Your thoughts and opinions over the years

[Lila]

I've noticed that my thoughts while reading the series changes so much over the years.

Like in the beginning when I had BSC books i really didn't have a good reading-comprehension. Some books were easier to read while others went over my head. I loved Little Sister stuff back then.
(first started BSC when in second grade and read up to 6th grade)
Then, when reading the books when I was in highschool I grasped stuff easier and really started enjoying the BSC

Then in 2007 I started reading BSC books and got so into them, I saw so many things I didnt pick up on when a kid-teenager.
I bought every book I could off of amazon then and filled out my series.
and I started reading them but stopped in 2008 summer Got hooked on getting the rest of the RL Stine Fear Streets and the Point Horror books he wrote. and the 4 stand-alone stories he wrote before Fear Street.


Now I am back to re-reading BSC again and I have totally different opinions when I'm reading.

In some books I hate the Pikes in some I like them.
Some books Mallory seems llike a whiney annoyance and others she's really sweet and fun.

I find her OK in books that I previously hated her in.

Claudia I find very endearing in her books I just had when she stuffs her face with junk-food.

Dawn is really fun and adorable even if she does get uber-rights crazy.

Kristy in the beginning she annoyed me when she acted super immature. But now I dont find her annoying. It is more annoying that she got more mature in the later books when they were ghostwritten.


Its interesting to see how different I see books in a newer light than as i did before.


I'm sure other people have new feelings/ideas when they read BSC books, right? =)

[sparklymouse]

I don't remember seeing the girls as individuals originally. I was more focused on the club as a whole and how cool it was to have a large group of friends to have adventures with. Now when I read, I pay more attention to each girl rather than the club as a whole. My strongest, most consistent feelings now have been that I admire Kristy, I think Claudia is awesome, and I wish Stacey would die of her diabetes .

[zoar3]

^ I agree. I also bunched them all together as the ideal group of friends I would have loved to have had by my side especially at their age. I also loved the town of Stoneybrook. To some extent I still feel that away and lol am wondering if the infamous bsc time warp might have something to due with that? Any thoughts? I'm still thinking through what I mean by that but just because they were in 8th grade for 13 years and has gazzillions of each season, despite each book being individually narrated, after a while, that "individual voice" did not always matter as much. Except maybe in the case of Jessi. (if Mallory got dealt the worst overall hand in terms of how she was treated and portrayed than Jessi got the very worst books as a whole).

I am honestly not sure if as a kid I truly gave much thought to why I liked/disliked traits of the girls just that Kristy was always my favorite. Back then, before I became "educated" thanks to these boards and also now being an adult, I truly felt most like MA simply because she was quieter, more reserved than the others, and supposedly a friend to all. Now, my opinion of Miss Spier has changed to to agree with a lot of others on here in that she was not the so-called "quiet, sweet" person the Ghosties and Ann generalized her character as. I truly think she was a rotten "friend" to her so-called "bff" as she wrote in Kristy and the Haunted Mansion, the way Dawn pretty much replaced Kristy in MA's world. I've said this before but would have enjoyed reading about K and MA hanging out more.

Back on topic, my current opinions on the BSC members is: I also admire Kristy very much. I really believe at heart she is the most genuine of the bunch, especially in terms of caring for children in general and the group's charges. I am a fellow dog lover, truly (sorry MA) do not care for cats at all, love baseball, wish in school I had been a straight A student like K, and also admit that my uniform is jeans/shorts and T's too. . I wish I had had a less traumatic childhood. The person I thought of as my mother was my grandma and despite loving her fiercely, especially my grandpa, I know while growing up I sought out "mom" figures in my life. I mention this to maybe go along with a comment I made in a different thread that I got the impression (perhaps wanted to read about it) Kristy and Seargant Johnson developing a friendship...sort of like a dad /daughter and of course, more implications that K and Watson really thought of one another as dad and daughter.

