|
Post by aln1982 on Jul 16, 2007 7:59:32 GMT -5
Another one I can't find a thread for.... Always remember this as being a foolish fight but just reread and I’ve changed my mind. I can totally understand why the girls ended up in a fight with the competition for the jobs. I’m a very competitive person so can relate to this. And I think even non-competitive people can be made more competitive when paired with someone like Kristy. Since Kristy, Abby, and Dawn and sometimes Claud are all pretty outspoken, it is logical that they would clash. I lliked the Victoria subplot since I always like her but think MA should have told her right away that she wasn’t going to Europe. I think Vicki was a bit bratty, too, about MA never spending time with her but I felt for her since it seems like her parents are never around yet always make her move just as she’s starting to find friends and get adjusted. Anyway, I hadn’t remembered liking this one but did this time when I reread it. Wish it would have had a few more baby-sitting chapters, though. I’m one of the minority on here that really enjoys those ;D
|
|
msstock87
Sitting For The Braddocks
Here Comes The Bride!
Created by Rie.
Posts: 3,618
|
Post by msstock87 on Jul 16, 2007 14:03:19 GMT -5
I am about to re read it, actually tonight or tomorrow so I will have more thoughts on it then. I remember thinking this one was decent though, and thought it was pretty realistic on how competitive the girls became.
|
|
lark
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 104
|
Post by lark on Oct 2, 2007 11:34:19 GMT -5
I just read this one yesterday and didn't like it much at all. First, it was boring. I was expecting a bigger fight than what actually happened. With all the fundraising it felt like another "Dawn and Too Many Sitters" with Europe instead of Hawaii. I hated the subplot. I've never read another book with Vicki in it (yet) and I found her kind of bratty.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Oct 2, 2007 16:39:23 GMT -5
^ I actually liked Vicki and found her kind of funny but agree about the main plot. I always get this one confused with Too Many Sitters with the fundraising because they seem so similiar. I also found the fight pretty petty. I don't remember much about the details since this isn't one that I read frequently because it is definitely towards the low end of my BSC "favorites".
|
|
scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
|
Post by scrounge on Oct 23, 2007 4:10:38 GMT -5
I found this one at a thrift store last week and I was really excited. My first "new" BSC book in ages. I didn't like the book though. It didn't seem to have much plot and the ending felt really rushed and forced. Also the subplot annoyed me, because Vicki's manipulative whining about Mary Anne not caring enough to spend time with her before Vicki's move back to England reminded me of a child I know in RL and get very annoyed with. Clingy children are not my favorite. Also I much prefer the full Victoria over the nickname she decides she prefers. And now that I reread that I can see that I might have liked it better if I didn't know that RL child, because it's possible Victoria was in fact genuinely upset about not seeing MA anymore and not trying to be manipulative. One book closer to owning the whole series. My sister's response to my text telling her I finished the book and it wasn't fantastic: "did you think you picked great literature?"
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Oct 23, 2007 7:56:43 GMT -5
I think this is one of my least favorites. It just doesn't seem to have much to it. I don't remember minding the subplot but haven't read it very much so maybe it just didn't even make an impression on me. ;D
|
|
fluffy
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 180
|
Post by fluffy on Oct 23, 2007 8:32:51 GMT -5
This book was pretty weak IMO. The relaionship between Dawn and Mary Anne isn't so enjoyable to read about post-CA Diaries and Jeff didn't make as many appearances as I'd have liked. (Did he even come to Connecticut? I can't remember.) And the BSC writers have a problem with British characters. Of course Victoria and her family were nobility, but between them and Alistaire and Rowena from New York, New York...sheesh.
