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Post by virgoscorpio on Mar 15, 2015 15:31:22 GMT -5
Thanks for bringing this thread back from the dead which hasn't seen the light for 3 years!
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Post by booboobrewer on Mar 15, 2015 16:37:17 GMT -5
I don't reread it too much...that cover puts me off.
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Post by greer on Mar 15, 2015 18:20:59 GMT -5
Dawn has some pretty serious eyebrows/eyeliner on this cover and Dawn Saves the Planet.
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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 Mar 18, 2015 10:42:18 GMT -5
So I'm gonna bring another thread back from the dead... What is it with the BSC having guests visit when they're in school and can't entertain them which soon leads to a problem. First Claudia with Peaches (though that's Peaches own fault for leaving work at 8 weeks pregnant...), then Stacey with Laine and now Jeff in this book. Why could he not come when the girls would be out of school? I am not sure if I've told this story before, so I will just say it again. Back in high school, the foreign language classes took a trip to Europe. My friend Becky who was on the trip had hosted a foreign exchange student the year before, so his family invited her to stay with them for a week or so after the rest of the group flew home. This trip was in early June so we were out of school but their school was still in session, so the mom made sure that Becky invited somebody else specifically to keep her company during school hours (which was me, yay!), and also found a neighbor who had finished school the year before so we weren't bored. If you are going to invite someone over and not be free the whole time, you at least owe it to them to find them some other people for company. We were quite a bit older than Jeff at this point so I don't know if he could have brought a friend with him, but the idea that Sharon doesn't take off work while her only son is in town is really dumb. Richard is so kind to try entertaining Jeff, but he's not a super fun vacation dad so Sharon should have planned better.
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LadyDru
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 373
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Post by LadyDru on Nov 17, 2015 14:15:27 GMT -5
I loved this book when I first read it..I was like "woah" when I read the summary about the Spiers/Schafers were fighting but it really disappointed me as they were getting along so well when Jeff first arrived..Jeff, I had mixed feelings for..I agree, he did become bratty eventually..I would hardly say he is a brat for not liking museums since not all children have the same idea of fun..now if he had rudely stated his dislike for them (as he did on the Boston trip) like say "hell no, I aint going to any museum" or use harsh cuss words or anything similar, then he should be called out on it..plus it was DAWN who made fun of Richard's inability to play sports, not Jeff..unless he did in a missing scene or something..but really, Richard should have found out from Sharon what Jeff liked doing if he didn't ask Jeff himself..then none of that mess would have happened..and I wonder why he didn't take Dawn or Mary Anne's suggestions to go to a movie or something.. I noticed in some Dawn books I see her POV since it is her narrating(she is my least favorite BSCer)..
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
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Post by andrew on Mar 31, 2016 8:43:18 GMT -5
This was probably Mary Anne at her worst/most immature (especially claiming to want to be with the adults and using silly as an insult twice) and Jeff was too bratty (his liking/claiming Jeffrey's Ledge was funny though). Dawn is pretty bad but typical (her extremeness is almost amusing in of course siding with Jeff and being shocked MA would side with Richard, seeming to write angry postcards every hour to people expected to take her side). It was nice that Richard and Sharon were pretty even-minded (and a lot of the fighting early on was fairly subtle, mostly wanting to go to different things which isn't unreasonable) but the reconciliation at the end was pretty rushed/forced.
The initial pre-Boston conflict felt more told than shown or just really minor (going to museums and playing catch isn't being either really friendly, although it is trying, or annoying; I get that Jeff shouldn't have to go places he doesn't want to on vacation but he didn't seem to want to do anything other than maybe see the Pikes).
One of the clear timeline changes was Dawn suggests #25 took place really soon after #10 (which kind of makes sense for how both Logan and Kerry act).
The subplot was OK but its end was at best bizarre, that the kids became desperate to play a big-number-of-kids game.
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Post by Sideshowjazz1 on Mar 11, 2018 15:43:03 GMT -5
I don't see the fuss it was about. I mean, yes, Jeff doesn't like Stoneybrook. There are things in Stoneybrook he does like, though, so there's no need for him to act like a brat. On the other hand, I think a lot of it was the change in routine. Jeff is pushing the limits, because he's on holiday. The lack of or change in routine has a tendency to really get to people, and they usually do act a little different. Adults are usually better, because it's a real break for them. Kids, though, get more wild.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Dec 22, 2019 11:33:35 GMT -5
Dawn was really mean about Richard. She even made fun of him ! I used to like Dawn but she changed a lot in book 30 onwards.
