Enigma
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 128 
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Post by Enigma on Dec 25, 2015 20:53:50 GMT -5
Just read this for the first time (my first time reading a portrait collection book); it seemed very sweet and down to earth compared to the regular BSC books. I agree that Mary Anne's dad was depicted as far more warm and nurturing when she was a little girl; the way he sympathized with her when she invited both him and Mimi to her first grade tea party and the way he understood her stage fright and got her out of the ballet performance both seemed very un-Richard-like. In Mary Anne Saves the Day and The Summer Before, he seemed like the type that would be matter of fact and tell her that she should stick something through, even if she didn't like it.
I also liked reading about the two weeks where she visits her maternal grandparents in Iowa and gets to know her grandmother that she doesn't remember. Is Verna ever mentioned in any of the other BSC books?
I did find one mildly snarkable moment in this one though, on page 147, Mary Anne very briefly mentions that during her stay there, "she went on a date with a very boring guy and baby-sat some kids on a neighboring farm" during her two week stay in Iowa- seriously can't any BSC member go on vacation anywhere without meeting a guy or baby-sitting?- but at least those incidents were just mentioned in passing and not described in detail; it was mostly about the bonding (and some clashing!) with her grandmother and learning about her mom's past.
Overall, I think this remained true to Mary Anne's shy, sensitive nature and was deeper than I thought it would be.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jun 25, 2021 8:22:00 GMT -5
This one made me a little uncomfortable. I don’t think Mary Anne's anxiety level ever dropped below a 7 in her entire life. Agreed...sensitive Mary Anne was nervous, especially as a child. From Birth to Six Years Old: Not much to say about this part except Mary Anne was kind of a homely looking child. Well, Mary Anne was not meant to look like a toddler model. I think she was really cute with those huge brown eyes and that thick dark hair.  I'm glad they didn't try to make Mary Anne look like this "beautiful" child out of a child catalogue. She looks like Emily Michelle in the toddler picture, who was supposed to be adorable, but last time I checked Mary Anne wasn't Asian. True that the books don't mention Asian blood in Mary Anne, but how do we really know that Mary Anne might not have a smidgen of unknown Asian in her? 🙂🙂🙂 Mary Anne does have straight dark hair and large dark brown eyes that have a slight almond shape.   In fact, back in the 1990s, when I first saw the early BSC book covers before I started actually reading them, I actually did wonder if Mary Anne was part Asian. Verna and Alma have the same dark, slightly almond-shaped eyes and dark hair and Alma's hair is as straight as Mary Anne's. Mary Anne actually mentions that she has Russian in her background...and part of Russia is in Asia. 🙂🙂🙂 Not every ethnicity has a distinct "look" or appearance. So...what would be wrong with the fact that Mary Anne could look a bit like Emily Michelle? I'm glad the illustrator didn't try to "anglicize" Mary Anne's appearance. Mostly the teacher just sounded sucky. She must have known that Mary Anne's mother wasn't in her household - whether or not she knew why. I felt like she could have addressed the situation with Mary Anne privately or said something to the class in general to invite whomever since some mothers have jobs/lives that they can't get out of for tea time. True, Ms. Fredrickson could have...but yes, she stank as a teacher and was horrible, which Mary Anne and her friends all note. Ms. Fredrickson probably knew that Mary Anne's mum wasn't alive, but that teacher just didn't care. Just read this for the first time - my first time reading a portrait collection book - it seemed very sweet and down to earth compared to the regular BSC books. I agree that Mary Anne's dad was depicted as far more warm and nurturing when she was a little girl; the way he sympathized with her when she invited both him and Mimi to her first grade tea party and the way he understood her stage fright and got her out of the ballet performance both seemed very un-Richard-like. I actually think Richard was in character there...he truly was a caring dad. I'm glad he didn't try to force her to perform the ballet onstage. Yes, he was strict for a while, but never cold, cruel, punitive or harsh. Is Verna ever mentioned in any of the other BSC books? Yes, Verna appears in the Super Special BSC in the USA. I loved this book, partly because Mary Anne is my favorite. But yes, they could have left out the part about the "date with a boring boy." I also love Mary Anne's grandmum Verna...so sweet how they both cried so easily. I was glad to see that Mary Anne had more family besides just her dad, stepmum and stepsiblings. |
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Jun 25, 2021 9:45:36 GMT -5
This was my least favorite portrait book out of all of them and I don’t know why.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jun 25, 2021 9:53:24 GMT -5
This was my least favorite portrait book out of all of them and I don't know why. Prolly because of sweet Mary Anne. |
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Post by m0drnmoonlight on Mar 6, 2023 13:03:07 GMT -5
I also found it really random Kristy, Claudia and Mary Anne went to ballet class and it never came up before, especially once Jessi joined the club. I think she'd be interested to know! And I know Kristy explains it as being helpful with playing sports but I cannot picture super tomboy Kristy signing up for ballet.
