So this book isn't an actual part of the series, just one of those related "special edition" type books that usually accompany a YA series like this. This book is made up of a series of letters and postcards from one member of the club to another, and each page literally has a postcard or letter you can actually pull out of an envelope and read. The cover claims that there is even a "friendship bracelet from the BSC inside!!," however, since this is a library copy, no telling when and where the friendship bracelet ended up. I feel deprived.
So this book takes place the summer after 8th grade (now which 8th grade year is unclear...). Kristy is in the hospital with appendicitis, plus a staph infection post-surgery, and she gets a chain letter from her cousin, Robin (I think she is one of the cousins mentioned at Elizabeth and Watson's wedding). By the way, do y'all remember the old school chain letters? I never passed them on, thought it was lame, and never had a catastrophic accident befall me. Anyway, Kristy's letter is a somewhat typical chain letter, "you must pass this on or bad luck will haunt you" (I know Mary Anne had a bad experience with a chain letter at one point, haven't reread that one yet. Patience, Iago...). This chain letter has a twist, though - the recipient must reveal a secret to the next person in the chain. So this book has each link/letter of the chain, plus some other random postcards thrown in to provide more exposition. Woo-hoo.
And since this is summer, the BSC members are scattered all over the country on vacations - Claudia and Stacey are at her dad's in NYC; Jessi is vacationing with Mallory and her family in Sea City, NJ; Mary Anne and Dawn are visiting her family in California (I get that MA is Dawn's stepsister, but just seems a little weird for her to be visiting Mr. Schafer in California...); Logan is with extended family in Louisville, KY; and Shannon is at Camp Erie, a summer camp in PA. But fret not, the BSC has set up an answering machine in Claudia's room until they are all back in the 'Brook (and Kristy is released from the hospital).
Y'all ready for some BSC skeletons?
Kristy, to Stacey - after updating Stacey about her hospital stay, Kristy confesses that she sometimes hates her father (the phantom Mr. Thomas, not Daddy Watsonbucks), and, at times, even wishes he were dead. Kristy thought Stacey would understand since she just recently went through her own parents' divorce.
Stacey, to Mallory - After telling Mal about the fab time she and Claudia are having in NYC (they've hit up MoMA and Bloomingdale's, where Claudia bought a pair of leopard print socks and Stacey bought a t-shirt with a Monopoly board printed on it), Stacey reveals her deep, dirty secret - she dyed her hair red right after moving to Stoneybrook for the first time. She later panicked, then redyed it blonde right before her parents got home from work. They never knew the difference, of course, because what are the chances she picked the right shade of blonde dye? Guess that's where they got the idea to do the same for Mallory in California, huh?
Mallory, to Jessi - This one seems kind of like cheating, since Jessi and Mal are on vacation together and literally staying in the same bedroom, but oh well. Mallory confesses that she once cheated off her on an English test for which Mal had forgotten to study. Mallory apologizes and hopes that Jessi will forgive her.
Jessi later leaves Mal a note telling her that she knew it all along and had already forgiven her. BFFs forever!!!
Jessi, to Mary Anne - Jessi reveals to MA that she and her sister, Becca, once played with matches, accidentally dropped one, and burned a hole in their living room rug. They moved a chair over a few inches to cover the hole, but their parents found it anyway while cleaning. However, Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey figured that it happened at their last party since they have some friends who smoke. Jessi doesn't tell them differently (honestly, I probably would have done the same thing as Jessi here, blame it on the smokers, girl).
Mary Anne, to Claudia - After telling Claudia about how she and Dawn went to Disneyland, Mary Anne admits to Claudia that she has recently been going to a therapist. She says that she has been feeling overwhelmed with life changes (you know, Dad getting remarried, moving houses, breaking up and reuniting with Logan, I haven't read any of these books yet, deal with it), and that her grades started dropping in school. Her therapist helped her process everything, and now she is slowly feeling more in control (was the therapist ever mentioned in any of the books? Just seems like a pretty big thing to just throw into a chain letter book without it being mentioned elsewhere in the series...).
Claudia, to Dawn - After updating Dawn on the dibbly fresh time she is having in NYC, Claudia confesses that she once stole $1 from Mimi's purse so that she could buy a Twinkie. First of all, remember when you could buy a snack like that from a convenience store with just a dollar? Good times. Second of all, this "secret" just seems stupid, I mean, you know Mimi would have given Claudia money if she asked for it, just seems pointless and out of character for Claudia.
Dawn, to Shannon - Dawn admits to Shannon that she pranked Mary Anne on the flight to California by telling MA that she saw Cam Geary, Mary Anne's favorite actor, in first class. MA spends the whole flight trying to sneak a peek into first class to catch a glimpse of her Tiger Beat crush. Mary Anne even later writes a fan letter to Cam, telling him that they were on the same plane. Oh, sweetie... And Dawn seems to like pranking MA, I will have another example of this coming to Project BSC soon...
Shannon doesn't continue the chain, I guess because the only club member left at that point is Logan, and what 13 year old girl wants to reveal a deep, dark secret to a boy? Plus, in the midst of these big reveals, the BSC plans a "Glad You're All Better" party for Kristy when she is released from the hospital. Big fun in Stoneybrook.
Oh, and sorry, neither Claudia nor Stacey described any of their outfits in any of the letters or postcards. No friendship bracelet from the BSC, no outfits, my day has been ruined.
