October 14, 2021
Netflix’s BSC 2.6, Dawn and the Wicked Stepsister: Everything Is Just Fine, Fine, Fine
The happy family
Summary: Dawn and Mary Anne are really excited to be living together for a week. Like in the book, things start out well, then start to fall apart in small ways, at least for the girls. Mary Anne takes a bunch of closet space for her stuff. She has a scary clown doll. She can’t handle the incense Dawn likes to burn to help her fall asleep. Also, she’s spooked by the secret passageway next to Dawn’s bedroom (not because of ghosts, but because of possums or other creatures that might be carrying rabies).
On top of that, Sharon and Mary Anne are getting along great, and teaming up a little to tease Dawn. Dawn and Richard, however, haven’t found a way to bond yet. Not even over adult coloring books! After Mary Anne freaks out one too many times about the passageway, even setting up one of her traps from Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls in case something creeps through, Dawn realizes that her best friend is annoying to live with.
Mary Anne calls Dawn out for being passive-aggressive and pretending everything is great when she’s unhappy. Dawn gets a little more aggressive, calling Mary Anne a scaredy-cat. To show she’s brave, Mary Anne goes in the passageway. Dawn worries that there’s actually something dangerous in there and follows her. There’s nothing there, but they get locked in. Now Dawn is the scaredy-cat, and also mad that Mary Anne has upended her whole life. She yells that Mary Anne has taken her kindness too far and taken over everything – Dawn’s house, room, and mother.
Mary Anne admits that she can be too much sometimes, but Dawn always acts like that’s fine, so Mary Anne had no idea that it wasn’t. Dawn says that it’s just been her and her mom in Stoneybrook, so having new people in the house is weird. Mary Anne gets that, since she’s used to just living with her dad. Dawn promises that Mary Anne can borrow Sharon whenever she wants. They agree that if their parents get married, they’ll have their own rooms.
Richard tries again to reach out to Dawn with a coloring book, this one with a mindfulness theme. He tells her it helps him when he’s struggling with anxiety and other emotions. Dawn is back to pretending everything’s fine, but Richard knows she just doesn’t have a good way to express herself. For him, naming scary thoughts helps because it takes away their power. Instead of being strong all the time, Dawn might need to admit that she needs someone to be there for her.
Things get better with the living arrangements, and fussy Richard even tries a little hot sauce in his bland meal. A very little. A microscopic amount. He takes a page from Dawn’s book and says everything’s great. Dawn decides that she and Mary Anne will always feel like sisters even if their parents never get married.
In the B plot, Byron hits his head while Mallory and Jessi are sitting for him, and his unexpected medical bill means the Pikes can’t throw Claire the big carnival-themed birthday party she wanted. Enter Kristy: The BSC girls will put on the carnival. And not just because it’s PR damage control over an injury sustained on their watch. They agree to use the money they would normally give in their monthly charitable donation for the party. Mallory thinks they’re nice for helping out, but she doesn’t want them to spend too much money.
Even though most of what the girls put together is low-cost or stuff they already have, Mallory is worried – she doesn’t want to feel like the club’s charity case. The other girls quickly realize that they didn’t frame this the right way. Kristy tells her that part of being in the BSC is showing up for each other. Claudia adds that it’s not charity – it’s friendship.
The details:
- Vanessa has graduated from speaking in rhyme to reading Nietzsche for Dummies and saying things like, “You can’t control chaos. Chaos controls you.” I don’t know, I think it’s an improvement.
- This is a kids’ show, so they can’t talk about sex, but during the Spiers’ weeklong sleepover, Richard claims to sleep in the guest room instead of in Sharon’s room. The girls know better.
- “We are going to have fun,” Kristy announces/orders before Claire’s party. Yes, ma’am.
- Dawn was supposed to be a clown at the party, but since she’s stuck in the passageway, Kristy fills in. Claire is hilariously unimpressed, but Vanessa says, “You look like a horror movie. Cool.”
