jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Mar 13, 2006 4:45:08 GMT -5
I read this for the first time a few days ago! It's the first "new" BSC book that I've read in YEARS. It was a bit disappointing, though. The plot felt very rushed. The BSC mentioned a reading group once, but the only reading discussion we ever really saw was just between Stacey and her mother.
Another thing - I thought the new family were permanent Stoneybrook residents, judging by their introduction in this book. Except there's no other mention of them in the series, is there?
*shrugs* Maybe I've just become so familiar with all the other books that I overlook any plot rushing, and maybe I'll like this more with rereads.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Mar 13, 2006 4:57:12 GMT -5
Oh, I haven't read this one ... some of those later books are virtually impossible to find.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Mar 13, 2006 23:58:12 GMT -5
Well, they discussed Jacob Have I Loved at a club meeting, but yeah, the idea basically faded away. I kind of liked this book but John seemed really boring for an author. I know that sounds stupid, but meh.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Oct 2, 2006 13:06:19 GMT -5
ooh just read this for the first time over the weekend. I liked it. I don't know what Stacey's mom's problem was. I thought she was kind of a b*tch to John and didn't really give him much of a chance. She seemed like she was searching for things to dislike about him. What was the little boys name? Ewan? he seemed adorable. I had to laugh when he asked Stacey if she liked his name. The reading club thing was SO random. I liked the interaction between Stacey and her mom with their reading club, but wtf was the point of the BSC club? It was kind of awkward reading about John yelling at Jonie when they were out to dinner. Ohhhh and the Hanson mention... haha that made me laugh hard, I adore Hanson! Soo random. But Stacey didn't have any of their cd's for Jonie. Bummer. I guess she was too cool for MMMBop. I bet Mary Anne would've liked them
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2006 12:47:26 GMT -5
I just read this one, too! I didn't think it was great, but I actually really liked the way Mrs McGill didn't go for John even though he seemed good on paper, if that makes sense.
I laughed when she said the thing about how she'd only been divorced for a little while and he was the first person she'd dated, so of course she wasn't going to marry him. Oh, Mrs McGill, your sanity is lost on Stoneybrook. Some people have remarried and had babies in the time you've been divorced! Dawn even moved approx 35247893948578934753 times.
I think Mrs McGill's reasonableness is one of the reasons she's a lot of people's favorite parent of the series.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Oct 3, 2006 13:10:44 GMT -5
HANSON was mentioned in this book?! That's so awesome!
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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 Oct 3, 2006 14:57:44 GMT -5
I liked John until he started getting all weird. I think that was mostly because John Brooke is one of my favorite characters in "Little Women."
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Dec 28, 2006 10:19:05 GMT -5
I just finished this one. Literary references abound! I was kind of surprised that Stacey was reading Pride and Prejudice -- I didn't read it until I was 17, and I relied heavily on Sparknotes then! However, I could have just been stupid.
I didn't really like the implication that John was "bad", or that we were supposed to understand Stacey's mom wanting to dump him, when he was being quietly angry at Joni in the restaurant. Stacey said it was frightening, but it was pretty close to my experiences as a child. My parents hate scenes, and if I was a brat in public when I was little, I could pretty much expect a glare from my mom that let me know I'd be getting it later. As for his quick personality change...just because Joni was being difficult, was John supposed to speak sharply to Stacey, also? That didn't really make sense.
I posted awhile ago that I got a bunch of new books, and they've been pretty disappointing in general. I think I might be experiencing the same thing. Or I could just be picking the worst of my new books to read?
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Dec 28, 2006 17:45:34 GMT -5
I posted awhile ago that I got a bunch of new books, and they've been pretty disappointing in general. I think I might be experiencing the same thing. Or I could just be picking the worst of my new books to read? Did you ever post what the new books were? I remember you saying that you did get a lot of new ones, but what were they? Which ones have you read so far and were disappointed by?
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Post by greer on Dec 29, 2006 20:55:50 GMT -5
I think the family was never mentioned again because once Stacey's mom dumped his ass, it'd be too embarassing for john to call the club.
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gabbie
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 144
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Post by gabbie on Dec 30, 2006 6:42:19 GMT -5
I think sometimes women just look for excuses to dump men. So Mrs McGill probably just wasn't ready to be in another relationship so soon.