Grandma Verna was pretty hostile about Richard to Mary Anne, wasn't she? Doesn't she tell Mary Anne that Richard "took you away from us"? It sounds like it was really messy when Richard got Mary Anne back after she spent time in Iowa. So I'm really not surprised Mary Anne's trip to Iowa as a 13-year-old got off to a rocky start.
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Post by oldmeanie on Apr 8, 2023 13:29:18 GMT -5
I remember this one being my least favorite when I first read the series, and now I don't see why. I actually think that, like Claudia's, all the stories are good (so I guess technically Stacey's is the worst since she does have one weak story- the last one) and make sense for her character.
Her first grade teacher was a jerk! Mary Anne was right to find her yelling problematic. And she ABSOLUTELY should have corrected Alan Gray when he laughed at her for bringing her dad to a mother's day party. I felt awful for poor Mary Anne there. This sweet, painfully shy little girl basically gets laughed at in front of her entire class about a really sensitive topic for her. Shame on her stupid teacher! She could have at the very least pulled Mary Anne aside after class and explained that it would be okay to bring her father. But no, she totally dropped the ball. Also, go Kristy for being a good best friend! Her behavior in this chapter totally reminds me of my elementary school best friend (who I'm still friends with now! That's why I think Mary Anne and Kristy will always be friends), who defended me against bullies even though she was smaller than me lol.
I really like Richard in this book, although I like him in general (probably my favorite BSC parent). I thought him telling Mary Anne she didn't have to be in the recital was really sweet.
I liked the glasses chapter, but it has a very annoying inconsistency! In Claudia's Book, Claud says at the beginning of her fourth grade chapter that she was happy to be in a class with Kristy and hadn't been in one with her since first grade. In MA's 4th grade chapter, Kristy starts it out by being disappointed that they aren't all in the same class like always. And Kristy and Claud's teacher is different. At the end of the day, it doesn't affect the story at all, but it just annoys me lol! Especially since both books were written by Jeanne Betancourt (who I otherwise think is a bit underrated... her writing style feels similar to Ann's). edit: big oops, someone else wrote Claudia's book
Book. Still kind of annoying.
Other than that, the chapter was cute. April seems like a sweet kid, kind of like a nicer and more sensitive Kristy, and I totally get why Mary Anne wanted glasses because of her. I'm kind of sad she doesn't make a reappearance in the series, so I'm assuming she loved away.
The Verna Baker chapter might be the best. The other stories that took place when they were 12 or 13 (Dawn's and Stacey's) felt a bit lackluster to me. But I think Mary Anne's was necessary and I really like the honesty of it all, how she hated her time in Maynard to begin with and how she felt no connection to her grandmother. But when MA breaks down and leaves for a bit and comes back to Verna crying, then they make up, it's actually well written in my opinion. I feel so bad for Verna because she is so lonely. I do think the comments about Richard were uncalled for, but later on in the series she defends him, so I think she realized the error of her ways. But yeah, overall, this felt like it actually belonged in an autobiography. One flaw that I've pointed out before is that certain major life events like weddings, moving, and getting diabetes were left out, so some of the stories feel like filler. My headcanon is still that these events were included in the actual portraits, but omitted from what we're reading because it would just be a rehash. Still feels kind of weird, though.
So yeah, I liked this one and, weirdly, the portraits might actually be the strongest BSC mini series because so far they're all good (my favorite is still the Super Specials, though).
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