The differences/changes:
- Sharon is the one who tells Dawn about the secret passageway, which was built during Prohibition. Surprisingly, Dawn has nothing to say about the rebellion of that time period or about sticking it to the man.
- Richard and Sharon don’t seem to have any problems adjusting to living together. I think it’s because she’s so laid-back and he has better coping mechanisms than in the books.
Netflix’s BSC 2.5, Mary Anne and the Great Romance: The Hopeful Romantic
Yep, seems about right
Summary: It’s the weekend before Valentine’s Day, and Dawn and Mary Anne are sure that Richard and Sharon are going to come home from a trip to the Berkshires with the announcement that they’re engaged. They don’t. In fact, Richard isn’t even sure how to classify their relationship.
So the “great romance” of the title is actually about Mary Anne and Logan – he’s just asked her to be his girlfriend. It’s a lot different from what she was expecting. Now, “like a pre-Megxit Meghan Markle,” she has girlfriend responsibilities like having lunch in the “couple’s lounge” (just a regular classroom). The other two couples are those ick-inducing joined-at-the-hip, say-things-in-unison types. Plus, her friends think she wants to spend all her free time with Logan, so they accidentally ditch her instead of walking home together. They also make their own plans together for Valentine’s Day and don’t bother to invite Mary Anne, since she’ll obviously be with Logan.
Mary Anne doesn’t want to have to choose between spending time with her boyfriend and her friends, so she decides to let Richard play the bad guy and forbid her from dating. That backfires: With help from some note cards and previous conversations with his therapist, Richard gives her a speech supporting her relationship and assures her that he trusts her.
On Valentine’s Day, Mary Anne and Logan end up at the same restaurant as Richard and Sharon. Mary Anne panics about spending the evening making awkward conversation with Logan, so she suggests a double date. Cue Sharon talking about love languages and Logan guessing that his is English. Also, one of the couples from the “couple’s lounge,” who are supposed to be the most perfect couples at school, breaks up in the restaurant. As first dates go…well, I’ve had worse.
Mary Anne confides to Richard that now that she and Logan are officially together, she feels like they have to be a perfect couple instead of themselves. She misses just being friends with him; they were much more comfortable with each other then. She feels lonely even though she’s in a relationship. Richard tells her it’s okay for her and Logan to just be friends. They just need to talk about it.
Mary Anne worries that Logan will be disappointed, but he’s thrilled that they’re not like the other couples at school. They can just be themselves, and just friends. Mary Anne decides she’s no longer a hopeless romantic, but is now a hopeful romantic, because she tells the people she likes how she feels. She doesn’t let go of it completely, though: When Richard and Sharon say they have an announcement, she gets excited again about a wedding. Sorry, Mary Anne: The Spiers need to fumigate, so Mary Anne and Richard will move in with Dawn and Sharon for a week. Mary Anne decides she’s fine with their family being the way it is, even if they’re not connected by marriage yet.
In other news, Karen is a little obsessed with ghosts. If you ask me, she’s creepier than any ghost. She says she keeps hearing a crying woman in the Thomas/Brewer house, but it’s really Elizabeth, who’s been hiding in a spare bathroom to secretly deal with the side effects of the hormones she’s been taking to try to get pregnant, and her feelings about having another baby. She and Kristy decide to let Karen keep thinking there’s a ghost.
The details:
- Sharon compares Richard to a croissant he enjoyed: He’s “buttery and surprisingly expensive.”
- Karen is doing a family tree project and is intrigued by how her ancestors died. One was struck by lightning, “but it was the dysentery that got her.”
- Andrew is also a weird kid. He watches Wall-E a lot because “he likes the silence of it.” Maybe it’s just a nice break from Karen talking all the time.
- One of the couples in the “couple’s lounge” consists of two boys. Stoneybrook Middle School says gay rights!
- Richard tells Mary Anne that her friends love her “in an almost concerningly aggressive fashion.” Sounds like someone’s jealous.