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Post by liss31d on Dec 30, 2006 8:08:55 GMT -5
Have never read this book but had to point out that Ann M Martin has put yet again another "John" in the series
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Dec 31, 2006 10:11:50 GMT -5
Claudia and the World's Cutest Baby (I'd read this one before but didn't own it) Dawn and Too Many Sitters (Actually, I really liked this one. Jeff's jokes amused me :/) Mary Anne and the Little Princess (haven't read) Happy Holidays, Jessi! (haven't finished) Abby's Twin (read before) Stacey the Math Whiz (haven't read) Claudia, Queen of the Seventh Grade (haven't read) Don't Give Up, Mallory (I had trouble getting into this one and only finished it a little while ago. By the time I finished, I didn't mind it so much, but something about the subplot bothered me. I'd probably skip the baby-sitting chapters on rereads.) Abby the Bad Sport (haven't read) Stacey's Secret Friend (haven't read) The Secret Life of Mary Anne Spier (I liked Mary Anne and Sharon in this book and hated Richard and Dawn. I thought the plot of this one was pretty unrealistic once Mary Anne got the mall job, which is too bad because they could have taught a pretty good lesson about money management, as opposed to "if you spend too much, lie about a bunch of stuff and get a job". Another subplot that annoyed me.) Jessi's Big Break (haven't read) Abby and the Best Kid Ever (haven't read) Mary Anne and the Playground Fight (I disliked this one) Abby in Wonderland (haven't read) Stacey McGill, Matchmaker (not a favorite) The All-New Mallory Pike (I wasn't a huge fan because I didn't really think it was a good idea for Mallory to go to boarding school. At least, I disagreed with why they sent her -- I think it could have been written differently than "Mallory gets teased so she just runs away from the situation") Abby's Un-Valentine (haven't read) Claudia and the Little Liar (I really, really didn't like this book. When I finished it, I was left with this sense that there were some loose ends that weren't tied up -- like the book was too rushed and left unfinished) Kristy at Bat (haven't read)
So out of the books I've read, I've only liked two right off the bat. But the ones that I've read have only been read once, compared to some of my older BSC books -- I moved my collection to one shelf the other day, and was surprised by how worn-out my oldest BSC books are. I'm hoping that rereading will improve these books for me!
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Dec 31, 2006 19:47:47 GMT -5
Hm, of those ones you mentioned, some of my favourites are ones you haven't read yet. I actually really liked All-New Mallory Pike - it's one of my favourite Mallory books, I think. Although I do see the point about the reason she's going seems to be a bit of a defeatist attitude. I didn't mind Mary Anne and the Playground Fight - Logan was cool, Kristy was horrible, but it was an amusing BSC fight to watch. The plot about Victoria bored me, though. Of the ones you haven't read, I think my three favourites are Jessi's Big Break, Abby's Un-Valentine and Kristy at Bat. So I'll wait and see what you think about those
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Post by aln1982 on Jun 10, 2007 23:54:37 GMT -5
Have only read this one once before and couldn’t remember much about it when I reread a few days ago. Probably because it was just okay. I didn’t hate it but there wasn’t much I liked. I did enjoy Stacey and her mom’s relationship and how they shared the book reading. Reminds me of something my mom and I might do (lately I’ve been reading BSC books “for her” because reading hurts her eyes/head) as we are really close. I also thought it was sweet how Stacey was so concerned with her mom’s happiness. Glad Mrs. McGill dumped Mr. Brooke. He seemed like a jerk with a potential to be even more of one. And Joni was just awful. I wanted to strangle her. I realize that she was upset about her mom leaving but enough is enough…. For some reason, I associate her with Lou McNally. Thinking of that, does Ann have some type of issue with mothers abandoning their children? Seems this plot was used in a few books. Anyway, I didn’t hate this one and liked the description of the Thanksgiving celebration but it wasn’t that remarkable. What was the subplot, if there even was one? I can’t even remember that. ;D I seem to remember something about Mal being miserable in school and going to visit the boarding school – obvious foreshadowing to the next few books. I felt really sorry for her in the ones where she is picked on and think Alan (though I usually like him) was a jerk to her in this one. Glad Stacey tried to stick up for her.
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