So...we are just going to pretend that it hasn't been almost 3 months since my last post. And no telling how long since my last actual book review (I'm afraid to look for myself, don't need precise details on how much of a slacker I've been lately). Basically, I'm even more pregnant than I was 3 months ago (fancy that), and sadly, the second trimester didn't bring the increase in energy for which I was hoping. So, basically, you can expect future posts to be just as sporadic for awhile yet. All I can promise is that I will try my best.
Anywho, I just found a fun link on Buzzfeed (home of all things useless/awesome) about New Year's Resolutions based on the Babysitters' Club. So, naturally, I had to share, because, umm, we need this in our lives. Let's usher in 2015, BSC-style (meaning Kristy needs to propose a party that will be hosted in Dawn's barn, because that is how we roll). Check it out and choose which resolutions you will embrace in 2015 (as for me, I will try to decide which of those resolutions applies to "Survive having your first baby"). Peace out for now, fellow BSC-ers.
Happy birthday, Mary Anne, this would be your, what, 20th 13th birthday? Here's hoping Logan takes her out for a romantic dinner at Chez Maurice, or at least buys her ice cream or something.
So, I'm still preggo, but my energy is slowly starting to come back, so I'm not spending the entire weekend sleeping now (maybe just half the weekend...). So, this means that I will soon be back with my full book review posts, and not just these random posts that are (hopefully) keeping you somewhat invested in this blog.
For your entertainment, I found a link to an interesting article about life lessons girls from our generation learned from the BSC. I thought some were pretty interesting, but also feel like there were many more that could be added. Maybe I'll have to create my own life lesson list at some point here (a little further into the series, maybe). Any lessons you would like to add to the list?
So...as stated in previous posts, things have been mega-crazy lately (my handful of loyal readers should already know, but for the random, curious visitors to this blog, I am preggo like an Eggo right now, so my brain has been not been functioning normally these past few months. And I sleep all the time now. I'm basically a cat). So, my book review posts are just sitting there...waiting to be finished...and it's so hard to find the time and energy to sit down and actually complete them. Have faith, you patient readers, I will get back on the ball soon. At least I hope so.
At least the wonderful world of the interweb keeps providing me with fun links to share. So here comes another one, another link, another quickie post to hopefully keep you somewhat satisfied and not give up on me completely.
So, who wants to look like Claudia Kishi? Isn't she almost every girl's 90s' fashion icon? Didn't we all wish that we could have at least a little courage to rock some of the clothing choices she did? I will admit, in the course of revisiting this series and doing this blog, I have become more adventurous with my color combos lately (purple and lime green, hot pink and navy blue...). Well, now I can rock Claudia's makeup, too. Remember that time back in 7th grade when Claudia sported the Denise Huxtable look? Well, now, there is an online tutorial, thanks to XOVain, to totally rock the Claudia look in 2014.
Get you Claudia on here!!
So, have you ever wondered what the BSC series would be like if it were written today? Claudia's fashion choices? The BSC with smartphones, Facebook, and Instagram? Well, imagine no more, y'all, because someone has already done it for us.
Modern Day Babysitters Club
This series would be awesome, I would totally read this (and maybe blog it, if I can catch up on my current blog, that is...)
A quick post for you, sorry that I've have been so abysmally behind on the blog lately, life has been crazy (good crazy, but crazy nonetheless). Anyway, found a fun link where the most fashionable literary characters have been rated, and, well, I'm sure y'all can figure out who from the BSC may be represented.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/scholastic/the-10-most-fashionable-literary-characters-geqq?linkld=9159343
I promise to get back on the ball and post soon (the next one is one of my favorites BSC books ever, so I seriously need to stop slacking...)
This book contained my favorite BSC opening line ever: "I was so excited I felt like doing cartwheels across Claudia Kishi's bedroom floor." I don't know why that line always stuck with me, but I remembered it vividly. The thing was, I couldn't remember in which book it was. I knew it was a "summer" book, and had it in my head that it was California Girls!, so I was pretty disappointed when I read that one and it didn't contain the line. So, naturally, when I picked this one up and found my cartwheel line, I was super stoked (apparently that line makes me talk like a valley girl...).
So we are again in the summer after 8th grade (based on the chronology of the BSC books, this may actually be the first summer after 8th grade, shocking...). Mary Anne and Stacey are about to go once again to Sea City, NJ, as mother's helpers for the Pike family (they also did this in the previous summer, in Boy-Crazy Stacey, but I haven't reviewed that one yet, sorry. However, the prior Sea City trip took place immediately before the Disney cruise, if that helps give you a time frame. Or maybe it just helps me plug previous posts, because I'm shameless like that). Mary Anne and Stacey aren't the only members leaving the 'Brook for 2 weeks: Dawn is headed to Cali and Claudia is going on a family vacation to Vermont. As Dawn is packing for her trip, MA provides this gem "Dawn dresses like an individual, and to her, a bathing suit is more than something to swim in. It's a fashion statement." Umm...raise your hands if you think that applies to Stacey or Claudia more than Dawn, cause...yeah.
So, on the first day in Sea City, Mary Anne and Stacey run into Alex and Toby, their respective boyfriends from the previous summer. MA feels a little uneasy, since she is now dating Logan (whose voice makes her think of "warm molasses." My husband has never said that about my Southern accent, kind of sad. And I'm just wondering how a 13 year old girl from suburban Connecticut knows what warm molasses is like). However, MA doesn't think about Logan too long, and she and Stacey start picking up the summer flings where they previously left off. Who would have pictured MA as the dating-multiple-guys-at-once type? Stacey? Of course. Mary Anne, not so much. However, it is nice to see the characters break the mold every now and then, you go, Mary Anne (ok, not really, that is a reprehensible thing to do, shame on you, MA).