- Dawn says the person she ends up with “could be anywhere on the gender spectrum.” Her two main qualifications: someone who cares about the environment and has good oral hygiene.
The differences/changes:
- Really, the whole episode is different from the book of the same name. The only similarity is that Dawn, Mary Anne, Richard, and Sharon will soon be living together.
July 6, 2020
Netflix’s BSC 1.8, Kristy’s Big Day: Weddings and Other Life-Changing Experiences
Claudia’s outfit, like Karen, is a lot
Kristy’s preparing for two big changes in her life – her mother’s wedding and the family’s move across town to Watson’s house – but she gets a third big development out of the blue. The book is more about Elizabeth and Watson’s big day than Kristy’s, but this episode lives up to its title.
Before the big day, though, Kristy has to come to terms with the fact that her family’s life is going to change completely. No more worrying about bills or living in a too-small house. Life with Watson will be all about luxury and ease. The problem is, Kristy isn’t sure that’s what’s best for them. It means leaving behind what they’re used to. She feels like her mother’s joining a new family and might be more excited about that than worrying about how her old family will adjust. Is Elizabeth compromising her ideals for money? She and Kristy have a big fight and don’t make up before the wedding.
Kristy comes around on everything at the wedding. She remembers how her mom was always lonely and worried about money. Now she’s found someone she loves, and she never has to worry about her electricity bill being too high. It’s a small price to pay for Kristy to make the necessary adjustments. Plus, she genuinely likes Watson now, so she knows things will turn out okay. But she struggles to find time after the wedding to tell her mother she’s happy for her.
And then, at the wedding reception, Kristy gets her first period. This girl is having the most insane year of her life. Elizabeth is busy, obviously, but the other BSC girls, who have all had their periods, help her through it. These girls are definitely bonded for life.
Kristy thinks Elizabeth’s leaving for her honeymoon without saying goodbye, but Elizabeth comes back to make sure everything’s okay. She admits to holding Kristy to a higher standard than her brothers, but it’s because she’s so strong. Kristy’s growing up and her life is changing, but she’s still the same Kristy. And probably always will be, I expect.
The details:
- Elizabeth gets mad at Kristy for ditching the ugly yellow bridesmaid dress she was supposed to wear after Watson tells her she can pick out any dress she wants. (Kristy’s the only bridesmaid, so there’s no issue with matching dresses.) The original dress cost $800 and they can’t get a refund because it’s been altered. I get Elizabeth’s anger over wasting $800, but…who picked out an $800 dress? Not Kristy. Plus, the wedding is at Watson’s house, so they don’t have to pay for a venue, which would have cost a lot of money. Call it even.
- Morbidda Destiny/Mrs. Porter/Aunt Esme is the wedding officiant but no one warned Karen, who screams when she arrives. Esme announces that Karen thinks she’s a witch, which is true, and goes into this whole thing about spiritual beliefs, like, great, but this is a wedding. However, she wraps it up by saying that adults should believe what children tell them, which is awesome.
- I also just realized that Mrs. Porter has the same last name as Sharon’s parents in the books, which must be why someone working on the show decided to have them be related. Nice job, whoever that was.
- Richard and Sharon are nervous about seeing each other for the first time since Richard sent the turtle of reconciliation. Sharon can’t choose an outfit for the wedding, trying to decide between two completely inappropriate dresses. Richard’s version of fussing over his clothes is asking Mary Anne to help him choose between two identical white shirts. As they’re waiting for the wedding to begin, Richard tries to calm his nerves with a small glass of champagne. He’s stuck holding the empty glass and tells Mary Anne, “I don’t know what to do with this.” I love Marc Evan Jackson, and this cracked me up.
- Richard and Sharon leave the reception to get an Epi-pen from Sharon’s car after she accidentally eats something she’s allergic to. We don’t see them for the rest of the episode. So…they hooked up in the car, right?
