Shannon's Story

[sotypical42483]

I really didn't care for this book. I thought Shannon came off as a spoiled little brat. Missing a trip to PARIS because your mom is annoying you?! Who's mom ISN'T annoying at 13??? Shannon's lucky she's loaded and will probably have lots more opportunities to hit up Paris. I thought she was pretty bitchy to her mom. Yeah her mom was annoying and over-bearing but for gods sake, you're 13! your mom is supposed to bug you!

I don't know, I guess I'm just not on the Shannon love train, she seemed so bratty.

[wanderingfrog]

I am on the "Shannon love train," I guess, but although I relate to her feelings in this book, I sure can't relate to her actions. I would never in a bazillion years purposely miss a trip to Paris just because my mom was chaperoning, no matter how much she was annoying me. Especially not if I had to fail an exam and trash my French grade in order to do it.

[sotypical42483]

I didn't understand the failing French thing. Did she fail the entire CLASS or just the final?

[wanderingfrog]

Just the final, to bring her grade for the class below the 85 that was required to go on the trip.

[msstock87]

Wow, I would never in a MILLION years fail a test on purpose, especially since I am not the best test taker to begin with. Also, I would love to go to Paris, so I think she is crazy for not going.

[sotypical42483]

What if Stacey or Kristy or someone had failed on purpose like Shannon did? Wouldn't everyone think they were being brats for doing it? I don't know how anyone can like Shannon after she's such a friggin spoiled little b*tch.

[hitzpink]

I agree, I feel like Shannon is given a free pass because she so rarely shows up. It bugs me when people say she's their favorite, or one of their favorites. If she were a more prominent character, I'm sure she'd be snarked as much as the rest of them. It's like on tv shows, everybody always says that some random friend of one of the main characters is so great and should get more plotlines. But if they did, they'd be nitpicked just as much as the others!

In general I'm pretty "meh" about Shannon. She seems nice, but the overachieving stuff is kind of annoying. I liked her in.......hm, what was that book where she started hanging out with the club more often and Kristy got jealous? I just read it but I can't think of which one it was. Well, I liked her in that book but hated her in this one. It was unbelievable of her to miss the Paris trip just because her mom was bugging her.

[booboobrewer]

Well, of course since she rarely shows up she won't be snarked on nearly as much. There's nothing wrong with wanting more Shannon plotlines or naming her as a favorite just because she's rarely focused on. It's the complexity of the things we do know that makes her interesting...she's the only club member with what looks to be quite a depressing home life/family; the distant parents, Tiffany being kind of withdrawn and sad. It makes sense to me that Shannon would devote so much detail to something she knows will bring her confidence and comfort (doing well in school), or that she could suddenly do something desperate or extreme (throwing out the Paris trip), because there's such tension in her home life. And it's true she will probably get the opportunity to travel to Paris in the future, but really, most of the girls were from pretty well-off families and would probably have the same option. Calling Shannon a spoiled brat or b*tch for that isn't quite fair, IMO.

[ktag]

Right...and technically, didn't Claudia and Mary Anne pass up the chance of going to Europe? Though I guess they hadn't already paid for it. Speaking of which, would they really forbid her to go on the trip, that she presumably already paid for, just because her grade dipped below 85 at the very end despite being pretty much perfect all year? Seems kinda harsh, even if it was what she wanted.

[sotypical42483]

I still think she's a brat for purposely failing a test because her mommy was annoying her.

I do think her homelife is interesting though, but Kristy also has a difficult homelife at times (with Patrick, obv not with Watson!) and Dawn's clearly torn about her family being ripped apart. Maybe they just dealt with it better than Shannon. I don't know, to me her life didn't seem that bad. Her dad seemed like an a-hole, but it bothered me that the plot centered around her MOM being so overbearing and annoying when really she was being a regular mom.

[wanderingfrog]

Don't forget that Shannon's French grade doesn't ultimately matter because she is doomed to repeat eighth grade multiple times after this no matter how well she does in French class. ;D So it means less for her to flush her grade down the toilet than it would have for me to do the same thing.

[aln1982]

It’s been a really long time since I’ve read this one and I just got my own copy in the mail (yeah!). I thought I liked it the first time I read it, but this time, I have a different opinion. I’m not sure if it gave me more insight into Shannon’s personality but if it did, I don’t like what I saw. I thought she acted like a foolish brat and was really dumb to sabotage her chance to go to Paris just because her mom was going. I felt really sorry for her mom. Sure, she might have been a little clingy, embarrassing, critical, and annoying (from a 13 year old’s perspective especially) but Shannon should have just told her what she was doing to bother her (she could have done this in a nice, respectful way). I always have had really good communication with my mom so it really bothers me when I see the girls in the BSC not talking to theirs. I also didn’t like it when her mom said “we used to be so close. What happened?” and Shannon said that she grew up. Just because a girl grows up doesn’t mean her close relationship with her mom should have to end – maybe just change. My mom and I have always been very close and even are as adults. I am probably really, really weird in this respect but I actually enjoy spending time with my mom and consider her a good friend. Also, I thought it was out of character for Shannon who supposedly cares so much about school (didn’t she go on and on about liking it in the beginning of this book and everything) to purposely fail. This is something that I would also NEVER even consider doing so just can’t understand it. I also don’t see what was so horrible about having your MOTHER go on a school trip (I probably would have wanted mine to come – again, I’m really weird, I know). As for the subplots, I liked them pretty well. I especially loved the softball game and reading about all of the moms playing. It’s nice to see the parents of Stoneybrook having some fun. Watson yelling for Elizabeth to “SLIDE” made me laugh as did some of the other dads. I liked parts of this book that dealt with Mother’s Day but felt really sorry for Mrs. Kilbourne. At least Mr. Kilbourne started making an effort at the end.
I definitely liked this one a lot less than Logan’s Stories and the Portrait books. And if this is Shannon’s true personality that was displayed, I might be glad she never became a full club member.

[msstock87]

You are not weird for being really close to your mom aln! I am just as close to mine and consider her a really good friend, even now that I am older. I did not really like Shannon in this book at all, just for how she treated her mom. Their are better ways to solve a problem with your mother than to throw your French grade out the window!

[sotypical42483]

We agree about Shannon, aln She just seemed SO ungrateful for the chance to go to Paris. I just still cannot wrap my mind around her sabotaging her chances over something so silly/dumb. She doesn't realize how lucky she is to have that opportunity. I wonder if she had less money if she would have still done that.

[greer]

I seriously doubt it. Her attitude seemed to be, oh well, paris will always be there.