Meanwhile, in babysitting land, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Mallory take the rest of the Pike clan all over Sea City (Mallory, even though she is a BSC member, was not hired to be a mother's helper, the Pikes wanted Mallory to be able to enjoy her vacation, which is a first). They visit Burger Garden, where the seats are actually shaped like toadstools and the waiters dress up like animals (ok, something tells me that the teenagers that work there must hate it, dressing up in animal costumes in the heat of summer must suck, yikes). Plus, they visit Ice Cream Palace, where one of the minor dramas of the book unfolds. Vanessa Pike immediately develops a crush on Chris, a 12 year old boy who works there (really? How is that legal? Why does AMM insist on giving underage kids normal jobs? Child labor laws, anyone?). However, Chris develops a thing for Mallory, and when Vanessa leaves anonymous love poems for Chris, he assumes they are from Mallory. Vanessa is crushed, but Mary Anne helps console her and Vanessa never reveals the secret to Chris. Plus, the reveal happens at the end of the trip, so Mallory never finds out, either (hey, MA, you do realize that even though you kept Vanessa's secret and spared her feelings, you may have deprived your friend Mallory of her true love? Ok, probably not, but that would have been an ego boost to the one BSC member who struggles with self-confidence issues).
Back in Stoneybrook, Kristy has a disastrous sitting job with the Rodowsky boys (what else is new?). Kristy decides to take Shea, Jackie, and Archie to the community pool, where she manages to lose Archie (of course he is found), plus she somehow decides that it is a good idea to let Jackie go order all of the food, which of course ends in disaster. Furthermore, Jackie buys a giant cookie that he promptly drops in the pool, and later gets stung by a bee. Kristy counts her losses and takes them home. Oh, and Jessi somehow temporarily loses the Pikes' hamster Frodo, freaks out, then finds him in her hamster's cage. Apparently, Squirt placed him there because of a Sesame Street episode, and Jessi thinks he is a genius. No, Jessi, he's not, sorry. Janine Kishi is the only genius sibling of the BSC.
In Sea City, things are going about as smoothly. Mary Anne and Stacey both have dates planned for Friday night, but only one is allowed to be off at a time. Stacey bulldozes MA into cancelling her date with Alex, and Mary Anne, while furious, caves in and reschedules for Saturday. Tensions remain high all day Saturday, when Stacey starts to iron a dress that night. Mary Anne asks why she is getting dressed up, and Stacey nonchalantly remarks that she and Toby have another date that night. And MA blows a gasket. For reals. This time, she's all "Hell to the no!! I am going out tonight!! I hate you!! You're a virgin who can't drive!!" Ok, maybe not that exact dialogue, but Mary Anne makes her point and goes out with Alex. They go out on the boardwalk, and he wins her a purple hippo (flashback to all those middle school/high school trips to Six Flags, where the boyfriend would win his girl a giant stuffed animal, but she would make him carry it around all day for her). Stacey and MA keep the icy chill going the rest of the vacation, until Mary Anne finds out that Toby dumped Stacey, and that's why she has been super b!tch for the past few days. Stacey and Mary Anne eventually make up, of course, because that's just what the BSC does. Mary Anne and Alex go out one last time, where Mary Anne finally confesses that she has a boyfriend. Surprisingly, Alex isn't pissed, because apparently he has a girlfriend back home, too, and he hopes that they can remain friends. Because that makes the last two weeks of summer lovin' ok, AMM, because they are just "friends." You know what When Harry Met Sally said about men and women being friends, right? I would watch your girl, Logan...
Sea City Fashion!!
What Stacey Wore: "Stacey looked very "New York" as usual, in a pair of khaki safari pants, topped with a jungle print blouse and a leather belt that must have cost two months' allowance."
Blossom Russo would approve.
What Stacey Wore (date with Toby): "Stacey chose a white sundress for her date with Toby because she wanted to show off her tan."
What Dawn Wore: "Dawn was dressed for traveling, which meant she was wearing a beautiful Laura Ashley dress and had swept her long blonde hair back in pearl barrettes." Who the crap dresses like that for a cross country flight? Give me yoga pants and a hoodie any day...
Sigh...I will admit it, I didn't really like this one (which is probably why I have taken so long to post this one...sorry, life happens sometimes). However, it is now time to man up (woman up? BSC up?) and soldier through this one.
So we are at the end of summer (the second, third, or fourth summer that takes place before 8th grade starts...). Kristy has just gotten back from a family vacation in Hawaii (I think this takes place right after the Aloha, Babysitters! Super Special, we'll have to see when I finally read that one). Special K gets back on Sunday, and the next day is Labor Day, and the whole club is stunned that Kristy wants to have a meeting on Labor Day. Now, since they have been through, oh, about 10 Labor Days by now since the BSC has been together, you would think this issue would have already been addressed. The Kishis leave their family BBQ so that Claudia can be home in time for the meeting, but Jessi's family is actually practical, and they refuse to leave their Labor Day cookout to bring Jessi to the meeting. And now I love the Ramseys. All of the other girls are all pissy and grumbly during the meeting, which is nice to see once and awhile.
During our standard chapter 2 bio section, we find out that Kristy considers herself "tearless and fearless, loud and proud." That sounds like a really bad gym motivational poster you can find on Pinterest or something. Or maybe Kristy's future eHarmony description. Apparently, Abby, as alternate officer, stood in for Kristy while she was on vacation. The book didn't specify how long Kristy's vacation was, but apparently it was long enough for Abby to organize a Mexican festival which was a huge success, plus long enough for Abby to do away with the weekly dues, which caused the treasury to be depleted (poor Stacey must be so depressed by that). So, of course, Kristy is jealous of the festival and smug about the treasury. Special K also describes Abby as "the most gung-ho athlete of the BSC besides her." Umm...how exactly is Kristy an athlete? Sure, she coaches the Krushers, and we can all agree that she is a tomboy, but calling yourself an athlete implies that you would play some sort of organized sport, which Kristy does not. Abby is on the SMS soccer team, so she is indeed an athlete, while Kristy is just a tomboy who likes sports, but doesn't play them. Take that, Kristy Thomas.
Things in BSC land continue to unravel. Stacey misses the next Friday meeting because her dad has tickets to a Broadway show. Kristy asks if Mr. McGill can exchange the tickets for Saturday, and Stacey is all...
At the same meeting, Jessi announces that she has a new advanced ballet class that will take place on Friday evenings at 5:15 (finally, an activity that takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays, or Fridays, all other BSC outside activities are conveniently scheduled on Tuesdays or Thursdays). Kristy tells her that she needs to either quit the BSC or ballet. Umm...aca-scuse me? She was way more understanding when Mallory needed a break for her writing, I don't see what the big deal would be for Jessi just to attend meetings on Mondays and Wednesdays. The rest of the BSC defends Jessi, and they decide to move the meeting days to Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. A few weeks later, Mallory announces that there is a 6 week creative writing course at Stoneybrook Public Library that meets on Wednesdays from 4:30-6. Kristy says that Mallory absolutely cannot join the class, to which Mallory reluctantly agrees (way to give up on your dreams for your friends, Mal). Plus, random members keep missing meetings for doctor/dentist appointments, Mary Anne and Abby show up to meetings late, and the girls start to bicker amongst themselves.