- Karen’s middle name is Amaryllis. Please explain, Watson and ex-Mrs. Brewer.
The differences/changes:
- Instead of Charlie’s crummy used car (here a 2007 Corolla), Watson gets him a new BMW SUV. Kristy gets to ride to BSC meetings in style. This will also make it easier for Charlie to transport her and her six BFFs everywhere they want to go for the rest of the series.
- The BSC girls don’t do their big childcare thing like in the book, which makes sense. It would be difficult to deal with that many kids on the set and behind the scenes. Better to do away with that part of the story and focus on Kristy and Elizabeth’s relationship.
Netflix’s BSC 1.7, Boy-Crazy Stacey: Other Fish in the Sea (City)
Sigh. We’ve all been there, haven’t we?
It’s time to meet the Pikes! They’re even wilder than the books portray them – basically a step above feral. No wonder Mr. and Mrs. Pike want to bring two sitters with them to Sea City (just for a week, over spring break). They’re probably counting the days until these troublemakers go to college.
The plot mostly plays out the same way it does in the book. Stacey develops a crush on lifeguard Scott, who’s way too old for her, and starts neglecting her sitting duties. The normally mature, cool Stacey has no idea how to act around him. The words “holla at moi” are spoken. Stacey really should leave, put on a disguise, and come back to try again.
Mary Anne befriends Alex and Toby, who are very nice, age-appropriate guys for the girls to hang out with. In fact, when Scott accidentally humiliates Stacey and she realizes he’s way too old for her, it’s Toby who tries to salvage her feelings. He even gives Stacey her first kiss. Of course, now Stacey has a new crush to obsess over, but at least he’s her age.
Mary Anne used to think Stacey was mature and sophisticated, but after Stacey’s embarrassing crush, Mary Anne admits that that’s changed. Now she knows Stacey’s just as dorky as Mary Anne is. Their friendship is stronger because Stacey embarrassed herself. Yay?
The details:
- Claudia calls Mary Anne and Stacey’s out-of-town sitting job a “business trip.” I love it.
- Sharon gets back into the dating game with Tinder. Yikes.
- Dawn wants to Parent Trap Richard and Sharon back together, but she doesn’t try very hard, and Richard’s too smart to fall for it. The parents work things out themselves when Richard, remembering that Sharon used to call him her turtle, sends her a real turtle with a note that says, “Sorry I went back into my shell.” SO CUTE.
- Mallory barely gets any screentime. She’s very earnest and excited to hang out with Stacey and Mary Anne. You just know the actress playing her is praying for a second season so she can have a bigger role.
- Byron has a huge crush on Stacey, which helps her understand the situation with Scott. She tells Byron she values his friendship, but there’s no potential for a relationship. Byron decides he can live with that, though he wants a little space.
- Vanessa’s in her poetry phase, but she seems a little darker than in the books. She and Karen would get along well.
- Mary Anne’s suddenly more comfortable around boys, so I guess her room makeover did the trick.
- Watson describes Karen as “a lot.” No kidding.
The differences/changes:
- Book Scott definitely used Stacey and led her on, but here I interpreted the situation differently. I think he thought her crush on him was cute, and he just paid attention to her to be nice. He didn’t think it would cause any harm. He’s just a clueless teenager.
- Karen and Andrew do their steel-wool carwash here, and Kristy can’t stop them because she’s accidentally locked herself in a storage area where she was snooping into Watson’s stuff. She tries to get it fixed secretly, after contemplating just pushing it into the street and lying that a car hit it, which is very un-Kristy of her. She finally tells Watson the truth, and he’s not mad. Probably because he’s rich enough to just replace the car.
- The Pike triplets aren’t identical, which is fine. It couldn’t be easy to cast identical red-haired triplets.
July 5, 2020
Netflix’s BSC 1.5, Dawn and the Impossible Three: More Like the Impossible Four
They’re friends now! It’s all okay!
