oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,258
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 9, 2011 9:01:58 GMT -5
i don't think the book ever specifies, but do you guys think the lydia/george story was made up by the coopers to scare the bsc? georgio's grandparents tell claudia they've never heard of the story, and the names are just way too similar, but part of me feels that if the story were made up it should have been on the evil things to do list, or at least addressed later ("i can't believe the coopers scared us with such a lame story" or something.) usually topics are dealt with so heavy-handedly and i'm not used to them leaving without tying everything up.
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Post by wiggir13 on Aug 9, 2011 10:08:42 GMT -5
I feel like that conversation with his parents was the verification that they made it up. That was the way I took it anyway.
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Post by zoar3 on Aug 9, 2011 11:06:56 GMT -5
^I never thought of that, Oldhickory. It would seem like, at least a version of the story would be something they'd try, either "on their list" or maybe try and push/lock someone in the dumbwaiter.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jul 5, 2012 1:48:07 GMT -5
So if you have a copy of this book, please do me a favour and take it out now. Now go to the first page of the book and read Claudia's passage. Then, ask yourself this: if you were a parent and you had had no prior knowledge of of the BSC series at all, would you want your kids to read this book? Now I know why Claud doesn't narrate that many Super Specials, te he he.
Edited to add: I'm re-reading this book now and one of my favourite chapters is Mary Anne's (Chapter 3) when she's describing the mansion and also her bedroom, especially the storm and lighthouse scene that was painted on her headboard.
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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 Jul 26, 2012 20:30:47 GMT -5
^ I must be missing something, because I don't see anything wrong with it. It just reads like normal Claudia BSC stuff...
I'm almost done with this one (again), and something struck me this time around. At the beginning, when they're all leaving, Claudia comes out of her house with a big bag of junk food for the trip. She also states that her parents took a long time saying goodbye. Wouldn't they have seen the junk food, or at least wondered what Claudia had in the bag? Also, it boggles my mind that Jessi and Mallory couldn't get permission to go on this trip when it's one of the tamer ones they've taken. They got to go to EUROPE, for pity's sake!
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,258
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Post by oldhickory on Jul 26, 2012 22:02:33 GMT -5
^ i think he meant because of her spelling. i wouldn't be crazy about my school-age kids having to weed through so many mistakes. but maybe mallory and jessi were allowed to go to europe because it was a school-sponsored event with teacher chaperones, and this trip was just a couple of adults who would be working the whole time.
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Post by zoar3 on Jul 26, 2012 22:08:01 GMT -5
^That makes sense but then why were they allowed to go to New York and CA? Mr. Schafer certainly didn't do much chaperoning! I still would have preferred if only Kristy and one other sitter at most had gone on this trip. There really was no need for all of them. I know, I may be in the minority of still wishing there had been some trips that we read about besides Fire Island and Sea City that only involved one or two sitters or just the sitter and their family.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,258
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Post by oldhickory on Jul 26, 2012 22:24:06 GMT -5
^ because ed and jack are both bsc parents, and lisa and seth aren't? good point though.
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Post by zoar3 on Jul 26, 2012 23:05:45 GMT -5
^ Could be. Even though (I don't think) any of the parents ever talked with Ed or Jack before the trip (aside from obviously Maureen and Sharon), maybe the adults somehow felt they "knew" them better anyway? It was weird (I just now had this thought) that none of the girls' parents questioned whether or not all of them going was such a good idea simply because the grown ups would be busy and not around much. Like the girls might be in the way kind of thing. I know, they (girls) are the "true" adults, but you know what I mean. I think the only time a parent ever questioned any sort of get together was Richard and Sharon wondering if it was appropriate for MA and Dawn to go to Kristy's after Watson's heart attack. Gotta love our Stoneybrook parents!
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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 Jul 27, 2012 0:42:50 GMT -5
^ A lot of parents questioned whether or not the girls should go to New York in SS#6, and in "Stacey's Emergency" as well. Come to think of it, didn't Jessi and Mallory have to stay home then, too?
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Post by zoar3 on Jul 27, 2012 11:43:49 GMT -5
^I do remember Mr. Kishi debated about allowing to Claudia to go to CA. IIRC, at first it was a money issue as in he felt the airplane ticket cost too much and later he and Rioko both felt awkward about accepting Jack's money. I know we have discussed on here how it was "fine" for Claudia to always accept Watson's generosity but in this case with a "regular" parent their suddenly was an issue. I honestly think they all should have stayed home in #6. The only person who should have gone was Dawn. If MA wanted to fly out a few days after the wedding that would be different. Let the "new" Schafer family have some time to themselves and maybe then or better next trip West MA could come with possibly a friend of Jeff's from CT. That would have made so much more sense to me.
As for "Stacey"s Emergency." All of you know what I think of Stacey/Charlotte, overall. I wish they truly were like sisters. At this point in the series there was still hope of that bond coming. I HATED that the Johanssens never took Charlotte to visit Stacey. I also totally agree that if Mal and Jessi could spend a week in CA and NY basically unsupervised their was no reason why they could not have gone to NY with the older girls to visit Stacey. Heck one of their parents could (should) have accompanied all of them (anyway) on the train.
I think a lot of us now that we are older wish the families had been more involved because it might have shown us extra "regular" life in Stoneybrook moments.
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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 Jul 27, 2012 17:55:27 GMT -5
^ I think you mean SS#12, not 6. SS#6 was "New York, New York!" and #12 was "Here Come the Bridesmaids."
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Post by booboobrewer on Jul 10, 2013 20:14:32 GMT -5
French should always be capitalized, right? In this book French doors, French bread, and French fries are all lowercase while French families and French accent aren't. Just noticed that.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jul 10, 2013 22:32:07 GMT -5
While reading Ann's new book, Family Tree, I thought of this book because the story takes place in Maine and the protagonist visits a house that looks onto the ocean, and the BACK of the house is actually the front (same as in this book). I know that's not uncommon for lake houses but it still reminded me of this book.
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Post by zoar3 on Feb 22, 2014 19:14:11 GMT -5
I just finished rereading and wow this story is so creepy. I still can't believe the Coopers were actually planning on threatening (in general, too) but in a very malicious way the Menders with the "small electrical fire in Martha's room." How exactly were they planning to ensure no one got hurt and the fire remained "small?" :/ Aside from that and some of the Georgio parts, I really love the idea of this seaside town. Sea City will forever have a place in my heart but Reese, Maine sure sounds like a fun and pretty place to visit--maybe a smaller more neighborhood-y Sea City in a way. I really do love the Mallory parts of Christmas Chiller but think this book is probably my favorite SM. Oh and I always get a smile out of the BSC on Wheels Parade. I would have enjoyed reading more about all the kids riding their decorated wheels--good job Mal and Jessi!
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