Kristy decides that the BSC is suffering from a major lack of spirit, and since she is still jealous of Abby's Mexican festival, she decides to plan a Fall into Fall Festival Block Party (and that long title made me think of The Office).
Naturally, none of the other BSC members are enthused by the idea, since they just finished planning another festival recently, and are loaded down with homework from school. Kristy wants to have apple picking, but there are no apple trees in the Brook, so she wants the girls to tie apples to trees with string. Plus, she wants to have a parade and a maple sugaring booth (anyone else remember the maple sugar scene from Little House in the Big Woods?). Yeah, Kristy, I'm with the rest of the BSC here, that sounds like a lot of work and super lame. However, Kristy finds out that she would need a permit to close off the street, plus can't find a weekend that every BSC member will be in town to help out, but she stubbornly keeps trying to plan the festival.
Then the camel's back breaks. Kristy is babysitting the Rodowsky boys, and Jackie falls out of a tree and sprains his ankle. Kristy is mad at herself for letting that happen, and furious with the rest of the club for their attitudes, so she suggests that they break up the Babysitters Club. After a heated debate, everyone but Mallory and Jessi vote to disband the club, and Claudia changes her answering machine message to let clients know. At least the Fall into Fall Festival Block Party is cancelled, now.
Kristy immediately regrets her idea, but all the other girls seem relieved and happy to have more free time (yes! They are normal 13 year old girls, after all...). Mallory gleefully signs up for the creative writing class since Kristy can't dictate her life any more. Plus, other girls at SMS tell Kristy that they are happy that the BSC broke up because they now have a chance to babysit, too (yeah, that would kind of suck for anyone who wants to babysit who wasn't part of the BSC, it's like they were the babysitting mafia or something). Kristy gets her feelings hurt when she finds out that some of their regular clients, like the Newtons, hire other girls to babysit instead of club members. The girls talk about trying to meet up for sleepovers or pizza nights, but they can never coordinate schedules to include all seven.
A few weeks into the non-BSC era, Jackie Rodowsky decides to ride across town to Kristy's house to apologize, because he thinks that it's his fault that the club broke up. On the way, he runs into a tree and gets a concussion. Once the BSC finds out, all the members immediately converge on the hospital to visit Jackie (this just seemed weird...I mean, I know he is a favorite sitting charge, but what are the chances that all of the girls were able to get rides to the hospital at the same time? Just...no). All of the girls start talking, and Kristy suggests that they reform the club on a probationary basis for a month. After the month, they can decide if it's worth the effort to keep it going or not. In the meantime, Jessi's ballet class has been rescheduled to Tuesdays, because none of the parents were happy with Friday night classes, either, and Mallory has only 3 weeks left of her writing class, so Kristy decides she can excuse Mallory for the next 3 Wednesdays (very big of you, Kristy). So, the BSC lives on to fight another day...
Break-Up Fashion!!
What Claudia Wore: "For instance, at that Labor Day meeting she was wearing a bracelet of dyed, braided shoelaces, along with a blousy ruffled shirt that looked as if it once belonged to Captain Hook; mismatched high-top Converse sneakers; a baggy, pinstriped men's suit pants, gathered at the waist with a bungee cord."
"But I don't want to be a pirate!!!"
So, things have been hectic lately, way behind on blogging schedule, yada, yada, yada...
Found a fun link, thought I would share to tide over my handful of loyal readers...
So, readers, who is your favorite BSC member, and what does that say about you?
For the record, my favorites were Claudia and Stacey, but I was definitely more of a Mary Anne (although I wouldn't refer to this blog as medium popular yet, lol).
Ok, this is seriously bugging me, Mary Anne is taller than Dawn on the cover. MA is always described as being one of the shortest girls in her class (next to Kristy), so I find it hard to believe that the cover artist would jack that up so badly. However, since MA is totally rockin' some pegged mom jeans there, I may forgive the cover artist this time. Maybe.
So this one picks up right at the end of the wedding of Richard Spier and Sharon Schafer (the main part of the wedding took place in Mary Anne and the Great Romance, which I haven't read yet. That's what you get for reading things out of order). Anyway, AMM foreshadows the main conflict of this story (if you're not sure what the conflict is yet, reread the title of the book. Good job.) when Mary Anne manages to catch Sharon's bouquet while at the reception, which is located at Chez Maurice (apparently that is the only fine dining establishment in the 'Brook, because dang, every fancy event/date night takes place there - give us an Italian place or something, AMM, sheesh). Dawn gets all pissed that she wasn't the one to catch it, seeing how she is Sharon's actual daughter, but doesn't say anything to MA. Girl holds a grudge though, we get several paragraphs of internal angst over that. Dawn doesn't handle losing anything well, does she? After the dinner is over, Sharon and Richard head off to spend the wedding night in a local hotel, and MA and Dawn decide to host an afterparty at MA's for her last night in the house. Charlie manages to drive the entire BSC over to MA's house in his car, which is just, well, unsafe, maybe? I mean, I always pictured his car, the Junk Bucket, has an old, beat-up hatchback or something, and even if it is a full size car, how in the world can you fit 7 girls in there? That's a traffic citation waiting to happen, AMM. Anyway, the afterparty does not turn into a sleepover, because Dawn and Mary Anne want to spend the last night in the house alone. They get all freaked with every single noise, thinking that the Phantom Phone Caller may be striking again.
They survive the night, though, and moving day arrives. MA is all weepy about the thought of leaving her house, and when Dawn tries to make some cheery comment, MA bites her head off. Dawn thinks "she must be one of those people who gets crabby if she doesn't get enough sleep." No, sweetie, she's pissed that she has to move, give her space. Dawn gets more and more irritated as the move progresses, but she and MA still decide to share a room at the farmhouse, even though there is another bedroom just sitting there. Now, I never had a sister (or stepsister), but I'm hella sure that if I had the option for my own room, I would take it, girl needs her privacy. Plus, you know that a house built in the 1800s is going to have super small rooms and very little closet space. So, naturally, Mary Anne's dresser has to go in the spare room (I love saying spare room, gives me an Anne of Green Gables thrill), plus she has to put most of her clothes in that closet. And then, the war begins. More on that later.
