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Post by spazgirl on Jul 18, 2006 21:01:30 GMT -5
One thing I liked about this book was that it remained continuous with the way Jessi acted in "Starring the BSC!". In the beginning she says she was the comedic highlight of the Peter Pan show, and that she totally would've gotten the part of Peter if her singing wasn't so bad. I didn't really like the Follies subplot. But that might be because I was one of those kids that wouldn't have wanted to been involved or attended the show. And I didn't like how Jessi kept getting her way. She got to be the dance instructor and the money went to her charity, and she was hilarious and perfect the whole show. And the girl that doesn't come over to her house and rolls her eyes at her (appearently a racist) tells Jessi she's a great performer at the end and gives her a squeeze. And Jessi's "OMG I'M BLACK" moments grated on my nerves, as always. I was excited about the kids follies, but I didn't think they were that great either. Although it was realistic of a group of kids their age. It would have been good if Vanessa Pike got a tummy ache or something at the end.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Jul 18, 2006 22:07:18 GMT -5
I liked that too! And the fact that it was heavily implied that Jessi's singing was atrocious was hilarious.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Jul 19, 2006 14:39:06 GMT -5
I agree with supernatural babe. I can understand the more harmless pranks, like everyone dropping their book at a certain time, but making fun of his speech and the toupee thing were too much. It was just mean. Everyone knows jr. high aged kids are jerks, but still... being 11 isn't an excuse for EVERYTHING at some point they are responsible for their actions, regardless of how old they are.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 19, 2006 15:25:37 GMT -5
I had to search back for the thread on this book! I HATED this book!!! I think it had a lot of potential, I thought it was going to be pretty good, but I hated it. Those kids were SO MEAN and the worst part was, the principal, the other teachers, and even Jessi's parents blame MR. TROUT! They said that he was too sensitive... but come on, those kids were total assholes. Especially in class. I mean, do people get on Mary Anne and tell her she's too sensitive? Not really, only when they're arguing. I just thought it was very messed up everyone blamed the teacher for the jerky students. Ooh this one was FULL of omg Jessi is black moments. The one girl doesn't go to Jessi's house for the meeting (her family wasn't nice to the Ramsey's when they moved in), the one kid's dad has to come scope things out, Jessi goes on and on about being black and playing one of the Dollies, and being a black GIRL and playing Mr. Trout, and the Dollies inform Jessi and her random friend that they want a good mix of students in the follies (meaning not just white kids, as Jessi says). Anyway, I hated how they treated Mr. Trout, especially with the whole Twout thing and the toupee thing I felt bad for him. I was happy Jessi wrote the letter at the end and he wrote back though Totally agree and am glad to hear that I'm not the only one who hated the kids' treatment of Mr. Trout. I thought the Dollies set pretty bad examples, too. I don't like them anyway. I didn't care for this book but did like the way it ended with Jessi feeling remorse for her inappropriate actions - a rare thing today with kids.
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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 Jul 19, 2006 15:52:19 GMT -5
I felt for poor Mr. Trout...those kids were awful.
