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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 31, 2009 17:20:44 GMT -5
I like this book more when I reread it too. I like reading about crafty things, and Mary Anne and Claudia working together. I wish I could do awesome stuff like sew and embroider, all I can do is knit. And sort of crochet.
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Post by mafan4life on Oct 28, 2009 12:55:42 GMT -5
I read it already and would like to read it again because I loved it. MA did a great job calling 911 when Mrs. Townes hurt her leg (or was her ankle).
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Jan 29, 2010 7:05:38 GMT -5
I like the title, it sounds like Maid Marion from Robin Hood
I think I was kind of bored with it when it first came out, but I would love to reread it. I lost it though, there are a bunch of books I never saw again though I still have most of my collection in a big bag in my room. I'm sure I enjoyed reading about the lessons though.
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Post by mafan4life on Mar 8, 2010 12:38:07 GMT -5
Poor Mary Anne kept doing EVERYthing for Mrs. Towne till she finally tells her neighbor she's no longer able to do so anymore
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
Posts: 2,552
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Post by wanderingfrog on Mar 9, 2010 22:50:12 GMT -5
I like the title, it sounds like Maid Marion from Robin Hood Hee hee, I can't believe I never thought of that before! I LOVE Robin Hood!
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Aug 18, 2010 18:30:28 GMT -5
The date Mary Anne and Logan had planned before they went over to help Mrs. Towne kill a wasp sounded like a lot of fun. A day at the lake, swimming, hiking, and eating a picnic. Mind you I don't think I'd let any 13-year old I know go off and do those things with only another 13-year old for company, but it does sound like something I'd enjoy.
Mary Anne was learning some really complicated stuff from Mrs. Towne. The whole time I was reading I kept wondering what she was making, because really you don't see smocking much except for baby clothes.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 19, 2010 0:07:08 GMT -5
i would have enjoyed this book a LOT more if i knew what those words all meant, or if i were actually interested in sewing. i like crafty artistic things, but quilting and knitting and those things just seem too old fashioned and repetitive to be much fun. and reading about those things is extra repetitive.
i guess i have to reread again, because i last time i read i never really thought mrs towne was being unreasonable with her requests. i do remember MA going out of her way in the beginning (when she is visiting, before they agree to barter), so i just assumed that was the arrangement all along.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 19, 2010 10:53:07 GMT -5
MA, describing the quilts the Pike kids were looking was interesting. I thought the fairy tale one sounded very cool and I do love unexpected things that "tell a story." I do admit, to having enjoyed the movie How to Make and American Quilt--the man the heroine didn't chose to marry (I was glad she stuck by her bff), was HOT. I do think owning a story quilt would be neat. However, I have zero interest in sewing or related arts and found it hard to believe that like magic all those kids wanted to make a quilt. I don't know anything about such a process, but I don't think Mary Anne had ever made one before. Wouldn't that be difficult for the group to have accomplished?
Mrs. Towne, I'm realizing as I type, perhaps her "name" was a metaphor for how MA is frequently "taken advantage of" (This should have been a Mal storyline) or lets herself be taken advantage of by various people in town only to stew about it in her passive/agressive fashion. At least MA didn't tell Mrs. Towne to get out of her life forever at the end.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 21, 2010 1:03:26 GMT -5
i decided to reread after reading this thread, to see if mrs towne actually did take advantage of MA. i guess the reason i never picked up on it before was that MA didn't seem to mind until the end, and it was kind of all at once. it almost felt like she didn't really mind until her picnic date was messed up.
even though she was a little bit pushy (from the very beginning, i realized this time around) i do feel sorry for mrs towne. it's like she has put so much into her craft because she doesn't have much else to fulfill her. it says she was a widow, but the book never talked about her husband or how long he has been gone. especially with her son in missouri (where i'm from!), sewing was probably the only familiar thing she had left after her husband's death. so i can understand why she attached herself to the first person who made time.
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
Posts: 414
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Post by scrounge on Aug 23, 2010 1:45:58 GMT -5
I felt a little sorry for Mrs. Towne and it would have been nice if she ever showed up again, even in a passing reference. I think the stuff about Mary Anne trying to be more unselfish was kind of clumsily thrown in to the book at the beginning to give a reason why she'd spend so much time doing chores. I think Mrs. Towne was probably flattered by Mary Anne being so interested in her sewing and craft projects. I know some prolific quilters and crafters and they tend to love to talk about their latest project or show you fabric they got to do something in the future. Maybe her adult friends just weren't as interested and she liked having MA over, even just to reach something in a closet or chase a wasp, so she could talk about her hobby without someone's eyes glazing over.
Also when I started reading this and Mary Anne was taking Marilyn and Carolyn Arnold to the Stone farm I admit to thinking unkind things about that stupid baby goat. I don't understand why every kid in Stoneybrook was so enchanted by her. Random story time: when my niece was about a year and a half old, they went to a petting zoo, and tried to get her to pet a goat, and it traumatized her, and months later when she got a farm puzzle she brought the goat piece to her mom and told her, "Touch. Goat. Scary."
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alula
Sitter-In-Training
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Post by alula on Aug 23, 2010 21:34:57 GMT -5
^haha your niece is awesome!
I think Mrs. Towne is briefly mentioned in at least one other book--they stop by her house for some reason--but I have no idea where.
I empathized a lot with Mary Anne in this book--arbitrarily deciding I was "too selfish" and getting sucked into an excessive situation in response is so early-adolescent me.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,257
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 24, 2010 17:12:02 GMT -5
^ that is so noble of you. i was such a terrible kid :]
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Post by anzuhana on Apr 14, 2011 12:50:19 GMT -5
I liked reading about the descriptions of the Mrs. Towne's house and I liked reading about the quilt. I was annoyed with the Mary Anne inconsistency since it was Mary Anne that was narrating.
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Post by wiggir13 on Jun 22, 2011 11:51:13 GMT -5
This was pretty boring for me as I am not crafty in the least. I did very much enjoy the cookie baking scene.
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Post by zoar3 on Jun 22, 2011 15:13:18 GMT -5
I skipped over this one and skimmed the following two books in my re-read, wanted to get Dawn temporarily gone anyway in "Dawn's Big Move." You summed it up exactly for me, too, Wiggirl. I also thought the way, Mary Anne told her Dad about Mrs. Towne was off. Maybe it was the wording or how I heard it. She says, "Mrs. Towne has fallen, Dad, at her house." We're waiting for the paramedics." Maybe it's the "has fallen," instead of "fell" that reads old fashioned or like MA is making a "report." I hope that made sense!
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