Meanwhile, in BSC land, Mallory has to leave a meeting sick one day (I'm shocked that Kristy allowed it), and they find out that she has chicken pox. But, like the infomercials always promise, there is, indeed, more. Claire and Margo end up coming down with bronchitis, the triplets manage to catch pneumonia, Nicky somehow breaks 3 fingers, Vanessa sprains her ankle, Mrs. Pike injures her knee playing tennis, and, last of all (I think), Mr. Pike burns his hands trying to cook for the family (all I could think of when I read that one is George Constanza burning his hands on Seinfeld and losing out on his hand model gig). So, yeah, the entire Pike family is down for the count. Now, this would have been way more believable if all of the kids caught Mallory's chicken pox, but to have almost each kid come down with a different sickness/injury at the same time is a stretch, AMM. Anyway, the rest of the BSC rotates time at the Pike house, helping clean and get meals prepared, but they wear surgical masks the entire time, which is just a little creepy. They eventually recover, of course, but I don't know if I will recover from this subplot.
Back in the new blended family farmhouse, things are going about as well as at the Pike house. Richard and Sharon clash, because Richard is an OCD neat freak (he organizes his books by genre, then alphabetizes them. I alphabetize by author, but that is my limit) and Sharon, as we previously have learned, is a super slob. Plus, Richard likes cooking bacon every morning, which disgusts Sharon and Dawn. The strife extends to Dawn and MA, as well. Dawn likes to listen to music while studying (as do I, Dawn, always have my iPod on at work), but Mary Anne needs total silence to concentrate. They decide to wear each other's clothes one day at school, but after they bicker about jobs at the BSC meeting that afternoon, Mary Anne tells Dawn "you know, I don't think my skirt looks so great on you, after all. It's a little...tight." That was way harsh, Tai. Mary Anne is not done with her Regina George-style biting comments. SMS is having a random 8th grade dance, to which Dawn is not invited (you would think she would be "independent" enough to go on her own, but whatevs). As Mary Anne is leaving to meet Logan, she tells Dawn, "just try to enjoy your evening, Dawn. Don't think of yourself as someone who can't get a date, ok? It's not healthy." Dawn, miraculously, doesn't b!tch-slap Mary Anne into next week. That is the last straw, and Dawn decides that Mary Anne needs to move into the spare room in order for them to stay friends. And, naturally, instead of talking rationally to Mary Anne about this, she decides to scare Mary Anne out of the room. She waits until Richard and Sharon are gone one night, and then fabricates an emergency job at the Pikes' to leave the house (you would think MA, queen of the record book, would maybe have a clue that this is fishy). Then, after ringing the doorbell to draw MA out of the bedroom, she races through the secret passage and leaves both a black silk rose and a old chicken bone on MA's desk. Plus, she makes noise in the secret passage to scare Mary Anne, as well. Mary Anne rushes to the phone to call Logan (good thing she didn't try to call Dawn at the Pikes', you would have been busted then, D). Dawn strolls into the house a suitable time later, and Mary Anne is all freaked out. She decides that she can't stay in the room with the secret passage any more, and moves that night into the guest room. The family sits down later to have a conference about how to work out their differences and live in peace, and all is well again.
Now, on a side note, I have read other blogs that have reviewed this book, and all seem to think that Dawn was the evil one in this book for scaring Mary Anne out of the room. For once, though, I side with Dawn over Mary Anne, after all the mean girl comments MA threw at Dawn during this book, I think Dawn showed remarkable restraint for once. I even shocked myself by writing that sentence, can't believe I sided with Dawn. Might never happen again.
Wicked Fashion!!
What Claudia Wore: "She wears funky stuff like pink sparkly high topped sneakers, or short flared skirts over skin tight leggings, or wild jewelry she's made herself."
I'm feeling some Angela Chase with this one.
What Claudia Wore (dance edition): "I'm wearing my pink dress, the short one. And my earrings that look like globes. Oh, and a necklace I made from candy."
So, somehow I had never watched this when it came out, so I was really excited to get this off of Netflix (of course, I had to wait until my husband went out of town for a couple of days to watch it, not sure he is that understanding of my BSC project...). And shockingly, this did not disappoint at all, followed the books pretty well, a lot of the regular sitting charges were featured, plus Rachel Leigh Cook and Larissa Oleynik were in this - 90s awesomeness!!
Here is the cast of characters:
Kristy, played by Schuyler Fisk:
Claudia, played by Tricia Joe:
Mary Anne, played by Rachel Leigh Cook:
They even gave her reading glasses in one scene!!
Stacey, played by Bre Blair:
I had total hair envy of Stacey for the entire movie, look at those luscious, shampoo-commercial locks there.
Dawn, played by Larissa Oleynik (Alex Mack in the house!!)
Mallory, played by Stacy Linn Ramsower (that's a mouthful):
Jessi, played by Zelda Harris:
Logan, played by Austin O'Brien:
This was the first casting choice that really disappointed me, not how I pictured Logan Bruno at all (plus his accent sounded more Australian than Southern in the movie, boo)
Cokie Mason, played by Marla Sokoloff:
Alan Gray, played by Aaron Michael Metchik:
Totally not how I pictured Alan Gray, the goofball prankster and Kristy's nemesis
I don't really feel like doing a plot synopsis for the movie, so I'm just going to do a list of highlights and moments that made my BSC fangirl cheer.
Highlights:
* Kristy wears a Krushers shirt!! Love that they throw in little details like that
* Dawn is full on hippie in this movie, and her biggest regret is that she wasn't born on Earth Day - I guess the screenwriters must have read this one, didn't they?
* Claudia's room is freaking huge!! And surprisingly clean, which really bothered me. At the meetings, Mal and Jessi sat on the floor, Mary Anne, Claudia, and Dawn sat on the bed, Stacey in the desk chair, and Kristy in the director's chair. Love that they got the sitting positions correct.
Isn't that room huge? This is just a random hangout scene, which is why the sitting positions from the meetings don't match up in this shot.
