Enigma
New To Stoneybrook
Posts: 128 
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Post by Enigma on Dec 18, 2015 22:05:51 GMT -5
Reread and it didn't find it quite as snark-able as expected. Kristy seems much more real and down to earth as she's so excited for her first out-of-state trip and plane trip EVER! (Before the BSC started jetting off several times a year all over the world!). Mallory was represented as in that in-between-stage (entrusted to hang out with Vanessa on the sundeck to read but not given full charge of younger children)and I thought her obsession with being like Harriet the Spy and writing notes on everything was cute. Kristy acts like a somewhat clueless typical young teen sitter (stayed at the pool with the the boys and worried some but NOT a mom-like panic mode where she's summoning the staff in full blown panic) when Karen left to get earplugs from her cabin and didn't come back for an hour because she got a manicure on the way. The triplets get into trouble like always. I was also touched by Marc, how his disabilities were portrayed, and how Stacey bonded with him. However, I was really annoyed by the whole Alexandra lying plot about being an orphan (but that's what some teen girls will do for sympathy and attention).
I also loved all the details about Disney World (wanted to go there as a kid but never got to til I was 33; we did visit Disneyland as a family every 2-3 years though). It was written when it was just Magic Kingdom and Epcot and not all those extra parks and it seems that some of the stuff in the Epcot is still the same but with a different theme.
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inge
Junior Sitter
Posts: 767
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Post by inge on Dec 22, 2015 6:43:24 GMT -5
Just reread this one and it's one of my favorite super specials. Don't tell the fiance, but I am pretty sure this book is the reason I think a cruise to the Bahamas would be a dreamy honeymoon. So upon rereading I was surprised that I actually enjoyed the Disney chapters more. They only showed so little of the Bahamas.
I liked that Karen was given a few chapters in this. I was horrified when she said it was her birthday though!
Dawns story was a bit boring. I don't care too much for holiday romances but when they were watchi g his little brothers for a bit was cute. I thought she was a bit snobby getting into fights with Kristy, presumably Kristys stepdad was paying for her to go? Let it be and enjoy the ride.
I felt bad for Claud spending a day by herself on an unknown island. The girls were so off in their own world - I don't know about you guys but at 13 stalking a cute boy was way more fun to do with a friend than by yourself! The secret admirer plot was a bit boring and creepy. Though I have to say while we could see his identity coming from a mile away, I never would have guessed he was also Alexandra's brother or the boy the triplets had spotted.
Mary Anne and Stacey worked their butts off. They better be getting paid in addition to getting to go on the trip. They were basically live in nannies in this book, around the kids 24/7. Did those Pike parents never want to spend any time with their kids? And poor Margo. Just from simple memory xshe threw up five times on this book. If I was Stacey, and with regards to fearing vomit I am, I would have considered her a ticking time bomb! I can't believe Stacey was left to clean up Margo's mess on the boat. She was only 13.
I like that Mal wasn't a sitter yet but still got a few chapters.
By the way why was Kristy the only kid that got to bring a friend? Though with how much we see/hear about her big brothers they may not evem have been on the trip...
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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 Jun 25, 2016 23:48:39 GMT -5
This is one of my favorite Super Specials!  I love Disney World. I've been there once when I was 9 years old. It was an amazing, wonderful, magical experience. Yeah, it's totally unrealistic how everybody went to WDW. Yeah, sure, maybe winning the trip for naming a product is a tad realistic, but I doubt it would allow ten ppeople to go - usually there's a limit of people that can go, right? And having Mary Anne and Stacey coming along as mother's helpers is a little realistic, too. M.A. and Stacey shouldn't be there anyway because 4 of the Pike kids (the triplets and Mallory) didn't need babysitters and the Pike parents should spend some time with their children.  As for Kristy and her family going to WDW at the same time as the Pikes was oh so convenient. And I can't believe Watson allowed Kristy to invite two friends along with them! It's supposed to be a FAMILY vacation. But Claudia and Dawn need to be apart of the book, so whatever. I like the cruise ship chapters. I've always wanted to go on a cruise ship. The Bahamas chapters were okay, I guess. of course, i loved the WDW chapters the best! As for the plots for each character, I liked Kristy's and Stacey's and Mary Anne's the best. Mallory's was lame but it was cute and dorky of her to keep a journal like Harriet the Spy.  As for Claudia's and Dawn's, I didn't care about. I don't really enjoy the vacation boyfriends. Karen was such a brat in this one! Her getting a manicure and Coke was bratty, but I don't think she knew what she was doing since she thought charging wasn't money. But still! Kristy was stupid to let her go to the cabin and get her earplugs by her self. But she is 13. This wouldn't have happened in the later books when the sitters started being mini adults. And Karen lying about her bbirthday, OMG! That was very bratty. She didn't even get in trouble. |
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Post by wistfuldreamer86 on Sept 11, 2018 20:35:45 GMT -5
Karen's chapters were my least favorite chapters in the book. I get that she's seven, but it's really the adults response to her that bugs me. I mean, why would they take her on the HM ride when they know she has an unnatural obsession with ghosts? It's like they were encouraging her. Same thing when she charged a manicure to the room. And when she lied about it being her birthday. She's a kid, but she's old enough to know what's right and what's wrong. And she should've been corrected more than she was. Watson got mad at her but let the charade go on so what did she really learn?
Other than that, I liked most of the chapters okay. But I didn't like that we barely saw any interaction between the girls. Everyone was off doing their own thing. The most interaction we got was between Dawn and Kristy who weren't getting along for most of it. Which seemed weird being that we got a mention of them having a sleepover a book or two before this one came out. Wouldn't they already know that one was a slob and the other wasn't? I did like that they made up.
