mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
Posts: 1,636
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Post by mallorypike on Jan 7, 2014 12:55:40 GMT -5
I totally agree. I would have liked for the BSC members to age from seventh to twelfth grade. This reminds me of the Camp Confidential books, the main characters are in third grade at the beginning of the series and in eighth grade by the end.
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Post by Honeybee on Jan 20, 2014 23:30:06 GMT -5
^just like Sweet Valley. They start in third grade went through college. I'll like to see BSC from 7th grade to 12th grade. See them in high school, struggling with school work, peer pressure, and more.
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Amalia
Sitting For The Braddocks
Her Original Point of View
Posts: 3,664
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Post by Amalia on Jan 20, 2014 23:33:59 GMT -5
^ But then they'd have to encounter issues that might turn off some of the fanbase like sex, drugs, alcohol, etc.
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Post by Honeybee on Jan 21, 2014 20:26:27 GMT -5
^That's true. Some people don't like to read that kind of stuff. If, a pre-teen/teenager read the book, mention one of those things. Could be awkward for them or their parents don't want them read those kind of books.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Dec 9, 2015 15:36:00 GMT -5
I would add Shannon and Logan in more. I don't particularly like Logan but it would be cool to have them both narrate a book.
Aging them slowly, is something I can totally get behind.
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mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
Posts: 1,636
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Post by mallorypike on Dec 9, 2015 17:56:24 GMT -5
^ I don't care for Logan, but Shannon is a good point. It'd be neat for her to be a regular member of the BSC and narrate her own books like the other members.
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Post by anzuhana on Dec 9, 2015 20:15:11 GMT -5
I always thought that it should've been Shannon that got two books instead of Logan. Her book was more interesting than any of Logan's.
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Enigma
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 128
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Post by Enigma on Dec 11, 2015 2:23:06 GMT -5
I totally agree. I would have liked for the BSC members to age from seventh to twelfth grade. This reminds me of the Camp Confidential books, the main characters are in third grade at the beginning of the series and in eighth grade by the end. Maybe even after ending the primary BSC books, what if the author did follow up books "Super Special" style that covered a part of each of the year in high school at the rate of only one book per year? It could still be kept PG rated, yet bring on some more complex issues of high school in a tactful way?
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mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
Posts: 1,636
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Post by mallorypike on Dec 11, 2015 7:17:56 GMT -5
I totally agree. I would have liked for the BSC members to age from seventh to twelfth grade. This reminds me of the Camp Confidential books, the main characters are in third grade at the beginning of the series and in eighth grade by the end. Maybe even after ending the primary BSC books, what if the author did follow up books "Super Special" style that covered a part of each of the year in high school at the rate of only one book per year? It could still be kept PG rated, yet bring on some more complex issues of high school in a tactful way? That's a great idea!
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Dec 21, 2015 17:10:35 GMT -5
As has been mentioned - a lot more Shannon! It would have been nice to get to know her better. We hardly see her! Also even growing up I pictured the girls 16, mal and jessi 14. My babysitters!were always 16 or older, as were my friends'! 11 year old babysitters didn't make any sense to me. As greer said, the storylines would have made more sense at this age as well: all the in luuuv plots for one... So I would definitely have them be 16 and 14.
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andrew
Sitter-In-Training
Posts: 353
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Post by andrew on Dec 22, 2015 10:33:31 GMT -5
The big things would be have Mary Anne get closer to Stacey and Mallory, have the characters age (one year for every 20-30 books) and have the sitters be more understanding of their other interests, even occasionally missing meetings (they do have an alternate officer) or cutting back to being associate members for a time. Also have some of the characters develop some views and interests in politics.