* Kristy has the great idea to start a summer camp for the BSC kids, and they will charge admission per kid. They want to save up money to buy a clubhouse, so that they can stop meeting in Claudia's room. Of course, even though they manage to find a clubhouse and get it fixed up, they decide to donate it as a greenhouse to Dawn's neighbor (played by Ellen Burstyn) and keep meeting in Claud's room
* Claudia has to take a summer school class for science, she struggles, but manages to pass when the BSC members/campers make up a rap about the human brain
* Jessi wears an ABT shirt at one point, which I know stands for American Ballet Theatre, thanks to Center Stage. Again, props on the details
* Apparently Mary Anne's last name is pronounced "Spear" - I always pronounced it "Spy-er" (well, still do, actually, I can't change after 20+ years, deal with it, AMM)
* Cokie Mason and her crew torment the girls all summer, plus Cokie keeps trying to steal Logan from Mary Anne, even invites him to a Smashing Pumpkins concert right in front of MA at one point. I'm surprised they used a real band there
* Several regular BSC kids are featured, including Rosie Wilder, Jackie Rodowsky, and Vanessa Pike (who rhymes!!)
* Stacey meets Rosie Wilder's cousin from Switzerland, a 17 year old named Luca, and she falls in LUV (to use a Stacey-ism). She lies and tells him she's 16, and of course it blows up in her face, but he eventually forgives her and kisses her at the end of the movie. Luca says he'll be back next summer, and Stacey's response is "I'll be 14." Umm, Luca will be 18 at that point, still creepy
* Kristy's dad, the phantom Mr. Thomas, randomly shows up, she sneaks around and hangs out with him all summer (only telling MA, not the rest of the BSC or her Mom). He promises to take her to an amusement park for her birthday, and of course, ends up abandoning her there. Stacey calls Luca, and he drives the girls over there to rescue Kristy
* Kristy gets all flaky because of her dad, shows up late to camp and even misses several meetings. Now, you know that if another member of the BSC did that, she would be all over that girl's butt (cough*Claudia*cough)
* Jackie Rodowsky, the Walking Disaster, finally hits a home run at the end of the movie, and the ball knocks Cokie Mason out of a tree and into a dumpster. Pretty awesome, actually
* Logan and Alan Gray are best friends? What the...?
* Alan Gray has a crush on Dawn, tries to show her that by being an annoying doofus, however after he confesses, she agrees to go out with him at the end of the movie. Guess he has a thing for BSC members, doesn't he?
* At the end of the movie, the girls say that they have spent the best years of their lives in Claudia's room. I think most girls of our generation feel the same way, don't we?
What Claudia Wore:
Shockingly, I somehow never read this one as a kid, even though I know I read every other of the first ten Super Specials. Just bizarre that I never read this one. By the way, notice the kid with the yellow and green outfit on the cover, I have a childhood picture of me in that exact outfit (almost): yellow sleeveless shirt, lime green shorts, yellow socks, and white Keds. And I believe my hair was in a Claudia-esque side ponytail, too. Too bad that photo is several states away at my parents' house. If I ever find it, I will try to retroactively add it to this post, just for kicks.
So, Claudia and Dawn decide to take sailing lessons from the Stoneybrook Community Center (for some reason I have never pictured Stoneybrook as being right on the water, this kind of threw me a bit). Apparently, Dawn sails in California with her dad and Jeff all the time, and Claudia sails on her family's vacation every summer (what the...? When has a BSC member ever gone on a family vacation that didn't somehow include the rest of the club? I'm calling you on these mystery vacations, AMM). Anyway, the class lasts two months, and Claudia and Dawn decide to race when they have their end of class certification runs. Dawn beats Claudia out to Greenpoint Island, the halfway point (Claudia seemed to be inhibited by her attire), but Claudia manages to catch up on the second leg, which ends in a tie (of course) back at the Community Center. So, naturally, a rematch is planned. Plus, the girls find out that they have now been certified to sail without supervision. Now, I didn't grow up on the coast, so I'm not sure how feasible this is - I mean, 13 year olds sailing in the ocean/bay/whatever without supervision of some kind? I could understand sailing on a lake, maybe, but not the ocean. Just...not believable.
Anyway, SMS has a 3 day weekend approaching, and they decide to have the rematch then. Dawn's brother, Jeff, is in town for the long weekend, so he will go sailing with Dawn. Claudia asks Mallory to go with her, but she has other plans. Jessi convinces Claud to take her sister, Becca, instead. Becca is 8. Then, somehow, they get the bright idea to invite Haley Braddock (age 9), as well as Jamie Newton (age 4). What the...? As a parent, there is no way I would let my 8 year old, my 9 year old, and hell to the no on my 4 year old, to go sailing with 13 year old girls who are not related to me (well, not even if they were related, actually. 16 year olds? I would need a lot of convincing, but possibly. 13 year olds? Again, hell to the no). This just boggles my mind. I mean, yes, the BSC girls are always held up as "super responsible" for their age, but seriously, AMM? No parent will let their young child sail out on the ocean with 13 year old girls who have just been certified to sail alone. Pffft. In AMM's crazy, jacked up alternate universe, the parents are all delighted by the invitations and enthusiastically agree. Plus, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey will actually be out of town for the weekend, but still agree to let Becca go sailing with Dawn and Claudia. That last sentence made me mad just typing it. You're killing me, Smalls!!
Anyway, Dawn and Claudia decide to pack lunches so that they can all have a picnic on Greenpoint Island before returning the Community Center. However, while they are sailing out to the island, a wicked squall (said in a Boston accent, because, why not?) blows in, and the girls soon lose their bearings. Dawn's ship starts to break up, the rudder snaps, and she realizes that they (Dawn, Jeff, and Haley) will have to bail out and swim to Claudia's boat. Claud's boat is too small to hold the additional people, so they just hang onto the side until she finds an island on which to land. Claudia immediately recognizes that this is not Greenpoint Island, and realizes that they are, indeed...
Back in Stoneybrook, everyone gets concerned when the boats don't return before the storm, and then after the storm passes and night hits, alarms are raised, and crisis hits the 'Brook.
Stoneybrook Adventures:
Kristy - calls an emergency meeting (naturally) which is held at Mallory's house, cancels Krushers' practice to help with the search efforts, plus even cancels the upcoming game with the Bashers. Bart gets super pissed, calls her "irresponsible" for cancelling and claims that she is using the search as an excuse to cancel because she is scared of losing to his team. Kristy, of course, gives him a verbal b!tch-slap, and he eventually apologizes for being a jerk.