I, also, have come to like Claudia more. Though her school woes being on broken record did get quite old, what after 13 years in 8th grade? In fact, I think the BSC might just mean almost as much to her as it does to Kristy. C for the belief that the group is a place where she believes she is unconditionally cared about and accepted and K more for the friends as family and constant aspect.

MA, is tricky because, well, does she truly have much of a character? Maybe in her own way she got written off, just like Mallory did and possibly even sadder because now that I think about it even in books narrated by her with the exception of MA and the Secret in the Attic and possibly the aftermath of the fire at her house, her "voice" really did not stand out much...She was always quiet, left behind/follower role, more often than not ended up being passive/aggressive...does this make sense? I wished we had gotten to read about her first appointments with Dr. Reese supposedly soon after her Dad married Dawn's mother. Might have made her shine a bit more.

Stacey, has a place in my bsc heart because of her relationship with Charlotte. I wish the darn writers had ended up referring to them and treating them more as sisters than 'almost sisters.' I also applauded the way she finally stood up to Laine. Ironically 30-40? books later she became "Laine" toward Claudia and the rest of the BSC. I could care less about her hair, how many boys she's been in LUV with and her eternal dilemma over which one to choose. Lol, Sparklymouse, her diabetes much like other traits of bsc members sure got drilled into us. There should have been more times (in real life there probably would have been) when she broke down and ate something forbidden as a rare indulgence. Lol, maybe even got in Dawn's face and told her that while she respects her (D's) choice to eat the way she chooses, S only wishes she had that freedom and enjoy the food she does eat as opposed to Dawn's negative craziness over what she doesn't!

That said, Dawn, is so darn annoying and hyrpocritical that I generally skip over her books or scenes. She could have been done without by me altogether! I only liked her very early on.

Mallory, did indeed get a bum deal. As someone else said, she was more interesting as a charge than as a sitter.

Jessi, sigh, enough already. One thing I still fail to comprehend is why after Mal left for Riverbend did Jessi not resconsider joining Dance NY. Doing so would have given her an unique character, I think anyway.

Abby, Shannon should simply have been the permanent alternate officer. No need for Abby at all. I thought she was hysterical in A and the Notorious Neighbor and first time around enjoyed A and the Mystery Baby until the 'baby' was not a mystery at all, . But otherwise, did not care for her Dawn like superior than thou (loud in her case) attitude or that at times she purposely made fun of people and to their faces. Not cool at all.

Shannon, would have been interesting to read more about. Aside from her choice in "Shannon's Story" I grew to like her and even her sisters as well. Always wondered why Tiffany never sought out BSC junior officer membership. Oh but I forgot sometimes--depending on the writer-- she is only 10!

Logan, I admit to always being somewhat boy-crazy despite being very shy as a kid and thought he sounded quite the hunky 13 year old guy. Heck he even liked kids. Then his scary side emerged in the 40's books and well afterwards he was just Logan/MA's bf in my mind, nothing more. Maybe he regressed back into the lump bsc character grouping as opposed to a separate person, too.

[sweetvalleygirl99]

Jul 26, 2009 18:44:23 GMT -5 sparklymouse said:

I don't remember seeing the girls as individuals originally. I was more focused on the club as a whole and how cool it was to have a large group of friends to have adventures with. Now when I read, I pay more attention to each girl rather than the club as a whole. My strongest, most consistent feelings now have been that I admire Kristy, I think Claudia is awesome, and I wish Stacey would die of her diabetes .

I was the same way when I was first reading the series; I was more interested in the whole club and their whole group dynamic rather than each person individually. Reading the series as a kid, I so badly wanted to have a group of friends as awesome as the BSCers and be able to go on fun trips and just have an overall great time with them . I had my favorite sitters of course, but what drew me into the series was the group dynamic and their close friendship.