Like Stacey, Dawn is eager to make friends in Stoneybrook, but she has another obstacle to overcome: Kristy doesn’t like her. She doesn’t think Dawn has enough experience to be in the BSC, and worse, Kristy doesn’t like that Mary Anne might ditch her for her new friend. I don’t think Kristy gets that Dawn is so concerned with making a good impression. But they both think it’s a win-win when Dawn agrees to sit for the Barretts, the clubs’ least manageable clients. Dawn thinks she’ll prove herself, while Kristy thinks she won’t, giving Kristy the excuse to cut Dawn loose.
The Barrett kids are just as wild as in the book, and Mrs. Barrett (here just called Natalie, because in this version of the BSC, they call their clients by their first names, which is so, so wrong) is just as flaky as in the book. Maybe even flakier. She’s more concerned with getting acting jobs than with making sure her kids are taken care of. Dawn cleans the house to try to be nice, but it just makes Natalie expect her to keep up the good work.
When Buddy disappears, just as he does in the book, Dawn doesn’t know what to do. He’d mentioned wanting to play with David Michael, so she considers calling Kristy, but she knows that could make her look irresponsible. She decides it’s more important to make sure Buddy’s safe, so she calls Kristy, who focuses on finding Buddy instead of criticizing Dawn. Buddy turns up just a couple hours later, having been picked up by his father for a swimming lesson. His dad didn’t even know there was a sitter at the house.
The situation helps Dawn and Kristy connect, but not because of Buddy’s disappearance itself. Kristy’s upset that Dawn still has her dad in her life, and that Buddy’s father is in his. Her own father hasn’t contacted his kids in a year and a half. Kristy never lets her feelings about that show, but after Buddy’s disappearance and safe return, she can’t keep it inside anymore. Dawn reminds her that she still has lots of other people in her life who love her, including Dawn herself.
Instead of helping Natalie get her act together, Dawn lets go of the situation. Sharon even tells Natalie not to contact Dawn again until she’s in a better place. And the BSC girls aren’t worried about losing a client. They think Dawn’s mental health is more important than making money. Good for them!
The details:
- Richard and Sharon are totally in love, and it’s adorable…until Sharon helps Mary Anne (and the BSC girls) redecorate her room. They take down a painting of Humpty Dumpty that’s always been on Mary Anne’s wall, and Richard decides there are too many changes happening. He blames Sharon and the two stop talking. I’m fully invested in this relationship and not at all happy about this development.
- Instead of just trying to prove herself to Kristy, who questions Dawn’s sitting experience, Dawn sucks up by asking for her guidance. It’s brilliant. It makes Dawn look like she wants to learn, and it makes Kristy feel like she’s imparting wisdom, something she loves to do.
The differences/changes:
- It’s confirmed – Jeff doesn’t exist.
- Clearly they changed the order here, since “Kristy’s Big Day” was supposed to be next. It gets pushed to the eighth episode.
January 21, 2014
BSC #131, The Fire at Mary Anne’s House: Say Goodbye to Stoneybrook
If I saw my house like this, I would lose my mind
Summary: It’s summer yet again, and Mary Anne is happy for some time to relax. It’s all sitting, sitting, sitting with the BSC girls, plus the possibility of entering a magazine contest looking for the best babysitter. The girls decide to enter as a group, which is good, because otherwise this book might be filled with fighting over which one of them is the best.
Then suddenly things go south. Mary Anne, Richard, and Sharon are woken up in the middle of the night by smoke alarms (and Tigger, who apparently is just as good at saving people as Lassie is). Their house is pretty well destroyed by a fire, and all their stuff is gone. Mary Anne is in so much shock that she can’t even cry. Now she has no idea what will come next in her life – she has no home or belongings, and just feels lost.
