Dawn's Portrait

[anna]

Apr 3, 2007 19:47:46 GMT -5 jen said:

Heh, it was me who posted the pictures of Dawn's dad. What a hottie!

Does anyone else find interesting that all of Dawn's issues like vegetarianism and environmentalism were really only adopted with the influence of Sunny? And she thought that Sunny was a weird hippie freak when they first met. Doesn't say much about Dawn as an individual...

about the pics of Dawn's father i was wondering what is the name of that post you have me curious to see what he looks like

[otempora541]

Here's something that bugged me. In BSC #23, Sunny introduces Dawn to Jill and Maggie. The impression is that these girls knew each other, just not that well.

Yet in the portrait... Jill and Maggie send Dawn notes and play with her? Uh... Inconsistancy?

[starrynight]

^ Good point! I've only read about half of this book so far, but it makes it pretty clear that Dawn was pretty good friends with the girls when they were kids. Maybe she forgot after she moved to Stoneybrook?

[msstock87]

^That inconsistency always bothered me as well. I just didn't understand how she could be playing with Maggie and Jill one day and the second she moves to Stoneybrook all is forgotten? Must have been "great" friends.

[tiff85]

I remember reading this and loving it. Dawn has a nice personality and her life is interesting to say the least. It's sad how her parents divorced and she had to move clear across the country. The friendship between her and Sunny was special.

[icequeen]

I'm trying to picture cool, calm Dawn yelling out fire and waking her parents in the middle of the night for a drill ;D Ah the funny things we do as kids.

I have read this book as a kid, and completely forgot everything in it until I just re-read it. Dawn is one of my favourite characters and it was interesting to see what her childhood was like. I could have sworn it actually featured more about the divorce though I guess I am, like someone who posted this before, confusing events with BSC Remembers.

For some reason I don't really like reading about Sunny, I think because I know how her's and Dawn's friendship turns out later on.

ETA: I changed my mind about Sunny. I just read CD Sunny I and now that I've seen things through her eyes I have a better understanding of why she does/says things.

[starrynight]

^ Dawn's chapter in Baby Sitters Remember was all about the divorce. Could that be what you're thinking of? I'm always mixing up things that happened in portrait books with things that happened in SS #11.

[valuemeal2]

I don't think the fire thing was totally unrealistic. I was terrified of fires and earthquakes (a fear caused by the earthquake machine that Dawn goes on in the book at the Academy of Sciences... but I'll get there in a minute) when I was a kid and all throughout elementary school, I had to see the school therapist and be called out of the room whenever a fire drill was going to happen because if I wasn't the one who got to pull the lever, I had a full-blown panic attack and had to be sent home. This was when I was 7-8... and I also couldn't sleep alone until I was 11. So yeah, it's not likely, but plausible. I always liked that Dawn had a "thing" with fire like I did, haha.

But about the earthquake machine... when Dawn goes on it in the book, she says something like "If that's what an earthquake feels like, I hope I'm never in one." Um, Dawn? No WAY could you have lived your whole life in CA without ever feeling an earthquake. NO WAY. Especially if one takes into account the time this book was written, which was after 1995 IIRC, and Dawn DEFINITELY would have felt Northridge in 1994 (and be old enough to remember it). Sorry, Ann, I don't believe that any 13-year-old who's grown up in CA her entire life has never experienced an earthquake. By the time I was 13, I'd been in at least three that I could remember, and I was 13 in 1998.

(Also, I don't think they did SF justice when they visit. I always get really excited when SF is mentioned, since I live really close to there, but they hardly talked about it at all. I wanted them to go all SF crazy like they do for NYC, haha! Oh well. Maybe it's a fanfic I'll have to write myself...)

ETA:
I sound like a total dork, haha. I always get really anal about the CA books. Someday, I will get around to visiting CT, and I'll see that it's not really like the way it's portrayed in the BSC, but for right now? Dammit, I'm holding true to my real life childhood (and current-hood) in CA! Haha

[starrynight]

^ Have you seen our inconsistencies thread? You're not anal.