She was part of the problem in this book. Taking Jeff's side end Jeff should realise not everyone is athletic!
I felt really sorry for Richard.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Dec 22, 2019 11:34:28 GMT -5
Maybe it was after that that she realised she was better suited to an alternative lifestyle! "That's IT! No more thingy for me, thanks! I'm outta here" (whoosh, exit Mrs DeWitt). She only has three kids and I take offence at this.
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Post by oldmeanie on Oct 18, 2022 8:55:25 GMT -5
Does anyone else think it's weird that Dawn has two books extremely close together in the series? I wonder why they did that.
After reading this book, I'm kind of subscribing to the idea that Dawn doesn't actually like Richard that much. I just get that feeling. Overall, this book is not my favorite. I was missing this one for a long time as a kid and was really curious about it since I liked all the "fighting" books, but when I did read it I found it forgettable.
Still find it forgettable. The fight isn't that well-developed and Dawn and Jeff are brats. Sadly, despite it being a Dawn book, there aren't even that many food descriptions (aside from what they're going to eat at Casa Grande). Usually there are more. As silly as this is, I was a bit disappointed lol.
I usually like Jeff, but yes, he was bratty in this book. I just got... tired reading about the Schafer-Spier fight? Then there was the Barrett-DeWitt subplot. For some reason, I just never cared much about this family. I wish Mrs. Barrett could've just remained a single mom. I like the Barretts by themselves, but pretty much all the Barrett-DeWitt plots are... tiring. I'm not sure why.
Boston does sound cool, though, ngl. I guess this book has one thing going for it haha. The paddle boat and whale-watching sound really cool. It is stupid that Mary Anne doesn't know what the Boston Tea Party was. Very OOC. Tbh, I think her tour guide trait introduced in #18 was supposed to be funny, but I just find it annoying.
I don't know what Sharon's problem is, saying Tigger isn't part of the family and he's "just a cat." Maybe this is a time thing, like right now I think the vast majority of people agree that pets are part of the family, but maybe not in the early 90s? Idk. It's just weird that the people who aren't crazy about animals in the series are vegetarians.
Their reconciliation was pretty hasty. The laughing it off bit is used a lot in this series. I liked it in MA Saves the Day, but when it just gets used again and again, meh... the Barrett-DeWitt reconciliation was also pretty hasty. I'm not sure that would actually work irl. It seems like kids are pretty stubborn if they don't like someone and in actuality would just want to invite their friends over. Idk, I'm not around kids much, any thoughts?
I'm not a big fan of Shannon really (I think she's too similar to Stacey), but I think she got shafted in the series. At this point, she's apparently going to more meetings and Dawn muses that she might end up being a permanent club member (isn't she already, just doesn't go to meetings?). I think at one point she's on the back covers (can't tell with Kindle) but never gets a regular series book, while Dawn gets several while in California, one book after she permanently moves, then a spinoff series. What is UP with that?
There is a little foreshadowing to Big Move, like Dawn missing California and her brother. But not as much as I expected considering how (weirdly) close the two books are in the series. There isn't much in the other books in the 60s, unless I'm missing something.
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livvy
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 394
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Post by livvy on Jul 1, 2023 0:37:14 GMT -5
Did anyone notice that Stacey called Sharon Mrs Spier? She's always been Mrs Schafer after she remarried.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 5, 2023 11:42:17 GMT -5
I definitely remember them calling her Mrs. Spier on multiple occasions. Does anyone else think it's weird that Dawn has two books extremely close together in the series? I wonder why they did that. Maybe because they knew she would be written out of the main series soon, and her storyline was important at the time.
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Post by oldmeanie on Jul 6, 2023 10:29:41 GMT -5
I definitely remember them calling her Mrs. Spier on multiple occasions. Does anyone else think it's weird that Dawn has two books extremely close together in the series? I wonder why they did that. Maybe because they knew she would be written out of the main series soon, and her storyline was important at the time. It never really felt like she was written out of the series to me. She gets books until #98 and chapters in all the Super Specials (I think only one in #15, but still). I also feel like this book should have been earlier in the series. On re read, it feels sort of pointless.
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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 Jul 7, 2023 10:05:29 GMT -5
I agree with you in that Dawn feels like a constant presence in the series. It's even different from when Stacey left. People missed Stacey and they talked about how she used to be in the club. But Mary Anne still lives with Dawn's mom and walks by her empty room everyday.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 8, 2023 21:27:21 GMT -5
This is true. I’m sure Dawn was a super popular character back in the day among the fans.
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