The BSC girls and tons of people in Stoneybrook pitch in to help the family. The Thomas/Brewers let them stay at their house, and they’re provided with clothes and other essentials. Everyone spends a lot of time going through the wreckage at the house to find anything that can be salvaged (there isn’t much). Then Richard drops a bomb on Mary Anne: He’s been offered a job in Philadelphia and is considering accepting it. Also, Sharon wants to go back to school so she can have a career change, and since there are more schools to choose from in Philly, she’s up for the move.
Now Mary Anne feels even more lost. She’s lived in Stoneybrook her whole life, and leaving would mean losing the BSC and all her friends. Dawn tries to sympathize, since she also lost one of her homes, but Mary Anne has a hard time connecting with her because Dawn does still have a house to go back to in California.
One night Mary Anne sneaks out and goes over to her old house, where everything catches up with her and she finally cries. Dawn finds her there and comforts her. Mary Anne realizes that her life might change completely, but she still has the people she loves.
In the B plot, the kids of Stoneybrook help the BSC girls put together their entry for the best-babysitter contest. Nothing comes of it, but obviously the BSC would win this.
Thoughts: Even though it’s summertime, Mallory’s still banished, with the explanation that her boarding school lets out later than SMS. The ghostwriters really hated her, didn’t they?
Little Archie Rodowsky is worried that the fire at Mary Anne’s is still going. Aw, poor Archie.
David Michael, Karen, and Andrew make a big Lego building and tell Mary Anne it’s her new house. That’s flipping adorable.
So here we are, at the end of the series. It feels weird. I can see why it ended – there wasn’t much left for the characters to do, and they wanted to take it in a bit of a different direction, with the Friends Forever series. So say goodbye to the BSC (at least until I can recap the movie), because it’s about to get a lot Sweet Valleyer up in here.
December 27, 2012
BSC Mystery #31, Mary Anne and the Music Box Secret: The Secret Is That There Is No Mystery
A curse would have been a lot more fun
Summary: Granny and Pop-Pop (Dawn’s grandparents) go on an anniversary cruise, and while they’re gone, their house floods. Sharon and Mary Anne head up the clean-up effort, with some help from the other BSC girls. Mary Anne finds a music box that plays “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and contains a picture of a sailor. The box is also wrapped in paper that warns of a curse. No one in the family claims to know anything about it, so Mary Anne thinks it belonged to Lydia, a girl who used to live in the house. But there are initials inside saying the box is from H.I.W. to L.S., and the BSC girls can’t find anyone with those initials.
Mary Anne finds some letters Granny wrote to her cousin about Lydia, who was in love with a boy named Johnny, who her father hated. She thinks Johnny gave Lydia the music box. Granny lived next door and would write about how Lydia would sneak out to see Johnny. There’s also something about Lydia’s father possibly embezzling from the bank where he worked, and maybe burying the money in the yard. One of the plumbers working on the house grew up in the neighborhood, and the girls see him looking around suspiciously, so they think he’s looking for the money.
The girls basically set up a sting, pretending they found something in the yard, then waiting for someone to make a move to find out what it was. They’re surprised to learn that an older man who’s been hanging around is the plumber’s father, and he does indeed want the buried money. Except there’s no money, just papers. Womp womp.
Mary Anne keeps trying to find out what’s going on with the music box, especially after she starts having dreams about the sailor. She realizes that H.I.W. stands for “how I wonder” and L.S. is “little star,” from “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” Then Mary Anne borrows a bracelet from Sharon and realizes it was in the picture with the sailor, having almost been cropped out. Sharon tells her the bracelet belonged to Granny. Mary Anne puts things together and figures out that the music box was Granny’s after all. When Granny comes home, she confirms that she was L.S., and H.I.W. was her first love, the sailor, who died in the war. There’s no curse, there’s no money, and really, there’s no big mystery. Just a boring book.
The B-plot is even more boring. The Barrett/DeWitt family is finishing building an addition to their house. Everything comes out great. Thrilling, yes?
Thoughts: You know what’s really fun to read about? Construction.