[anzuhana]

I liked Dawn's Portrait. My two favorite chapters are how she and Sunny met and the anniversary chapter as well. It was nice reading about how she met the Winslow's. This chapter actually makes me wonder what really causes Dawn to change her personality for other people. As we all know, Dawn changed herself for Travis in book Babysitters Club # 37 Dawn And The Oder Boy and Lewis in book Babysitters Club # 50 Dawn’s Big Date. Some might blame this on the divorce but what can explain Dawn changing herself after meeting Sunny. It's obvious that the divorce didn't cause it when she was six since this was before the divorce.

And for the anniversary chapter, I like how Dawn was concerned when she thought that her grandparents were married for so long and not in love with each other. I'm happy that they went to Fisherman's Wharf since I went there and couldn't recall the name.

And the photo of the family in the golden anniversary was nice as well. As for the cover... Dawn's photo in the frame is really nice as well as the frame. I like the photo of San Francisco and the sea shells and sea star as well.

[starlett2010]

Feb 24, 2009 6:36:01 GMT -5 valuemeal2 said:

But about the earthquake machine... when Dawn goes on it in the book, she says something like "If that's what an earthquake feels like, I hope I'm never in one." Um, Dawn? No WAY could you have lived your whole life in CA without ever feeling an earthquake. NO WAY. Especially if one takes into account the time this book was written, which was after 1995 IIRC, and Dawn DEFINITELY would have felt Northridge in 1994 (and be old enough to remember it). Sorry, Ann, I don't believe that any 13-year-old who's grown up in CA her entire life has never experienced an earthquake. By the time I was 13, I'd been in at least three that I could remember, and I was 13 in 1998.

The earthquake thing really bugged me, too. I know you are from CA, valuemeal2, and I was wondering if you were here during the Loma Prieta earthquake in '89? I was about 3 years old when it happened and I can remember every detail vividly; it was so traumatizing. To this day I still freak out about earthquakes. So anyway, it's so ridiculous to think that Dawn would have never experienced an earthquake. In my mind I kind of just pretend like Dawn's never experienced a BIG earthquake, because that makes it much more realistic.

And I agree that the book really doesn't do justice to San Francisco. I was kind of bored during those chapters. BSC in the USA really wasn't much better, IMO. I think the ghost writers had never even been to Frisco and just copied a guidebook or something. LOL

ETA: On the whole, I didn't really care for Dawn's book, but I did really enjoy the chapters where she becomes friends with Sunny. It cracked me up to think of "hippies" in the '90's or even in the '80's. Although one could certainly argue that hippies still exist; especially in the Santa Cruz area where I live. But I did think it was cool how Sunny's parents were against mainstream crap. I wish there would have been more details of Sunny's weirdness, like she and her parents grew veggies on their front lawn and were vegans or something.

[booboobrewer]

When I was living in CA I felt a very small earthquake one night. I seriously thought at first that it was my upstairs neighbors There was this big, quick rumble, and that was it. I was home alone and my roommate called me soon after and was like "that was an earthquake you felt!" ;D It made a small dent in the ceiling.

The cover is just a great illustration. I think Dawn's and Mary Anne's are my favorite portrait covers.

[Kylie90210]

I haven't re-read this in years, but I do love all the stuff you've mentioned, except the baby sittign chapter... awkward!

[starlett2010]

^Is that the one where Dawn lets it slip that Sandra would have to repeat a grade? I seriously cringe every time I read that. How awful that must have been for Sandra and how embarrassing for Dawn!

[helsieboo]

I'm in England, so I've only ever felt one earthquake - a random 5.2 one that hit last year! I was in bed and it woke me up and I was totally baffled! I texted Alex, but no reply and when I told him the next day, he'd slept through it and didn't believe me. My then housemate, Geoff came running in asking if he was drunk because the ground had moved! It was kind of scary, but then we're not used to it.

I like Dawn's potrait. It's my second favourite, after Stacey's. I love reading about Sunny as a child and I thought it was awesome how her morse code saved the day when their mothers got stuck in a lift.