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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 11:07:40 GMT -5
When I was reading the thread on Better to Wish, it struck me just how many books by Ann feature really terrible fathers. Obviously there's Kristy, and in both Family Tree books, the main characters have pretty terrible fathers. Nikki in Main Street also has a terrible dad, as does Elizabeth in the Elizabeth/Tara*Starr books. And those are the only non-BSC Ann books I've read! There is also Mr. Nicholls of Claudia and the Terrible Truth. Of course, there are good dads in the series and her other books, like Richard Spier, but it does seem to be a plot point that Ann uses on a pretty regular basis. There are also no bad moms that I can think of--no abusive ones, and moms don't seem to up and leave like Patrick did. As far as I know, Ann has a good relationship with her own father, so it's interesting that this is something she uses so much. Maybe because it's dramatic?
I do realize that Mrs. Blume was an alcoholic, but I feel like that was handled with more sympathy and sensitivity and with the point of view that she had a problem and needed help.
Am I overthinking this? Is her ratio of bad dads to good dads reflective of real life?
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mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
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Bad Dads
Mar 29, 2014 11:10:35 GMT -5
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Post by mallorypike on Mar 29, 2014 11:10:35 GMT -5
I noticed that, too! I just think Ann is against men. But I could be wrong. I find it strange that there a lot of bad Dads but no good moms.
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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 11:12:19 GMT -5
I noticed that, too! I just think Ann is against men. But I could be wrong. I find it strange that there a lot of bad Dads but no good moms. Hmm. She has a good relationship with her father and brother-in-law, judging from facebook.
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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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Bad Dads
Mar 29, 2014 11:13:55 GMT -5
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Post by mallorypike on Mar 29, 2014 11:13:55 GMT -5
Maybe she knew somebody with a bad Dad?
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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 11:42:12 GMT -5
Maybe she knew somebody with a bad Dad? Everyone does, I guess, but she just seems to use this trope so often.
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Post by candykane on Mar 29, 2014 12:21:38 GMT -5
In "Stage Fright", Sara was painfully shy and hated social situations. Her dad was a lot more understanding about her personality than Sara's mom, who was always pushing Sara to be more sociable and make more friends, and couldn't seem to grasp why it was so difficult for her. That doesn't really make Sara's mom a bad one, but I guess it's a weaker example of a dad being the "better" parent in an Ann book.
However, the mom in "Here Today" is pretty bad. I won't give away any spoilers for anyone who hasn't read it, but I thought she was awful. Selfish and delusional among other things.
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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 12:44:43 GMT -5
In "Stage Fright", Sara was painfully shy and hated social situations. Her dad was a lot more understanding about her personality than Sara's mom, who was always pushing Sara to be more sociable and make more friends, and couldn't seem to grasp why it was so difficult for her. That doesn't really make Sara's mom a bad one, but I guess it's a weaker example of a dad being the "better" parent in an Ann book. However, the mom in "Here Today" is pretty bad. I won't give away any spoilers for anyone who hasn't read it, but I thought she was awful. Selfish and delusional among other things. Yeah, there are definitely good dads, like Watson is pretty good, except for some weird things in LS, and Richard, as I've said before. I even like Ed McGill, which a lot of people don't. I've never read Here Today or Stage Fright. I'll have to see if I have those on ebook.
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Post by booboobrewer on Mar 29, 2014 13:50:57 GMT -5
It's not really surprising...she re-uses things a lot in her writing.
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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 14:11:14 GMT -5
It's not really surprising...she re-uses things a lot in her writing. Definitely true! I do feel like she has tried to branch out more in recent years, although maybe not because her next book is about autism and dogs.
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Post by sparklymouse on Mar 29, 2014 16:23:57 GMT -5
In Bummer Summer Cammie (I think that was her name) has a good relationship with her dad and has difficulty adjusting to life with her new step mom/siblings.
The kids in With You and Without You adored their dad. I don't think it's a spoiler to say things didn't end up well for him.
I think the dad in the Ten and Eleven Kids books was a normal Mr. Pike-ish guy.
These were all early books when Ann had more creativity in her.
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Post by greer on Mar 29, 2014 16:33:08 GMT -5
In Bummer Summer Cammie (I think that was her name) has a good relationship with her dad and has difficulty adjusting to life with her new step mom/siblings. The kids in With You and Without You adored their dad. I don't think it's a spoiler to say things didn't end up well for him. I think the dad in the Ten and Eleven Kids books was a normal Mr. Pike-ish guy. These were all early books when Ann had more creativity in her. I've never read her early books. I have most of them on ebook now, so maybe it's time to start.
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mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
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Post by mallorypike on Oct 27, 2014 14:54:47 GMT -5
Hmm, I think Mrs. Barrett is one of the rare moms who are similar to the dads. (I DON'T, however, think that she is a "bad" mom.) Though, she ws very irresponsible, so irresponsible she could have been charged with neglect. Especially in Dawn and the Impossible Three... Although, Ann did include good dads as well...a lot more than bad dads, IMO. When Mr. DeWitt appeared, there wasn't a Mrs. DeWitt. I find that strange. He could have had custody of the kids, but I think it's unlikely since Ann is usually old-fashioned, and biased when it comes to women. Maybe the mom was a bad mom??
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scrounge
Sitter-In-Training
Boo and bullfrogs!
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Post by scrounge on Nov 7, 2014 19:22:57 GMT -5
^^I always assumed Mrs. DeWitt had passed away but thought it was odd that there was no mention of her whatsoever. The DeWitt kids didn't spend so much as a single weekend visit with their mom so she was completely out of the picture, I guess she could have been in jail or have run off like Kristy's dad but you'd think it would have at least been touched on. I think the Barrett/DeWitts would have been a lot more tolerable if some of the kids had visited their other parent sometimes so it wasn't always seven kids and two sitters (club rules!) to read about. (Since Buddy Suzie and Marnie's dad disappeared completely after book five.) As it was the books with the Barret/DeWitts were just like a boring and slightly less gross version of the Pikes, but with younger kids.
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mallorypike
Sitting For The Papadakis's
If I were thirteen instead of eleven, life would be a picnic...
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Post by mallorypike on Nov 7, 2014 19:51:48 GMT -5
^ I completely agree with you. It would be nice to read about Mrs. DeWitt/Mr. Barrett.
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wanderingfrog
Sitting For The Arnolds
Official BSC Archivist
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Post by wanderingfrog on Nov 24, 2014 22:36:37 GMT -5
It's not really surprising...she re-uses things a lot in her writing. Definitely true! I do feel like she has tried to branch out more in recent years, although maybe not because her next book is about autism and dogs. I read it ( Rain Reign) and it also has a bad dad. The good adult in Rose's life is also male, though; it's her uncle. It was a good book, but it was sad.
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