I like that Dawn’s grandparents treat Mary Anne like she’s their own granddaughter. I wish we’d heard more about their relationship before this book, though.
Stacey uses the word “bodacious,” and not ironically. Shut up, Stacey.
June 18, 2012
BSC #102, Mary Anne and the Little Princess: British Invasion
I have concerns about this limo
Summary: A family called the Kents, who are somehow related to the royal family, buy a house in Stoneybrook while the parents work at the United Nations (just go with it). They have an eight-year-old daughter, Victoria, and want her to hang out with Americans, so they hire Mary Anne to be her “companion.” I don’t know why they don’t just have her make a bunch of friends, but whatever. Victoria’s kind of a brat, but not horribly so; she’s just spoiled and is used to having her way. But she takes to Mary Anne and calms down a little.
There’s a random trip to New York, which involves Mary Anne, Stacey, Kristy, and Victoria ditching the girl’s nanny in a very out-of-character-for-the-BSC-girls move. Victoria’s parents make an appearance but don’t spend much time with her, which makes her understandably upset. Mary Anne realizes that she also hasn’t made any friends in Stoneybrook and doesn’t even seem to like hanging out with kids her own age. Sharon guesses it’s because she doesn’t want to get close to anyone, since people in her life are always leaving.
Mary Anne invites Victoria, her nanny, and their driver over for Thanksgiving, but Victoria’s upset by her parents’ absence. She winds up breaking down and having a talk with Mary Anne about her fears that her parents don’t really love her. Mary Anne has been experiencing a little separation anxiety of her own, as her father’s on a business trip, but she gets Victoria to see that her parents will always love her and come back to her. She also talks Victoria into trying to make some friends.
The B-plot parallels the main plot a little: Sharon misses Dawn and has kind of been using Mary Anne as a substitute daughter. She’s even started calling Mary Anne her daughter instead of her stepdaughter. Fortunately, nothing is over the top, and Sharon just admits that she misses Dawn but doesn’t see Mary Anne as a replacement. Also fortunately (for Sharon, at least), Dawn has planned a surprise visit and asked Mary Anne and Richard to keep it quiet. So Dawn shows up on Thanksgiving and Sharon has a great holiday.
Thoughts: Mary Anne finds a tie on a bookcase and a loaf of bread behind a pillow. Has Sharon been checked for mental illnesses?
There’s a chapter where Victoria goes to a middle school football game, and there are a bunch of BSC sitting charges there, including Becca, who’s become obsessed with royalty. At the beginning of the chapter, there’s a scene at the Ramseys’ house where everyone’s teasing her a little about wanting to be a princess. It made me realize that of all the BSC girls’ families, I’d most want to be a part of Jessi’s. Her mom is sweet, her dad is funny, and Becca seems like a fun little sister to have. I could take or leave Cecelia, though.
That said, I might like to hang out with Richard and Sharon (as long as Dawn and Jeff weren’t around). Sharon’s fun, and somewhere along the way, Richard picked up a pretty good sense of humor.
Do a lot of eight-year-olds know what David Letterman looks like? What about British eight-year-olds?
September 20, 2011
BSC #86, Mary Anne and Camp BSC: Act Your Age
Is that Karen on the left? Shut up, Karen
Summary: It’s summertime, and the BSC girls decide to hold a day camp since there are a few weeks between school getting out and other day camps starting. They call it Camp BSC (so original) and decide on a circus theme. Speaking of circuses, that’s what the Schafer/Spier house has turned into: Richard’s out of town for two weeks, and Sharon and Dawn are going overboard in their bachelorette pad. They order in every night, don’t clean up, and basically exemplify the saying, “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.”
Mary Anne is nowhere near as happy as her stepmother and -sister are. She misses her father, to the point where she can’t be bothered to do anything fun. It’s 141 pages of Mary Anne moping, basically. Then she sprains her ankle and mopes some more, mostly because she asks Richard to come home early and he doesn’t.
