either majorly clashing or getting along pretty well.
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