Mary Anne - she and Dawn had a huge fight right before the race, because Dawn forgot to give her a message from Logan about cancelling a library date. MA tells Dawn even tells Dawn that "she never wants to see her again" (that was way harsh, Tai). Mary Anne is devastated when she realizes that Dawn is missing and the last thing they did was fight. She spends the whole weekend at the community center, the hub of the search, and on separate occasions, when reporters ask both she and Sharon how they are feeling, they each snap, "How do you think I feel?" MA and Logan are also fighting through this, due to the missed date, but they eventually make up as well.
Stacey - is in NYC visiting her dad this weekend, and as soon as Kristy calls her with the news, she wants to come home and help with the search. Mr. McGill refuses, saying that the girls will probably be found within a few hours, and gets increasingly frustrated the more Stacey asks about leaving early. After another major fight, Stacey calls a cab to the train station and leaves Monday morning. She eventually writes her dad a letter about how upset he made her, and he apologizes. Stacey goes out with the Pike family on Monday to help with the search, and she locates some of the wreckage from Dawn's boat, which causes despair throughout the town.
Mallory - she and her family have a boat (of course they do, and of course it has never been mentioned before, and is never mentioned after...), and they spend the whole day Sunday and most of Monday out searching for the castaways. And that's about it.
Jessi - is in charge of watching her sister and brother while her parents are gone (because this is so believable, if her parents won't let her babysit at night for other families, why do they think she is responsible enough to watch her brother and sister for a whole weekend while they are out of town? I'm calling BS, AMM), and once she realizes that Claudia's boat with Becca did not return, she reluctantly calls her Aunt Cecilia, who lives in a neighboring town. Aunt C blames Jessi for the whole ordeal, even though Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey gave Becca permission to sail, and spends the whole time berating Jessi for being irresponsible (oh, and at one point, the book spelled her name "Jesse," and it bugged the crap out of me. What happened to proof-reading?). Even after the Ramseys return to town, Aunt Cecelia remains to "supervise," which is AMM's way of leading up to Auntie C moving in with the Ramseys in the near future.
On the island:
Dawn - Miss Independent basically falls apart on the island (although, for a 13 year old girl, she still did much better than to be expected), she is unable to contribute any ideas to the food/water/rescue situation. The picnic food that was able to be saved during the storm runs out by Sunday afternoon. Jeff manages to fashion a fishing pole and catch some fish for food. Dawn freaks out when she realizes that her watch has stopped working, but Jeff's watch is waterproof, and both times she asks him what time it is, both on Saturday night and on Sunday morning, he answers "9 o'clock," which becomes the unofficial name of the island. Jamie Newton gets really sick, is running a pretty major fever, and Dawn spends most of the time in the little cave they found on the island with him. She falls into a deeper funk when Sunday rolls into Monday and they still haven't been rescued.
Claudia - and Claudia is now the babysitter that I want with me in any emergency situation. Claudia manages to find the cave they use for shelter and gets the kids to gather wood for a fire. After she realizes that she forgot to properly beach her boat, which drifts away overnight, Claudia keeps a level head and takes immediate charge of the situation. Claudia has the idea to use the tarp that was originally on her boat to fashion a rain-catcher so that they can have drinkable water. She realizes that the survival kit included with the boat doesn't have any medicine, so she tells Dawn that will need to save as much of the water for Jamie to keep his fever down. Becca and Haley have the idea to write "HELP" on the sand with seashells, but since all of the shells are about the same color as the beach, Claudia tries to find alternate ways to signal for rescue. She finds a large piece of a broken mirror, and when they hear a plane flying near on Monday afternoon, she runs out on the beach and flashes the mirror. The plane sees them, and uses a bullhorn to ask if they need a doctor, and Claudia signals that the do. A Coast Guard ship soon arrives with all of the parents on board, and they are rescued.
All of the castaways are taken to the hospital to be checked out, and except for some mild dehydration and sunburn, everyone except Jamie is fine. Jeff does have a cut on his foot that is slightly infected, but he is released that night. Jamie, however, has strep throat and an ear infection, and has to stay in the hospital overnight. Dawn confesses to her mom about how she fell apart, and Sharon tells her that she can't always be the strong one, and that Claudia was able to learn that she could be strong, too, which was a pretty good response, I might have to steal that for my future kids. Jeff flies back to California on Tuesday afternoon, and on Wednesday the BSC cancels the meeting because there is a huge press conference at the community center. Claudia teasingly challenges Dawn to a rematch, and Dawn's response is "no way."
BSC Life Lessons Learned:
Claudia - She never realized that she was smart until she was on the island.
Kristy - Standing up for what is right is important
Stacey - realizes the 'Brook is now definitely her home
Jessi - learns that adults in her family, especially Aunt Cecilia, don't trust her as much as she thought
Mallory - helping search made her feel in control during the crisis
Mary Anne - how much she loves Dawn
Dawn - "There's no place like home."
Island Fashion!!!
What Claudia Wore (first race): "So she'd put on a tank top and baggy drawstring pants. Over the top, she was wearing a button down shirt of her father's. The sleeves were rolled up, but none of the buttons were buttoned. She was also wearing big earrings that she had made herself."
Ok, so not a true version of Claudia's outfit (although Kerri Green's outfit is pretty close), but hey, this is one of the greatest movie sailing races of all time, people.
What Claudia Wore (second race): "That morning I'd dressed sensibly for our rematch. No jewelry at all (I was not about to lose on account of earrings), and a long sleeved jersey that I could tuck into my jeans. I even pulled my hair back and braided it so it wouldn't blow in my face."
The one with the flies!!! It's crazy how I can remember specific lines and images from certain books even after the 20+ years since I first read the series. This one was one of my favorites, so maybe that's why so many details of this one jumped out at me this time.