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cnj
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,708
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Post by cnj on Jul 3, 2021 17:33:35 GMT -5
Just like Sweet Valley. They start in third grade went through college. I'll like to see BSC from 7th grade to 12th grade. See them in high school, struggling with school work, peer pressure, and more. Actually, the Sweet Valley books didn't naturally age the characters. They had a series of them in second grade indefinitely then a series of them in sixth grade for over a hundred and twenty books. Then of them in eleventh grade for about a hundred and fifty books. I'm glad the BSC didn't go the Sweet Valley route. I liked the Harry Potter books, that series aged the characters naturally. Perhaps the BSC series could have done maybe ten books per grade level. Yes, seeing the BSC in high school struggling with adolescent issues would have been great...and it would also include puberty, oily hair, acne, first sexual experiences and selecting universities. It also would have been great to see the BSC gain a few new associate and alternate members, several of them in sixth and seventh grades, sort of contemporaries of Jessi's while Mal was away at Riverbend. It would make sense, if starting in ninth grade, the main BSC would be busier with extra-carricular activities and all. It would also make sense because in high school, the older BSC will have lots of new classmates, being that high schools are usually far bigger than middle schools. The big things would be have Mary Anne get closer to Stacey and Mallory, have the characters age - one year for every 20-30 books - and have the sitters be more understanding of their other interests, even occasionally missing meetings - they do have an alternate officer. That would have been great! Mary Anne, Stacey and Mallory actually do have lots in common, including a love of reading. Also have some of the characters develop some views and interests in politics. That would be great also, especially as they get close to voting age. And Ann Martin did say that her books are meant to have a pro-feminist, progressive slant. I think all the BSC ladies would be mostly progressive and liberal, even though within that framework, they'd debate on some issues.
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Post by oldmeanie on Feb 21, 2024 20:59:51 GMT -5
I really like their characterizations early on (maybe up to #50?), and I think the girls should've just been kept that way as much as is possible. Kristy became too dictatorial, Dawn focused too much on crusades, and Jessi was only about ballet (for the most part).
Some ideas:
*Dawn is an actual vegetarian (it just would've been nice to have a real vegetarian in the BSC) *Dawn Saves the Planet basically doesn't happen lol *Jessi retained her funny personality from her introduction and wasn't that intense about ballet until late series (so #115 would be like she found her calling) *Mallory doesn't go to Riverbend and remains the cool-headed one *I kind of wish that Stacey's Bad Girls arc was kind of a wake-up call to Kristy, like she realized she monopolized the others' time a bit. I think Stacey made some valid points and she wasn't 100% in the wrong. Kristy was insufferable at that moment *I wanted another Shannon book to flesh out her character more. I don't relate to her at all (while with everyone else minus Logan, I can find something to relate to). I don't understand her Paris decision at all and I wanted maybe something more to her character, like exploring her love of languages. *Mal doesn't go to Riverbend. I liked The All-New Mallory Pike, but I HATED the Spaz Girl arc with a passion and thought it was so rushed. And Stoneybrook is weird without Mal.
I think I'd also make their after-school activities more consistent. The only consistent one was Abby's soccer team (Jessi had ballet obvs, but that was separate). Mal's archery and secretary positions got rare mentions (and how on earth would she have time for those 2, school, the BSC, AND her chores), Stacey was sometimes on the dance committee, Claud worked on the paper sometimes, and Dawn's recycling thing was never mentioned after #57, but yeah. It would have been more realistic if, say, Stacey was in tennis (I can see her doing this for some reason) and Mary Anne was in a book club or something. They do this more in FF, to be fair.
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on Feb 21, 2024 22:01:23 GMT -5
^ I wish we had more of the earlier characterizations in the later books. There's shades of it but not enough. Early Kristy feels like a different character from later Kristy. Stacey did mention playing tennis in her portrait book though.
I'd have one of the girl as musical. I know Anna was, but someone that did choir or played an instrument who in the club would be fun.
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Post by oldmeanie on Feb 22, 2024 18:53:55 GMT -5
^ I wish we had more of the earlier characterizations in the later books. There's shades of it but not enough. Early Kristy feels like a different character from later Kristy. Stacey did mention playing tennis in her portrait book though. I'd have one of the girl as musical. I know Anna was, but someone that did choir or played an instrument who in the club would be fun. I feel like they could've easily made Shannon the musical one. Having her be in choir or something like that along with her clubs would have been cool and would have fit her character. None of them could really sing come to think of it.
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