oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,071
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Post by oldhickory on Aug 29, 2011 0:17:40 GMT -5
when i was in high school i once asked my mom not to come on a school trip because i wanted my space, and now i feel really guilty about it because i know she would have had fun. so i understand where shannon is coming from, but she really screwed herself here. there's no way in hell i would skip a trip (especially to somewhere like paris, where a lot of people don't get the chance to go) specifically to avoid spending time with my mom. i'm glad her mom didn't back out of the trip.
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on Aug 30, 2011 0:43:22 GMT -5
I understand you feeling bad by this age about asking mom and her possibly being hurt, but maybe she really did understand when you told her, if it was assertively.
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Post by booboobrewer on Jan 27, 2012 1:55:16 GMT -5
I love this book so much. It struck me as I was rereading just now that I read it a lot when I was younger. I even once used the "I'm wounded!" line (Stacey says it to Shannon after she makes fun of her Shanny nickname and then Shannon calls her Boontsie) on somebody at school. Yeah. LAME.
Anyway, I love it mostly because of its end of school vibe. Also it seems like Nola Thacker writes a lot of lazy Saturday morning scenes in her books. I think Kristy for President has one, and maybe a few others. I like them.
And I think the Mother's Day game is so fun.
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Post by virgoscorpio on Jan 27, 2012 13:12:54 GMT -5
Also it seems like Nola Thacker writes a lot of lazy Saturday morning scenes in her books. I like that, too. Partially because I can remember being 13 and living for Saturdays. I would go stay with my Grandma most weekends and ... sleep in! Sleeping in was the best (still is!) |
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Post by sparklymouse on Apr 30, 2012 22:49:52 GMT -5
I love reading books for the first time and then coming here to read the threads for them. It seems split pretty even with people thinking Shannon's a brat and sympathizing with her. I definitely didn't love her in this and part of it's because I can't relate to the world that she lived in. A trip to anywhere was a big deal to me. In the end it didn't even matter that she missed the trip because the class decided that they were going to go back the next year.
I felt like they were trying to replicate Stacey (the notorious "most popular" sitter). Shannon's parents were spitting images of Ed and Maureen.
This seemed unfinished. Although I got a kick out of Logan and his SMS gang banging adventures, Shannon probably could have used a second book more than he did. Did Shannon's mom "get a life"? Did her parents' marriage change for better or worse? What did Tiffany do all day in the winter? I would have liked to see more of her school life and non-BSC friends too.
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Post by greer on May 1, 2012 14:11:31 GMT -5
I love reading books for the first time and then coming here to read the threads for them. It seems split pretty even with people thinking Shannon's a brat and sympathizing with her. I definitely didn't love her in this and part of it's because I can't relate to the world that she lived in. A trip to anywhere was a big deal to me. In the end it didn't even matter that she missed the trip because the class decided that they were going to go back the next year. I felt like they were trying to replicate Stacey (the notorious "most popular" sitter). Shannon's parents were spitting images of Ed and Maureen. This seemed unfinished. Although I got a kick out of Logan and his SMS gang banging adventures, Shannon probably could have used a second book more than he did. Did Shannon's mom "get a life"? Did her parents' marriage change for better or worse? What did Tiffany do all day in the winter? I would have liked to see more of her school life and non-BSC friends too. Yeah, giving up a trip to Paris because your mom was going to, ugh, you'd really have to be coming from some MAJOR privilege to even consider doing something like that. I guess such an extreme reaction is kind of in character for a thirteen-year-old, but I also have a hard time seeing Shannon sacrificing her perfect GPA. I would have loved more stuff about Shannon, for sure. I wish she had gotten books while Dawn was in CA. And obviously I am down for more about Shannon's friends, considering my username.  |
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Post by virgoscorpio on May 1, 2012 15:57:28 GMT -5
^ I would argue Shannon might have been a cool choice for a spin-off instead of Dawn. But then Ann wouldn't have gotten to write about California (which she seems to love almost as much as NYC). We could have seen some of that rich, privileged-girl angst coming from Shannon -- there could have been a myriad of possibilities!
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Post by greer on May 1, 2012 17:14:48 GMT -5
^ I would argue Shannon might have been a cool choice for a spin-off instead of Dawn. But then Ann wouldn't have gotten to write about California (which she seems to love almost as much as NYC). We could have seen some of that rich, privileged-girl angst coming from Shannon -- there could have been a myriad of possibilities! there's always Gossip Girl! Nah, I'm glad that they went with Dawn because I love the CA Diaries. And you have Maggie's privileged angst. |
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supprazz
Sitting For The Newtons
Posts: 2,106
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Post by supprazz on May 4, 2012 0:10:26 GMT -5
I went to my grandparents and cousins almost every weekend too in my early teens and did what I wanted LOL
I think Shannon's mom sounded draining and maybe Shannon really did want a break from her, though it's silly to fail at school. Couldn't she have done well and just said she doesn't want to go on the trip? And good question about Tiffany, will she be depressed in winter without flowers and gardening?
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,071
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Post by oldhickory on May 4, 2012 17:01:16 GMT -5
^ that would require having an honest conversation with her parents, which is something these girls have the hardest time doing. paris is a big city. i would have gone and just ignored my mom.
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Post by zoar3 on May 4, 2012 17:31:14 GMT -5
^ I would think in similar fashion to the SMS Europe trip, there would have been more than one chaperone. I would further venture that more than a handful of students went and daily there were at least 2-3 choices of outings or tours. Shannon easily could have spent the majority of her time mom-free. To me, the biggest eye-rolling feature of this story is still how no one, not at SDS nor Shannon's folks questioned her sudden failure of French. I know this is Stoneybrook the land of often aloof adults but come on!
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,071
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Post by oldhickory on May 4, 2012 19:44:08 GMT -5
^ i got to visit paris on a trip in high school, and since we were a little bit older we had the luxury of getting to explore on our own a lot of the time. shannon and her classmates are already given so much independence -- they get to run their own classes among other things. so i wouldn't be surprised if they got the chance if they got to walk around in small groups without any chaperones at all.
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Post by zoar3 on May 4, 2012 19:49:44 GMT -5
^That's awesome you were able to go. Did you bring European Vacation along?  Knowing that the girls are seen as more adult (often) than true adults your theory is probably most correct. Also, it seemed like Shannon knew about the trip for a while so she must have read over all the information from SDS about it. On the other hand, this could have been a rare young teen moment where all logic flew out the window for the pressing issue of not wanting to take any chances of being with her mom! |
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Post by anzuhana on May 4, 2012 19:52:04 GMT -5
It's cool that you got to go to Paris, oldhickory. I don't think the high school I went to had trips to other countries.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,071
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Post by oldhickory on May 4, 2012 20:06:32 GMT -5
^ it was a trip for the foreign language classes but i think only about 12 people ended up going. the french teacher and one of the spanish teachers were our chaperones and we went to spain and france and got to practice our speaking.
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Knowing that the girls are seen as more adult (often) than true adults your theory is probably most correct. Also, it seemed like Shannon knew about the trip for a while so she must have read over all the information from SDS about it. On the other hand, this could have been a rare young teen moment where all logic flew out the window for the pressing issue of not wanting to take any chances of being with her mom!