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Post by sugarandspicexx on Aug 16, 2006 5:28:10 GMT -5
I felt really sorry for Mr Trout too, but he really didn't make things easy for himself by not standing up to those students. I believe Jessi only played him in the follies to fit in too, there's one line where she basically says that she fears the repercussions from her classmates if she declines.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Aug 16, 2006 11:38:01 GMT -5
^Yeah I can understand Jessi participating because everyone else is. She's only 11, and at that age you're definitely more likely to just follow the crowd even if you don't agree with what they're doing.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Aug 16, 2006 18:41:28 GMT -5
^Yeah I can understand Jessi participating because everyone else is. She's only 11, and at that age you're definitely more likely to just follow the crowd even if you don't agree with what they're doing. Also, don't forget she's BLACK and didn't want another reason to draw attention to herself
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Post by sugarmonkey on Apr 6, 2007 13:53:20 GMT -5
This book made me furious. I had a teacher similar to Mr. Trout in high school. His name was Mr. Rambo (Yes, he was a Sly Stallone fan, but his looks and personality were the complete opposite of movie Rambo). He was small and wiry and soft spoken. The kids in my class were were much much worse to him that Jessi's classmates were to Mr. Trout. Of course, that was high school not middle school. Mr. Rambo left school at the end of the year. I don't know what happened to him. Jessi went along with things that she thought were wrong just so she could fit in. That a normal eleven year old thing. But, her excuse was of course her OMG blackness. I can understand being eleven and not wanting to be unpopular, but Jessi's conscience was weighing on her, she should've done something. I can't believe everyone blamed Mr. Trout. There is no excuse for kids to act like that. I mean it was partially his fault. He never even tried to take charge or stop the harassment. He apparantly never socialized with the other teachers or asked for help. Even if he wasn't meant to be a teacher, he could've made some professional relationships before he decided to quit. I loved the beginning of this book where the Ramsey's were all out in the front yard at the end of the day. Especially when Mr. Ramsey acted shocked about getting grass stains on his clothes and said that Aunt C. would have some cleaning to do. The BSC Follies were okay. What I would expect from kids that age. I thought it was funny how Carolyn? as Mary Anne would cry every few seconds.
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Post by aln1982 on Apr 6, 2007 16:13:44 GMT -5
I'm glad someone else thought that what Jessi did was horrible. I was glad she at least wrote the letter and did feel remorse - though too little too late. Just shows how cruel kids can be. I didn't care much for the BSC follies and don't remember the scene with the Ramseys. I was planning on rereading this one soon and look forward to that part.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Apr 6, 2007 21:31:01 GMT -5
I vaguelly recall the BSC follies. I do remember how they exagerated the personalities a bit - cute I may re-read this soon, but honestly the Mr. Trout stuff just makes me feel so uncomfortable. It ruins the book because I just end up feeling so bad for the guy.
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Post by aln1982 on Jun 14, 2007 10:33:12 GMT -5
I just reread and end up liking Jessi more each time but feeling more irritated with the adults. Somehow, I just don't think the follies are all that funny. The adults - the Dollies especially - seem to set a pretty bad example. I was disappointed with the Ramseys, too, for thinking it was so hilarious. After all, they should know better than anyone how it feels to be made fun of or picked on. Though these are usually the people who pick on others to make themselves fit in. That's what it really seemed like Jessi was trying to do. I really don't think it's too funny to laugh and make jokes at other people's expenses. There is laughing "with" someone and laughing "at" someone and they were definitely laughing "at" Mr. Trout (if this makes any sense). They weren't just teasing him and joking around but actually being mean, I felt, and the adults were laughing along with the meanness. Just my perspective this morning.
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mckay
Junior Sitter
Posts: 672
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Post by mckay on Jun 14, 2007 19:21:27 GMT -5
I don't know, a lot of the teachers I had would probably have been amused by something like the Follies and taken it in good humor. Most of it didn't seem malicious, except for the Mr. Trout sketch, because the kids seemed to really enjoy tormenting him.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2007 20:00:44 GMT -5
Is it just me, or was it weird the way Jessi, an 11 yr old, wrote better than her teacher?
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jul 26, 2007 20:55:56 GMT -5
While I agree with you that there were some bad examples set in this book (one of the Dollies talking about Mr. Trout being unpopular with the teachers comes to mind), I think the Follies were completely different from the treatment the Ramseys received when they first moved to Stoneybrook. We're meant to believe that people were outright malicious to the Ramseys with the intent of hurting them, and I guess driving them away, on some primal level. On the other hand, we're told a number of times that everyone, including the teachers, loves and is amused by the Follies, and that the participants and audience both know that the sixth-graders are just poking fun and don't mean any harm. Mr. Trout even says in his letter that it wasn't pain caused by Jessi's skit that drove him away, he just realized that teaching wasn't for him. The Ramseys can't be expected to recall their knowledge of people who didn't even know them being genuinely unkind and compare it to the idea behind the Follies, which is basically fun-spirited teasing with no hateful intent.
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