So, we start this one with Stacey visiting her dad in NYC, going shopping (where she almost asks her dad to buy her a cropped purple suede fringed jacket - how 80s is that, yikes - but instead gets heart-shaped black-and-white checkerboard sunglasses), plus has brunch on Sunday with Laine, pre-breakup. She gets back to the 'Brook late Sunday evening, so she actually rewears her train outfit to school the next day (which is nice to see, AMM makes it always seem like Stacey and Claudia have these magical, never-ending, Cher Horowitz-type closets. Even Kate Middleton recycles outfits, AMM. Wonder if Duchess Catherine was a BSC fan?). Anyway, that Monday afternoon, the BSC meeting turns out to be a momentous one, at least for this story's purposes. Kristy (whom Stacey refers to as "a little babyish," hee hee) announces that an old historic home is about to be torn down in Stoneybrook, which Stacey thinks is super lame. However, the phone rings, and Dr. Johanssen calls with an interesting proposition. Charlotte's grandfather is having surgery and will be hospitalized for a week (back when insurance companies let you stay that long for a procedure), and the Johanssens want to go stay with him, but don't want Charlotte to miss school. So they ask if Stacey would mind having Charlotte stay with her for the week, and that they would pay her accordingly. Ok, I know Stacey considers Charlotte like a little sister, but this just seemed a little weird. You think maybe they would want Charlotte to stay with the Ramseys, since Becca and Charlotte are best friends, or have some family member from the other side of the family come stay for the week. Whatevs, AMM. Anyway, somehow Mrs. McGill enthusiastically agrees to this, because this is Stoneybrook, after all.
Stacey decides to decorate the guest bedroom for her "little sister," putting some Raggedy Ann bedsheets on the bed (oh, I remember the Raggedy Ann bedsheets!!) and places some of her old stuffed animals (any of her stuffed pigs, I wonder?) on the bed. Charlotte is super homesick the first day, so Stacey decides to walk her down the street to look at the old house that is about to be demolished. The workers have already left for the day, so they walk around the perimeter of the house. Suddenly, Stacey sees a face in one of the turret windows, but dismisses as her imagination. Then, both she and Charlotte hear what sounds like chains being dragged across the floor from somewhere inside, plus some sort of moaning sound. Then, as she and Charlotte walk around the back of the house, they spot a huge swarm of flies right by the back door, which reminds Stacey of The Amityville Horror, which she had recently seen with Claudia (really?!? Not sure if my parents would have let me watch something like that at 13, but then, I do remember watching Alfred Hitchcock movies at a sleepover in 6th grade, so I guess it's plausible...). Anyway, the flies are too much for Stacey, she and Charlotte are seriously spooked and run back to the McGill house.
The next BSC meeting, Stacey brings Charlotte along (with Kristy's permission, of course), and they recount their adventures at the house. Kristy manages to find a book about the history of Stoneybrook in Watson's library, and it contains an old map of the town. Apparently, the old home was built on top of an ancient graveyard (because...of course it is. The thing that gets me, though, is that I don't see there being any way of them not knowing about the graveyard already. Something tells me that something like that would be a story passed down to each generation, to scare young kids and such. I mean, our town had the old Thompson family burial plot, buried deep within the woods, that kids had to hike out to on a dare at some point. Now, of course, those woods have disappeared, and the family graveyard is in the middle of a neighborhood, stupid surburban expansion...). Kristy brings the old book and map over to Stacey's house, so that she and Charlotte can study them as well, and Claudia actually goes to the library *gasp!!* to find out who actually owned the house. She finds out that the last owner's name is Ronald Hennessey, and that he is currently alive and well, and is resident as Stoneybrook Manor.
Meanwhile, back at the McGill house, things get even worse. Charlotte wakes up with a sore throat, and when she starts running a fever, Mrs. McGill races her to the pediatrician, Dr. Dellankamp (who seems to be the only pediatrician in Stoneybrook, she is mentioned in several books). It turns out that Charlotte has tonsillitis, and she gets prescribed a massive dose of penicillin and has to stay home from school for several days (which kind of defeats the purpose of Charlotte staying with the McGills in the first place...). Charlotte puts up a major fuss, and Stacey yells, "Shut your whining, you little brat!! I have to give myself insulin injections every day!!" Ok, it didn't happen that way, but after Stacey shows Charlotte what she has to do every day to stay healthy, Charlotte sucks it up and takes her medicine. After a few days, she gets better and can start delving back into the mystery of the Hennessey house.
Stacey and Charlotte decide to take another stroll by the house, and this time, they see a fire coming out of one of the windows. Stacey runs to get a wheelbarrow that is full of rainwater, but by the time she gets back, the fire has disappeared, and there are no scorch marks on the window. That night, both Stacey and Charlotte have nightmares about the house, so Kristy, naturally, calls an emergency meeting. Stacey knows that this is important, because "we rarely have emergency meetings." I might have laughed out loud at that, because they have an emergency meeting every other book - you know, with the vampires, the wedding, missing cats, stolen diamonds, the list goes on and on... At the meeting, Mallory admits to having a nightmare about the house, too, and Claudia confesses that she felt a hand on her arm when she was walking by the house, but no one was there. Kristy decides the best course of action is to go visit Mr. Hennessey at Stoneybrook Manor to find out the history of his home.
The next day, Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, and Charlotte visit Mr. Hennessey, where he spins tall tales of all the ghosts of his house, including one called "Old Rubbernose" and a lady in a green velvet dress. The girls leave the nursing home even more determined to solve the mystery, and they all decide to attend the actual demolition of the house the next day. While there, Stacey sees the house burst into flames, but since no one else reacts, she realizes she is having some kind of vision. She sees Mr. Hennessey walking around in the flames, so she rushes to the nursing home, where she finds out that Mr. Hennessey passed away overnight. He left a letter for her, where he explains that he was just having fun with them the other day, that none of the ghost stories were true. When she meets back up with the rest of the BSC, Kristy explains that Charlie talked to some of the workmen during the demo, and found out that the moaning sound came from the old pipes, the flames were caused by a worker using a torch, and that they mass of flies were actually a hive a bees disturbed by the construction. The girls realize that there is no mystery, and Stacey wisely decides to not tell them about her "vision."
The Johanssens come home, and Charlotte tells them all about the mystery, which Stacey tries to laugh off as just something fun, and Mrs. McGill informs Dr. Johanssen about Charlotte's tonsillitis. And somehow the Johanssens decide that even though Charlotte got sick and had nightmares while with Stacey, that Stacey can still be Charlotte's go-to sitter. Because...yeah.
The Mystery Fashion!!
