macca
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,084
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Post by macca on Feb 11, 2006 18:06:08 GMT -5
Just finished this one... not a whole lot to say about it. Typical BSC anti-sexism plotline and the classic quote from Kristy "I have no sympathy for male chauvanist pigs - or male chauvanist piglets" ... I've usually given Kristy the benefit of the doubt when it comes to her ball-busting ways, too.
Also, could Mary Anne and Logan's relationship be anymore wholesome?! A picnic by the lake and a bike ride - which ended up being thwarted by Mrs Towne and her offers of tea. It's nice to see a 13 yr old boy who's relationship isn't dominated by hormones, but I wonder how realistic that is.
Also, "decent" seems to be the latest word in BSC Land. And since when was Mary Anne longing for pierced ears? I thought that the concept of having a hole punched through her ear was a cause for many an "Ew!"
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jen
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,156
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Post by jen on Feb 14, 2006 5:01:40 GMT -5
Hey! Mary Anne and Logan's wholesome relationship is awesome in this! Nice to see where Logan is nice I really liked the subplot, sewing class in this. I thought it was cute. And the the quilt sounded pretty cool.
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Post by bscfan24 on Feb 18, 2006 23:41:26 GMT -5
Hey! Mary Anne and Logan's wholesome relationship is awesome in this! Nice to see where Logan is nice I totally agree!! ;D I love their wholesome relationship. I love this book. I felt bad for MA when she had to look after Mrs. Towne. I loved the subplot. The quilt thing sounded like soo much fun! I'm glad they got the boys interested in it, too. Geni
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Sept 30, 2006 15:49:23 GMT -5
This book made me want to sew my own quilt! I was annoyed by Mrs. Towne way before Mary Anne was, though.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Oct 1, 2006 9:16:55 GMT -5
I thought the Ms Towne plot was a little predictable. Also, does anyone else feel like this book takes longer to read than most of the others? I'm not sure why - it isn't really boring, even though it's not the most interesting book I've read.
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Post by sugarmonkey on Jan 2, 2007 21:09:47 GMT -5
Guess what I found! In this book Stacey babysits the Barrett kids and Mrs. Barrett comes home late (after 6 o'clock, when she said she would be home by 5:30pm or 6pm) consequently Stacey MISSES A BSC MEETING DUE TO A SITTING JOB! And she knew she would at least be late to the meeting ahead of time! Wow. I never thought it would happen.
Other than that, I found this book boring and predictable. I skimmed through most of it. I just couldn't take the looooong paragraphs about sewing. Of course, I find sewing boring so maybe it just my own personal prejudice.
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gabbie
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 144
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Post by gabbie on Jan 3, 2007 8:27:04 GMT -5
This book gets me more interested in sewing than I usually am. However considering that my interest is minimal at best then that isn't saying much.
Again most of this could have been avoided if MA had just communicated a little.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jan 3, 2007 20:18:31 GMT -5
Haha, I noticed the Barrett sitting job as well and was like, ooh! Finally!
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The sewing/quilting aspect got more interesting as it went on. I liked MA when she was screwing up her courage to go and introduce herself to Mrs. Towne. And I noticed the use of "decent", too. So annoying.
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lilafowler
Sitting For The Johanssens
Posts: 1,163
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Post by lilafowler on Jan 4, 2007 1:48:36 GMT -5
"Decent" was also used in the Little Sister books -- did Ann write any of those? I remember when Bart Taylor was baby-sitting Karen and Andrew, Andrew is talking about a clown who pulls handkerchiefs out of his mouth, and Bart pronounces it decent. When I was reading those at the age of 6, I thought that was really weird, because I only knew the word "decent" in the context of the local public pool -- there is this rule that patrons must be decent while taking a shower, hahaha.
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magentanation
Sitter-In-Training
The girl with colitis goes by
Posts: 424
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Post by magentanation on Jul 17, 2007 19:31:39 GMT -5
I didn't really care for this book much, although it was nice to see a depiction of Carolyn Arnold's mullet on the front cover. ;D But yeah, this book was definitely one of the boring ones, mainly because I don't really care about sewing. This book also contains yet another example of careless proofreading. When Logan and MA are about to leave on their picnic only to be interrupted my Mrs. Towne, it says something like "Logan wasn't as neutral as Mary-Anne." But MA is narrating. These errors bug me.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 17, 2007 23:15:38 GMT -5
^ The errors bug me too. I am about to reread so will see what I think then (and will be sure to check out the mullet. ;D Does Carolyn have one too? I know Hayley does.) Even though I'm not into sewing, I remember liking this one because I could relate to feeling overwhelmed because I was trying to be too nice and do things for others and couldn't say no. That's why I'm "saving" it to reread on a day when I'm feeling like that again, which I predict will be very soon (thought I needed it two days ago but I calmed myself down right before rereading.... ;D) I also liked the whole thing with the boys' sewing because I'm a big supporter of the idea that it's okay for boys to do "girl" things like that (and that it's okay for girls to do "boy things" like playing with tools and stuff like that as kids)
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magentanation
Sitter-In-Training
The girl with colitis goes by
Posts: 424
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Post by magentanation on Jul 17, 2007 23:52:53 GMT -5
^Oh yeah, Carolyn totally has a mullet. When she goes to get her "cool" haircut it's described as being really short in front with longer curls in the back. ;D
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 18, 2007 7:38:54 GMT -5
^ That's definitely a mullet. Guess I never realized it (but it makes me like her even less ;D) What book does it describe her getting a haircut? Is it Trouble With Twins or this one? What other kids are in the sewing group? I know Nicky and Buddy are at first. I always thought that was something I could picture them doing.
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magentanation
Sitter-In-Training
The girl with colitis goes by
Posts: 424
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Post by magentanation on Jul 18, 2007 9:38:00 GMT -5
I think her haircut is described in Mary Anne and the Great Romance, but I'm not positive.
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Post by aln1982 on Jul 21, 2007 23:25:28 GMT -5
^ Thanks. Just reread this one and liked it pretty well, as always. The sewing stuff did get a bit boring so I skimmed that but I really like the lesson MA learns that "being nice is sometimes not the least selfish thing to do but but just easiest". I have to remind myself of this when I feel overwhelmed because I feel like I need to "do more" for others but at the same time, get short tempered with people because I feel so stressed. I felt for MA and for Logan and those she was around, too. I really enjoy the subplot of this book and the sitting chapters. I was actually surprised, though, that it wasn't Mel Tucker making fun of the boys. I always assumed it was. I thought Vanessa's comebacks to Nicky were really good and that the whole subplot also taught a good lesson. This probably isn't one of my favorites but I definitely like it.
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