As I got older and began rereading them again, I began to also look beyond the group dynamic and pay more attention to each girl, which made me change my favorites around a bit. When I was a kid, my favorite sitters were MA, Mal and Dawn. Now reading them again, Kristy has replaced Dawn in the 'favorite sitter' category ;D. In the beginning, I really didn't like Kristy too much because I'd read LS before BSC and I really didn't like her character in LS because she always seemed, idk, hostile and wasn't ever really sensitive to Karen's feelings (Karen's Big Sister and Karen's Paper Route being two prime examples). But after reading BSC again, I really began to like Kristy, especially in the early books when she acts sarcastic and pretty much like a normal teenager. Her character in BSC is much more likeable and you can relate to it more there than in LS. As for why I don't like Dawn too much anymore, after Dawn and the Big Sleepover (one of the last Dawn books I liked) and as she started coast-hopping a lot, up until she left, it just got annoying. Plus I used to think that she was such an "individual" as a kid until I read Dawn's Big Date for the first time last year. Made me lose respect for her "individual" title right away .

[sugarandspicexx]

I've found that not only have certain thoughts and opinions changed on different books and characters since I read them as a young person, but one's I've read more than once now I'm grown up can stir different reactions from me just depending on my state of mind otherwise at the time of reading.

I have to agree that when I was younger, I saw the unity of the group as a whole and looked less at the individuals. This is likely to be because until towards the end of reading BSC until I stopped for a few years, I was more into LS. I only originally had 5 regular series books. I'd never even read a Mary Anne or Claudia book until I got back into them again.

Back then, they all always seemed so grown up for 13 or otherwise. 13 sort of seemed a lot older than it was to me back then anyway, more how I'd see 16 or 17 year olds now. Nowdays, I guess they still seem a little that way to me because they're not how I'd see typical 13 year olds. Other times though when they do show their age by doing or saying something a little immature I'm likely to judge a little harshly, because for me at times it's just easier to forget they're supposed to be 13.

I feel the same way about the characters generally as I used to, but now I actually know more about each of them (esp. Claud, who was always sort of a nothing character to me) I see them each as an individual now and not a piece of a puzzle. One big change though is how I see Karen Brewer. When she was my "peer" I found her books fun and interesting, now she's just a fairly annoying child. I will say though I feel she was portrayed a bit differently in LS to the regular series.

[sparklymouse]

Jul 26, 2009 20:35:08 GMT -5 zoar3 said:

Stacey, has a place in my bsc heart because of her relationship with Charlotte. I wish the darn writers had ended up referring to them and treating them more as sisters than 'almost sisters.' I also applauded the way she finally stood up to Laine. Ironically 30p40? books later she became "Laine" toward Claudia and the rest of the BSC. I could care less about her hair, how many boys she's been in LUV with and her eternal dilemma over which one to choose. Lol, Sparklymouse, her diabetes much like other traits of bsc members sure got drilled into us. There should have been more times (in real life there probably would have been) when she broke down and ate something forbidden or as a rare indulgence. Lol, maybe even got in Dawn's face and told her that while she respects her (D's) choice to eat the way she chooses, S only wishes she had that freedom and enjoy the food she does eat as opposed to Dawn's neagtive craziness over what she doesn't!

I love the idea of a smackdown with Dawn and the junk food. We don't know a lot about Stacey's eating habits pre-diabetes. She didn't sound like a Claudia or even a Kristy, but she seemed to enjoy sweets enough to miss the freedom of eating them. I wish she had commented on the snacks Claudia passed out every once in a while. Even just an "Oh, I used to love Oreos" or whatever, and then Mary Anne could cry about how sad it was that Stacey could no longer eat them. Lol.

[zoar3]

I just remembered and found this from "Stacey's Book" on page 64: 8- year old Stacey and Laine had gotten permission from Mrs. Gill to go the ice cream store around the corner and eat there alone.