Alicia, a four-year-old camper, is also moping, as she’s not used to being away from her mother so much. She won’t go to the playground with the other kids because she’s afraid her mother will come back and not be able to find her. Mary Anne’s fine with staying back with her, babying her and letting her do whatever she wants. Eventually, Alicia realizes that everyone’s having fun without her, so she decides to let go of her separation anxiety. Mary Anne realizes that the four-year-old is better adjusted than she is, and she needs to let herself have fun, too.
The not-really-B-plot (because both plots get about equal time) is that Karen and some other kids have gone to a real circus camp, and they keep complaining that Camp BSC isn’t as good. Karen pretty much leads an anti-lameness brigade, and somehow, the BSC girls manage to refrain from locking her in a closet all day. Ultimately, while putting on an end-of-camp circus, the anti-lameness kids realize that they don’t have any idea how to put on a real circus, so they should just shut up.
Thoughts: Mary Anne’s sadness strikes me as a little weird. We know she’s a daddy’s girl, but she’s been away from home before, and she’s usually pretty mature.
I understand leaving your kids with 11- and 13-year-olds for a few hours, but all day? I don’t know about that.
The girls also mention that campers can attend for a full day or a half day, but we don’t hear about anyone only attending for half a day. Why didn’t Alicia’s mom try that out for her until she got more comfortable? Eight hours is a LONG day for a four-year-old.
Sharon really does order take-out every night. I guess the Schafer-Spiers are made of money.
Dawn makes the girls get turkey hot dogs for a camp cookout. So remember, kids, if you hate your dinner, blame Dawn. Who would never eat turkey, so whatever, ghostwriter.
People aren’t sawed in half at circuses, Karen. That’s magic shows. Go sit in the corner.
December 26, 2010
BSC #64, Dawn’s Family Feud: Shut Up, Jeff
Everyone needs to CHILL OUT
Summary: Jeff comes to visit, and the Schafers/Spiers take a trip to Boston. Jeff is being a spoiled brat and trying to avoid Richard, who just wants to do guy stuff with him, and this makes Mary Anne mad, which in turn makes Dawn mad. So the three kids are all bickering and avoiding each other, and the Schafers end up doing different things from the Spiers on vacation. For some reason, Richard and Sharon let this continue, even though they’re obviously not happy. Finally, they tell the kids that they’re going to have to get along because they’re not having separate vacations anymore.
Back home, things are still tense, but Sharon and Richard want everyone to have a family portrait taken together. During the photo session, Dawn and Mary Anne realize how angry they look with each other, which makes them laugh, and everyone apologizes to everyone else. And hopefully Jeff gets grounded or gets half his Christmas presents taken away or something, because he was a total brat through the whole book.
In the B plot, Mrs. Barrett is dating a guy named Franklin DeWitt, who has four kids. The Barrett and DeWitt kids, like the Schafer and Spier kids, can’t stand each other, and every time they’re together, they fight. Claudia and Shannon (yes, Shannon) finally get them to call a truce by pointing out that they can’t play games that need lots of people unless they all get along. Yep.
Thoughts: Dear ghostwriter, it’s the Air and Space Museum, not the Aerospace Museum. Try some research next time.
Mrs. Barrett and Franklin need to take a sitter along on a family picnic? Really?
The Schafers/Spiers sing on long car trips. We must destroy them.
The family gets two hotel rooms, one for Sharon and Richard, and one for Mary Anne, Dawn, and Jeff. Why is a ten-year-old boy sharing a room with 13-year-old girls?? Also, how much does Sharon hate Mary Anne for insisting on staying in her and Richard’s room? You just know Sharon can’t stand how much of a daddy’s girl Mary Anne is.
There is not one chance Mary Anne doesn’t know what the Boston tea Party is, so shut up, ghostwriter.
I thought the BSC girls’ postcard-writing was out of control before, but Dawn writing to Kristy from the car ON THE WAY HOME takes the (sugar-free) cake.
'90s Flashback 