What Stacey Wore: "For example, I had dressed for my train ride in a white jumpsuit, layered over a blue tank top. I had on white push-down socks with blue hearts all over them, a wide blue patent leather belt, and a wild necklace made of all kinds of plastic sea creatures in a rainbow of colors."
What Stacey Wore (the next day at school) - "The same white jumpsuit, pink shirt, and oops!, red socks."
What Stacey Wore: "I'd gotten this pink polka-dotted short skirt with suspender straps and had worn it with an oversized white T-shirt. I had on my pink high-top sneakers, folded down to show their striped lining. I'd also worn these great earrings Claudia had given me for my last birthday. They had all these little pink plastic hearts dangling down from one bigger heart."
What Claudia Wore: "One earring was shaped like a little a little record, and the other looked like a stereo."
What Claudia Wore: "She was sitting on her bed, chewing grape bubblegum and blowing purple bubbles, which matched her tie-dyed T-shirt dress."
Lauren Conrad likes the purple tie-dyed look too, Claudia
Twilight comes to the 'Brook, y'all. By the way, Kristy's shirt on the cover bugs the crap out of me, it has the name of the movie, Little Vampires, but it has it in quotation marks. Really?!? Come on, random cover artist dude, you don't put the name of a movie, band, book, etc. in quotation marks on a t-shirt, that's just crazy talk talkin'.
So, Derek Masters is back in Stoneybrook for the summer, and this time, he is bringing Hollywood with him. That's right, Derek is filming a TV movie, called Little Vampires (sounds like a Twilight prequel, which would air on ABC Family), right in Stoneybrook. Mrs. Masters calls the BSC needing a set sitter for Derek for the duration of the movie, and Kristy gets the job. Plus, Claudia will watch Derek's little brother, Todd, a few days a week when Mrs. Masters needs to be on set. My question is what movie studio would be happy with a 13 year old girl being the only chaperone at times for 8 year old Derek. Something tells me that some kind of SAG code would require that any chaperone be over the age of 18. But, whatevs, AMM, we'll roll with it, like always.
So, the first day of production rolls around, and Kristy just strolls onto set to meet Derek (because that makes total sense. Why would she need some type of access badge or an escort to show her where to go? Nope, we just let any 13 year old girl stroll onto a movie set at any time...). Anyway , Kristy is surprised when she sees Derek, apparently the boy finally hit puberty and has grown 4 inches (no word is his voice is cracking or not. That would have been a fun detail to provide, AMM). Plus, Derek has grown super clumsy, breaking a Tiffany lamp in the prop department on his first day, which highly aggravates the prop master. However, things start happening on set which can't be attributed to Derek's clumsiness - Todd Masters accidentally breaks a special prop window through which Derek was supposed to fall; however, it turns out that the window had real glass instead of the special breakaway glass that is used for stunts. If Derek had fallen through that, he would have been seriously injured. Furthermore, the wires on Derek's stunt harness break, but since Derek had already been replaced by a stuntwoman due to the window incident, he wasn't hurt, and the stuntwoman only suffered minor bruising. After Kristy finds a menacing note threatening Derek in his trailer, she calls, you guessed it, an emergency meeting.
Here is the list of suspects compiled by the BSC:
Carson Fraser - the star of Little Vampires (he plays Laddie Adulcar, an anagram of Dracula - I see what you did there, AMM). Carson is famous for starring on the television show "Miami Beach, USA" (I'm picturing David Charvet from "Baywatch"). He starts to get jealous when Derek starts to oushine him in the acting department.
Frank Bottoms - Carson's manager, who is getting frustrated that Derek is getting way more press than Carson due to all the accidents on set.
Sheila Mayberry - the movie's publicist, who gets more and more excited with each mishap, because that means more publicity, and all publicity is good publicity when it comes to movies.
Zeke Hill - the movie's prop master, who was fired after the incident with the prop window
Cliff Chase - the producer of Little Vampires, who wants his movie to succeed at all costs
Lindsey Rockaway - the crazy stalker fan of Carson Fraser's, who is on set every single day to catch a glimpse of her object of devotion
Meanwhile, while the BSC investigates, they all continue to sit for neighborhood kids, and they all randomly bring these kids to set to watch filming. Yeah, I'm sure the producers love having random local kids just hanging around, making noise and causing mayhem. Claire Pike is terrified of the "vampires," but Mary Anne solves this by having Clair dress up like a witch to scare the vampires away (see cover image for visual). Mallory does get chosen one day to be an extra in a scene, which gives her a boost of confidence (I guess this director didn't have a problem with her look like the last one). In addition to all of this, Cokie Mason starts hanging around, hoping to meet Carson Fraser as well. She invites all of the cast and crew to a pool party at her house, but the only people that show up are some of the camera guys, Kristy, Claudia, and Derek. Kristy feels sorry for Cokie, until the next day when everyone who went to the party ends up with food poisoning, at which time Special K is back to thinking Cokie is a bee-yotch from Hades.
Back on set, Derek continues to get notes, and Kristy somehow talks one of the production assistants into letting her look over the film's purchasing orders (I just...can't. Seriously, AMM?). She finds out that the window was ordered from Rockaway Glass (or something like that, didn't write down the company name, because I'm lazy). She sees Lindsey, the pyscho stalker, hanging around Derek's limo, covered in some type of oily fluid. Kristy somehow deduces that the brake lines have been cut (again, just no words), and stops the driver from leaving the set with Derek. She also chases down and catches Lindsey, who admits to doing everything out of love for Carson. And instead of being arrested, AMM does this PSA-type happy ending where Lindsey enters some type of mental institution for intensive therapy (if you can call that a happy ending, anyway). The production moves out to LA to finish filming, where Dawn, who is on one of her Cali extended stays, takes over duties as Derek's set sitter.
And the movie about vampires is a huge success. Maybe Hollywood should jump on the vampire bandwagon already...cause we haven't had a vampire fix in a long time...
Forks Fashion!!
What Claudia Wore (party edition): "Claudia was looking great in a loose, flowery jumpsuit."
What Cokie Wore (movie set edition): "Cokie was wearing a white, ruffly peasant blouse that was pulled off her shoulders and a pink flowered skirt with white high-heeled sandals."
What Cokie Wore (party edition): "Well, Cokie was wearing a tight mini-dress (pink, of course), pink heels, and nail polish and lipstick to match." Sounds like a Barbie doll, right?
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