# 4 Mary Anne Saves the Day

[virgoscorpio]

Also, I remember the part where Mary Anne notices that the doorways in Dawn's house are only slightly above her head. I'm 6 feet, so being in that house -- and having to duck all the time -- would be annoying. I don't know how Richard, or any other tall people, did it.

[candykane]

I agree that having to duck through all the doorways would get annoying very quickly. The doorways must have barely been over five feet if they were only slightly above MA's head, since she was supposed to still have been quite short back then.

[oldhickory]

haha, i wouldn't have to duck at all.

[wenonah4th]

I've never figured out why the man who built my parents' house (he was the original owner, himself) put a 7 foot ceiling in the family room when he was 6'6" himself.

[virgoscorpio]

I wonder if the barn that was renovated in the FF series for the Mary Anne and her family would be as big as the actual house (which burned down)...

The barn actually sounded MUCH MORE pleasing than the old house with the low ceilings...

[greer]

I love the barn-house! There are several in the area where my mom lives, and I've always liked them. It's a good thing the BSC wasn't around anymore by then, though, because where would Kristy have held events?

I would think the barn would be bigger than the house, actually, since the property used to function as an actual farm.

[zoar3]

I think the barn sounded much more inviting and spacious, too. Lol, Greer. Perhaps Kristy put a disclaimer in the building of the new house that had to have a covered indoor outdoor space.

[virgoscorpio]

LOL @ greer. So true about the BSC events ALWAYS being held in the barn.

The barn = scapegoat.

[wiggir13]

Mar 22, 2010 12:20:22 GMT -5 celaeno said:

Anyway, since I've now reread it: Does anyone else think the action starts too fast in the early books? In later books, not much usually happens in Chapter 1 (they're usually just framing the story), and Chapter 2 is of course Chapter 2, so the plot doesn't usually get underway until around Chapter 3. In this book, the BSC is split up at the end of chapter 1! It's not even like they were hinting at it in the previous books - it just comes out of NOWHERE. They're all friendly and normal at the start of chapter 1, and then BAM fight!

Funnily enough, I rereading the whole series starting from one to the end and in #3 at the end - one of the girls takes a job without asking around and everyone just sort of say - oh well. I felt like that was a good foreshadowing.

Another thing that really stood out was when it says that Kristy's mom was like a mother to MA but MA's father was never like a father to Kristy. How sad! Wouldn't it have been interesting if MA's father and Kristy's mom ended up together b/c they had been brought together by them.

I also really think MA is a big b*tch in this one! When she is a jerk to Dawn and Dawn gets mad and leaves, MA tells her to have a nice trip down the stairs. WOW - seems as if she really cared about that friendship!

[zoar3]

^One of my biggest BSC wishes was that Elizabeth and Richard had married. No Dawn, no melodrama between her and Mary Anne. I preferred the BSC with just 4 members because it felt much more genuine. That reasoning could also be due to the fact that back then the girls were simply sitting in their neighborhood as opposed to tracking down criminals. It was down to earth and meaningful.

I've said this many times before, still feel that Mary Anne (yes, at times, Dawn, too) but mainly MA really did not care much about Dawn as her friend.

[zoar3]

This re-read I was immediately struck by how the big fight was mainly Stacey's doing. Sure, Claud brought up the "job hogging" comment, possibly because she felt MA may have been secretly wondering if she (C) had taken on jobs she never shared (when MA asked if any calls had come in at the beginning. Also, other than Kristy and MA sitting at the Pikes together or poor Jamie's party, during the entire month (of the fight) there were no other 2 sitter jobs! Imagine if this fight had happened once the Barrett-DeWitts had come onto the scene or even Kristy's family plus the Papadakis kids.

Still dislike MA the most in this one and do feel badly for Dawn. I wish Dawn had not been into baby-sitting or perhaps made a member almost instantly. If that had been the case her friendship with MA might have flown the coop by way of the Shillabers.

I think I might have figured out a tiny explanation on the $10 payment. MA originally was supposed to sit for Jenny from 11:30-around 7pm. Even if she was payed $2 an hour that would have amounted to over $14. We don't know how long she and Dawn were at the hospital other than Chatham was said to be about an hour from Stoneybrook. I don't see the P's getting to the hospital before just because they first had to be given the message and then relay it to their friends, etc. So at most MA would have been baby-sitting" for 3 hours give or take. Maybe MA only expected to be paid $6 at most, if even that since the job was hardly a typical one. I remember in "Kristy and Mr. Mom" when Mal and Jessi end up taking care of I believe 5 kids unexpectedly (Nina and Eleanor + 3 Phillips kids) and the moms return early, Mrs. Marshall specifically said she was sorry but would only pay Mal for the time she had sat. In any case, I think Mr. P sounded like a good dad and I would have enjoyed seeing him interact more with Jenny.

[wiggir13]

So I found something of in this one, other than I still despise MA and Dawn together. Why in the world did Richard tell MA se could only wear skirts to school? What did pants signify for your girls? I feel like wearing a skirt would be bad b/c u show your knee and boys could look up your skirt!

Also, I don't like the MA and Dawn friendship, but I find it tolerable I. This book because she doesn't seem obsessed with Dawn yet. Zoar, I just had a thought on why MA just completely dumped Kristy. Perhaps she never really got over this fight. Kristy did treat her pretty crappily an maybe she realized that the only reason they were friends was because they grew up together. She did say in this book that she had never made a friend on her own, so now she has and she realized that she and kristy didn't have the friendship she thought they did....or maybe she's just a mega biatch

[wiggir13]

Odd not of! In my first sentence

[zoar3]

Good thought, Wiggirl, and you know I try to see the best in everyone, I really do, even when it can look otherwise. After so many years of reading about Mary Anne, particularly after realizing in #5 that when Kristy left the lunch table after being (sort of) pushed by Dawn, MA didn't bother to follow her, I truly do not care for MA. MA was the one who immediately revealed to both the Shillaber twins and Dawn that Kristy didn't want to move. Here Kristy was feeling at a big crossroads and all Mary Anne can do is ask Dawn (on a later walk home) if Kristy is mad. MA never talks to Kristy herself (to our knowledge) about any of this, ever. I know the opposite is sadly also true. I just still wish that had been different and Kristy and MA had remained close friends.

[starrynight]

Maybe Richard insisted on skirts because they're more traditionally female than pants, and he wanted Mary Anne to be seen as proper and put together at all times? I don't think modesty was his first thought...