Welcome Back, Stacey!, #28

Stacey's outfit on the cover is totally Cher Horowitz:

Stacey is living in New York City, but her parents have been fighting pretty much non-stop.  Her father calls her mother a "selfish spendthrift" because she dropped $400 on jewelry at one store, then spent $1568.00 at Tiffany's another day.  Hello.  My husband would be pissed at me, too.  Mrs. McGill says she shops because she is bored and says her husband is a workaholic who is never home for Stacey.  Of course, we know the details of this fight because Stacey is listening outside the front door.  Instead of going inside, Stacey runs away crying to her friend Laine's apartment (Laine lives in the Dakota, which is mentioned every single time Laine is in these books).

When Stacey returns home, her parents tell her that they have decided to get a divorce.  She then gives her parents the silent treatment for the next few days, and puts on her best "I don't care about my parents" outfit when she goes to school the next day (more on that later).  Apparently her parents called to school to warn them of the situation, so even though Stacey shows up tardy to every class, the teachers don't say anything.  She thinks about the other kids in her class that have had parents divorce recently, the "divorced kids," and wonder what type of living arrangement she will end up having with her parents.

When she returns home, her parents sit her down and give her the news: Mr McGill will be staying in New York but will be moving to a different apartment on the West Side, and Mrs. McGill wants to return to Stoneybrook.  Stacey gets to decide which of her parents with whom she will live.  She debates the merits of both locations, even makes a pro & con list for NYC and the 'Brook (basically, fabulous shopping vs. the BSC), but still can't make up her mind.

Meanwhile, Mrs. McGill and Stacey take a day trip to Stoneybrook to go house hunting, and they fall in love with a house built in the 1880s that happens to be right behind the Pike's home (remember, Jessi moved into Stacey's old house, so that's out of the picture).  After having a BSC sleepover (where Stacey paints her toes with a sparkly pink polish, then adds a green dot in middle of each toe), she decides to move back to Stoneybrook with her mom, and visit her dad every few weeks.  Laine gives Stace one of those best friend necklaces with half of a heart, and she keeps the other half, so the BFFs can stay connected. So much feels going on...

On an unrelated note, this book again talked about how thick of a Southern accent Logan has, remember he's from Louisville, KY.  Really?  Now, I'm not doubting that KY-ers (that made my inner adolescent giggle) have an accent, but I am seriously doubting that it is as Scarlett O'Hara thick as AMM keeps describing.  Basically, AMM is giving Logan the Hollywood stereotype of the Southern accent, and as a Southerner, that pisses me off a little.  There are many variations of Southern, the coastal (Savannah, Charleston), the mountain/hillbilly (found in the Appalachians, can almost sound Cajun-ish), the farmer/country boy, the redneck, plus the metropolitan forms found in Birmingham/Atlanta/Nashville.  New Orleans is its own animal, and you would need a book to break down the Texas variants.  And don't get me started on the distinct regional dialects found within each individual state, either.  We don't all sound like Forrest Gump, AMM.  Ok, rant over.

Yay!!  Fashion, fashion, fashion time!!!

What Stacey wore:  "I put on one of my better outfits - short red pants with purple suspenders over a bright yellow and black sweatshirt.  On my feet I put my purple push-down socks and a pair of red hightop sneakers.  I added jewelry - a big necklace with wooden bananas and oranges strung on it, and a dangly earrings shaped like sunglasses.  I rolled up a red scarf and tied it in my hair like a headband."  Wow.  I just...no.  She should have stuck with yellow plaid.

What Laine wore:  "Like, right now, she was wearing this amazing black pants suit.  It was made from stretchy cotton. The bottoms of the legs were cuffed, and the top was short-cropped.  She was wearing a leopard-skin leotard under her top.  Her fluffy brown hair had been permed several weeks earlier and had grown out to the perfect stage.  From her ears dangled tear drop shaped blue and green stones, and on one wrist were about twenty silver bangles."

(Ok, I know this isn't a pantsuit, but come on, it's Lisa Turtle).

And in the rare case where an outfit described in the book is actually featured on the cover, what Claudia wore: "Her hair was flowing down her back, pulled away from her face by a headband with a huge pink rose attached to it (very Carrie Bradshaw).  She was wearing a long, over-sized black-and-white sweater, skin-tight black leggings, pink-and-black socks, and black ballet slippers.  Her jewelry was new, and I could tell she made it herself.  Her necklace was a string of glazed beads that she'd probably made in her day pottery class.  And from her ears dangled an alarming number of plastic charms attached to gold hoops."

Bonus BSC outfits!!!

Kristy - jeans, sneakers, sweater, and turtleneck

Mary Anne - a new flared green dress

Dawn - a pair of jeans with zippers up the legs (I totally had a pair of those in elementary school!! Does that mean I rocked the California Casual look at TES?)

Jessie - had her leotard under her clothes (yeah, not much description here...)

Mallory - wearing a totally new outfit - a sequined sweatshirt, a short skirt, and pink leggings.