"Laine had her usual Swiss almond chocolate with chocolate sprinkles and I had vanilla with multicolored sprinkles. Those were my sweet prediabetes days. If I had known then that in four years I'd be told that I couldn't eat sugar again, I'd have had double sprinkles! But that Saturday I was just a carefree eight-year old who thought she'd be eating sprinkles for the rest of her life."

Aw, poor Stacey. I do recall a few times her being described by other bsc members in chapter 2's as being a person who would love to eat chocolate and other Claudia type food if she could. LOL!!! ""Oh, I used to love Oreos" or whatever, and then Mary Anne could cry about how sad it was that Stacey could no longer eat them." I can completely see that unfolding. So funny.

In general, I think her own comments pretty much summed up her feelings that as a kid she never thought twice about sugar and probably other junk as well. I, too, got the impression that Claudia was obviously the extreme chocoholic anything along with other assorted junk foods queen, Kristy, at least from the S'mores in "BS at Shadow Lake" when she, Claudia, and Mallory keep on making them..she (K) makes the comment that one time she made a bunch of big smores did not get at all sick. Her mother was only angry that she had used up all the graham crackers. I wonder if K had a stash of her own? In any case, she definitely enjoyed her sweets. Another odd, annoying thing about her comment in BS Remember saying that if she were Claudia's parents she would not approve of her daughter eating junk food either. Please!

Anyway, I want to read your smackdown scene now very much!

[sweetvalleygirl99]

Jul 28, 2009 0:12:43 GMT -5 sugarandspicexx said:

I've found that not only have certain thoughts and opinions changed on different books and characters since I read them as a young person, but one's I've read more than once now I'm grown up can stir different reactions from me just depending on my state of mind otherwise at the time of reading.

Same here. Reading certain books sometimes gave me a reaction that was different to the one I had when I read it the first time. Prime example for me was Claudia and the Sad Goodbye. As a young kid reading the book, while I felt sad about Mimi's death, I guess I really didn't understand what Claud was going through in terms of grieving quite yet. The part near the end when she was flipping out at her mom and Janine for going through Mimi's room, I'll be the first to admit, I didn't know what Claud's problem was or why she felt so sad about it. This changed when I reread the book for the first time in years just a few months ago. During my freshman year, my grandma had died and we were extremely close, much like Mimi and Claudia. Reading that book and reading about how Claud felt... it was almost identical to how I felt when my own grandma died. I too felt weird going back to school after her death and I too flipped out when my mom began giving away her things, even to family members. Reading that book this time around didn't leave me feeling satisfied, like I normally did after reading a BSC book. After reading it this time, I cried and cried. It just hit too close to home for me . To this day, I have not picked up that book and I doubt that I will again.

Jul 28, 2009 0:12:43 GMT -5 sugarandspicexx said:

Back then, they all always seemed so grown up for 13 or otherwise. 13 sort of seemed a lot older than it was to me back then anyway, more how I'd see 16 or 17 year olds now. Nowdays, I guess they still seem a little that way to me because they're not how I'd see typical 13 year olds. Other times though when they do show their age by doing or saying something a little immature I'm likely to judge a little harshly, because for me at times it's just easier to forget they're supposed to be 13.

I thought the same way about 13 back then. Back then, I used to wish to turn 13 because I thought that I would be all grown up and much older than I was any other year. Boy was I wrong lol ;D. Thirteen was one of the most awkward times of my life; I didn't feel older or grown up at all. I also used to judge sort of harshly when I read the earlier books and saw how "immature" they acted compared to later books but now I enjoy it. Being immature was what typical thirteen was like for me. I didn't really start to feel "older" until I entered high school at fifteen.

Jul 28, 2009 0:12:43 GMT -5 sugarandspicexx said:

One big change though is how I see Karen Brewer. When she was my "peer" I found her books fun and interesting, now she's just a fairly annoying child. I will say though I feel she was portrayed a bit differently in LS to the regular series.