The sweetest and most interesting story for me was the one with Stacey and Marc. It was cute to see him interacting with Claire and Margo at Disney. That was easily my favorite scene in the book.
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Post by oldmeanie on May 12, 2022 16:37:47 GMT -5
I don't know why I slept on this one when I was younger! All the storylines were good aside from Karen's (I found her annoying). Stacey's and Kristy's stories were sweet. I like when they make new friends instead of love interests. Those were probably my favorite chapters. It's so weird that Mallory was 11 in this one and not a BSC member yet. The spying storyline wasn't overused yet.
We're for once SHOWN that Kristy is immature and not told (I never understood how clothes and makeup = maturity)... it was pretty childish how she kept intentionally annoying Dawn. At the same time, that seems realistic for 13?
I am 100% convinced that Mary Anne had a bit of a crush on Alexandra Carmody, at least at first.
"She had masses of dark, wavy hair that cascaded over her shoulders and partway down her back, and she was wearing one of the skimpiest bikinis I’d ever seen. Even though she looked just a little older than me, she had a figure that filled out the top of the bikini nicely.
“Wow,” I said softly. I was highly impressed.
"The girl turned around then, and I blushed. I hoped she hadn’t overheard me. That would have been too, too embarrassing."
I mean...
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Post by CharlotteTJohanssen on May 12, 2022 18:05:20 GMT -5
^ well Mary Anne is based on Ann herself so I fully support the idea that Mary Anne is bi.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on May 12, 2022 19:58:43 GMT -5
Ha, that would be an interesting twist. To me this is just Mary Anne admiring someone she wants to look like. I'm straight, but sometimes if I see a gorgeous woman I have the same reaction of "she's so pretty and I wish I had her body".
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Post by booboobrewer on May 13, 2022 19:12:57 GMT -5
^good point. I think we sometimes let Ann’s preferences influence how we view MA. She definitely already seems like someone who is aware of how she looks and dresses (pining to look better amidst her dad’s rules), so I can see how she would admire other girls and women she came across.
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Post by hurricanebill on May 14, 2022 1:24:09 GMT -5
Mary Anne’s description does go into a lot of detail. Open to interpretation especially nowadays everyone seems to have their LGBTIQ+ radars on but when it was written in the 80s it probably wasn’t the intention. Agree a straight woman can look at another woman and think they are attractive but it doesn’t always mean they have a girl crush. Young girls look up to what they want to look like/act like when they grow up even though it’s not always realistic because women come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Even grown up women following the fashion, hair and makeup trends they see on celebrities and Insta. Mary Anne had probably never seen such a glamorous looking girl in Stoneybrook and was shocked to see someone like that in real life on her cruise. I often wonder who the famous singer parents were actually based on or just completely made up.
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Post by oldmeanie on May 14, 2022 20:33:42 GMT -5
Mary Anne’s description does go into a lot of detail. Open to interpretation especially nowadays everyone seems to have their LGBTIQ+ radars on but when it was written in the 80s it probably wasn’t the intention. Agree a straight woman can look at another woman and think they are attractive but it doesn’t always mean they have a girl crush. Young girls look up to what they want to look like/act like when they grow up even though it’s not always realistic because women come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Even grown up women following the fashion, hair and makeup trends they see on celebrities and Insta. Mary Anne had probably never seen such a glamorous looking girl in Stoneybrook and was shocked to see someone like that in real life on her cruise. I often wonder who the famous singer parents were actually based on or just completely made up. That's the thing that gets me about that excerpt. Plus the blushing. I don't think it was intended to be a crush (I probably should've stated that), but it reads as one at first. Honestly, even if it was, it doesn't matter much because she doesn't trust her enough to keep in touch with her at the end of the story. Haha, I do remember a line like this, "She was very sophisticated. She was even more sophisticated than Stacey and Claudia." Not an exact quote, but that's the idea. I very rarely hear or read the word "sophisticated" outside of the BSC. They're obsessed with that word! I wouldn't be surprised if Viv and Vernon Carmody were based on real singers. |
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Post by booboobrewer on May 14, 2022 21:12:19 GMT -5
Richard and Linda Thompson?
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Post by fernmariposa919 on Feb 14, 2023 18:35:42 GMT -5
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Post by hurricanebill on Sept 23, 2023 18:10:35 GMT -5
I just returned from a short 4 night cruise last week (husband’s side of the family were longing for it, not me but I gave in and it had its ups and downs for me - hopefully never again 😅). I was definitely thinking about this book. I saw lots of older kids hanging out together by themselves. I’ll have to re-read it. Did anyone get sea sick in the book (was it only Margo?) or did their things just get tossed around in their room? Sea sickness is the worst.
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Post by booboobrewer on Sept 24, 2023 22:08:36 GMT -5
Just Margo I think. So many characters, there was bound to be more not feeling good.
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oldhickory
Sitting For The Arnolds
Heather Loves Boys and Gym
Posts: 3,251
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Post by oldhickory on Sept 25, 2023 9:25:40 GMT -5
It's too bad you didn't love the cruise! (I also hate vacationing with my in-laws.) My husband was in the navy and he got seasick the first few weeks of every deployment. It's just a weird motion and I would expect many more people feeling seasick. It would make the cruise feel a lot less glamorous if the whole club got sick, haha.
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As for Kristy and her family going to WDW at the same time as the Pikes was oh so convenient. And I can't believe Watson allowed Kristy to invite two friends along with them! It's supposed to be a FAMILY vacation. But Claudia and Dawn need to be apart of the book, so whatever.
As for Claudia's and Dawn's, I didn't care about. I don't really enjoy the vacation boyfriends. 