It makes me wonder why so many of BSC would actually choose the summer job over the vacation, especially considering that they're basically employed, oh, all year round. You're still 13! Have some fun!
|
|
mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
|
Post by mckay on Oct 23, 2007 20:08:28 GMT -5
One thing I found odd about this one was the fundraising idea of a stuffed animal sale. In my experience, they don't sell very well at yard sales and things...and these belonged to the kids, so I doubt they were in pristine condition.
|
|
wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
|
Post by wanderingfrog on Oct 23, 2007 22:09:34 GMT -5
I don't really like this one. Mary Anne is supposed to be the main character, yet she does nothing to try to solve the problem in the book. She just watches everybody else fight. And then they suddenly stop fighting near the end, just because it was announced who got the jobs. Victoria acting as if she couldn't find things like jeans and fast food in England was ridiculous. I liked the food descriptions, though!
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Oct 23, 2007 23:47:29 GMT -5
^ I think the food descriptions might be one of the only things I like about this one. ;D Agree about the idea of Vicki not being able to find those things in England being foolish. Maybe her parents just didn't let her have them, though, and she somehow had easier access to them in America (my assumption to overlook this ;D) Also agree about MA doing nothing to solve the problem - once again not speaking up...
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Nov 18, 2007 1:01:27 GMT -5
Reread this one and still just can't get into the main plot. I like the subplot pretty well, though, even though Vicki is pretty bratty. Still, she's kind of funny. ;D I especially enjoy her shopping trip with the other girls and the barbeque they have. As for the main plot, there just didn't seem to be anything to it. Also, anyone notice that the chapter 2 descriptions were very short? Did this ghostwriter write any other books? It was Diane someone and I don't remember her writing others. Maybe this book is why. ;D
|
|
|
Post by booboobrewer on Nov 18, 2007 15:08:37 GMT -5
^Diane Molleson. She only wrote one BSC book but did write several LS books.
|
|
|
Post by greer on Nov 20, 2007 0:48:57 GMT -5
I don't really like this one. Mary Anne is supposed to be the main character, yet she does nothing to try to solve the problem in the book. She just watches everybody else fight. And then they suddenly stop fighting near the end, just because it was announced who got the jobs. Victoria acting as if she couldn't find things like jeans and fast food in England was ridiculous. I liked the food descriptions, though! i thought the explanation was that her family was so high up in social class that she couldn't wear or eat these kind of things, though judging from vogue articles i have read (great barometer i know), many lower royals these days enjoy strolling around their country estates in jeans and wellies.
|
|
|
Post by aln1982 on Nov 20, 2007 0:52:59 GMT -5
^ I am reading MA and the Little Princess right now and always got the impression with that one and this one that Vicki just had more access to different things in America for whatever reason - not necessarily because of her class. I saw her obsession with "American" things in this one as her attempt to rebel against her parents forcing her to move again - not that she necessarily wouldn't be able to get the things in England but that she had what she wanted in the US (if this makes any sense ;D)
|
|
|
Post by helsieboo on Aug 21, 2008 3:12:53 GMT -5
I have just read the first two chapters and I think it's safe to say, I am really going to dislike this.
I loathe the way the ghostwriter has potrayed the British stereotype again. For example, whilst I obviously have no connections to royalty, I am from an upper-middle / upper class British background (not anymore after we went bankrupt, but never mind, you live, you learn) and I can honestly say that I've had afternoon tea about twice in my entire life. It may have been a tradition years ago, but it doesn't happen now, except on maybe special occasions in certain social circles. And of course, tea in Claridges. For a start, most people work between the hours of 9-5!
Being English, I have the accent and I am well spoken. However, I don't speak in the manner in which Victoria and her family are potrayed. We are not all "Oh jolly hockeysticks!" The British people in the BSC books are always potrayed as Enid Blyton type characters. Had the BSC been written 60 years ago, perhaps it would have been a more accurate potrayel, but certainly not now.
And Laura Ashley? Soooooooo over and has been for years, even when this book came out, they were in a bit of trouble and had started to focus more on home furnishings again (their routes were in carpets, etc.) The company does still exist and they still do clothes, but they're all about curtains and rugs now.
What is the big deal about jeans? Dahhhhlings, it is important for Royals and Nobles to be fashionable! You never know when they'll be pictured in OK and Hello magazines - Princes William and Harry are often pictured in their jeans.
I also have it on authority that the Queen wears comfortable jogging trousers from M&S and makes beans on toast pretty often.
|
|