This is true; Karen was definitely portrayed differently in LS to the regular series. I read LS before BSC so of course I had a pretty good idea about what Karen was like beforehand... or so I thought lol. The contrast in her character is amazing, to say the least lol. I went from loving Karen in LS to almost hating her in the BSC. I just couldn't believe she'd been written to be bratty in the BSC and then written to be kind with a slight of brattiness in LS . I'm wondering if her BSC character is why they did LS in the first place; to put Karen in a better light lol.

I've always been a Karen fan, ever since I was eight. That hasn't changed now at nineteen (even though I cringe when I read about her in BSC ;D). She had her bratty and annoying moments most definitely, but so have we . I just overlook that part of her character and move forward .

[sugarandspicexx]

^ I can relate to what you mean about not being sure if you could read "sad goodbye" again. I don't know if I really want to read "Kristy & The Snobs" ever again. I read it a few months back, and I was sure I'd 'moved on' or 'accepted' my dog dying 2 years previously that I'd had since I was 5. The way Louie suffered and eventually died was just waay too much like what happened to my dog, I bawled most of the way though that book. And although apart from Louie dying, I have to admit I really liked parts of it. (Trust me, I know losing a pet is not even close to losing a relative having lost my dad, but when I have pets I get really attatched and having her from 5 - 19 was a huge chunk of my life. Now I have to prepare myself for the cat, he's 16, has diabetes and most of his teeth have fallen out, but is generally in ok shape.)

[otempora541]

My opinions really haven't changed much. I used to say Mary Anne was my favirote, but Abby has grown on me like a fungus, because we both share he same sense of humor and general outlook of life. To me, she's the most intresting member of the BSC with the most intresting family life who called Kristy out on her BS and generally seemed to be the best functioning.

I feel bad for Dawn, because from BSC#5 until CD#15, she's had the most inconsistnant personality (which is why so many fans hate her.)

[sweetvalleygirl99]

Jul 29, 2009 1:12:09 GMT -5 sugarandspicexx said:

^ I can relate to what you mean about not being sure if you could read "sad goodbye" again. I don't know if I really want to read "Kristy & The Snobs" ever again. I read it a few months back, and I was sure I'd 'moved on' or 'accepted' my dog dying 2 years previously that I'd had since I was 5. The way Louie suffered and eventually died was just waay too much like what happened to my dog, I bawled most of the way though that book. And although apart from Louie dying, I have to admit I really liked parts of it. (Trust me, I know losing a pet is not even close to losing a relative having lost my dad, but when I have pets I get really attatched and having her from 5 - 19 was a huge chunk of my life. Now I have to prepare myself for the cat, he's 16, has diabetes and most of his teeth have fallen out, but is generally in ok shape.)

Aww, sorry about your dog and your cat .
My last dog died similar to how Louie did, she was just old and in pain and suffering so much . Her death didn't stop me from reading this book (I was fairly young when she died) but when I do read it I have to kind of skim over the Louie parts because of the memories.

[Kylie90210]

I don't really know if I ever thought of them as more of a group, I think I enjoyed the books because of their individual personalities, even as a six year old. I also liked the baby sitting, and would play baby sitters with a fellow fan friend of mine.

As a kid, I loved Stacey.

Now, it's hard for me to choose a favourite, they all have their moments, really. I do appreciate Claudia more now, though.

[anzuhana]

When I was younger, I didn't think of the girls as individuals. I like Dawn less, though there are books of here that I do like. I like Logan less as well. As for Shannon, I appreciate and like her character and I would have liked to read more about her.

[wenonah4th]

Apart from realizing how far-fetched some things are my opinions are surprisingly unchanged.

[supprazz]

I liked whoever I read about when I read about them, if someone disagreed with the narrator of that book, I didn't like them. If Mary Anne was annoying in a Dawn book I didn't like her and vice versa. But I've narrowed my favourites down to Stacey, Claudia and Mary Anne