So there are three plotlines in this one. The title refers to Claudia
secretly dating Alan Gray. She's embarrassed for Kristy to find out they're
together. Alan knows how she feels and has been acting very fake, because he's
afraid she'll dump him if he acts like himself. She eventually confronts him
and tells him that who he is going to keep changing as he ages, but he should
always just be himself.
Meanwhile, Claudia and Erica are working at the library in the kids' room.
While that's exhausting in and of itself, Claudia gets into a fight with her
mom because Claud wants to redo the dated children's mural. They eventually
talk it over and get past it, and Claudia learns that her mom's actually
jealous of her art skills.
Erica, who had previously learned she was adopted, decides to find out the
names of her biological parents. She and Claudia break into her parents' safe
and learn the names of her bio 'rents, but she then confesses to her parents,
who decide she's old enough to decide for herself if she wants to hunt them
down. Erica's honesty with her parents is what leads Claudia to be honest with
her mom and Alan. See how that works?
Interesting tidbits
The final sentence on the back cover: "Will Claudia find luv?" I
don't know if that's the middle school version of lust, or a bad Claudia
misspelling.
Heh. I think I need to list all the annoying things Alan is listed as
having done: burping "Row, row, row your boat;" putting M&Ms on
his eyes at Mary Anne's birthday party (#10); getting suspended for throwing a
cherry bomb in the bathroom; getting a fireball stuck up his nose in second
grade; sticking crayons in his mouth as fangs; wearing underwear on his head.
Claudia refers to Alan's past as "besmirched", which I found
really amusing.
Apparently, Stacey once got a lump of gum stuck in her ear. I'm always glad
when they don't write her as all mature and sophisticated. (Of course, she was
a little kid when that happened, but that still counts.)
Real books: Jack and the Beanstalk, Black Beauty, A Baby Sister
for Frances, Fell, Find a Stranger, Say Goodbye (I like this
because Claudia mentions it to Erica as a story of someone who looks for her
birth parents, which is how it came up the first time); Harold and the
Purple Crayon.
I like this: Claudia has realized that Janine talks the way she does, not
because she's a genius, but because it throws people off their strides.
When Claudia tells Kristy she's been out with Alan, she thinks Kristy's
head might explode.
Mistake! Stacey points out that Kristy once went out with Alan, to a dance
(true.) Kristy says she learned her lesson and never went out with him again.
She went with him to a dance in #2 and mentions she had been to the school end
dance with him in #6 also.
When Claudia tells everyone she went out with Alan, Kristy goes apoplectic.
Stacey (who knew) says, "Good for you." MA does what she always does
and tries to smooth things over. And Dawn just thinks the whole thing is
hilarious.
Claudia's mural goes to hell when Ms. Feld (the children's librarian) decides
to let all the kids "help" without asking Claudia. The result is a
complete disaster.
Claudia and Alan invite their respective friends to go out for mini golf. I
had to laugh when Alan brought Cary and Pete, because in my adult-BSC verse,
each of those two is married to a babysitter. (I'll let that sit. See if you
can figure out who is who, but it's not who you'd expect based upon this
story.)
Oh, shut up, Dawn. You're going mini golfing, so we don't need to hear
about how real golf courses pollute the environment.
Cary maneuvers the game play so that all the people are paired: He and MA,
Stacey and Pete, Claudia and Dawn, and Kristy with Alan. Claudia pictures
Kristy's head exploding, which I think was Cary's point.
Way back during the original painting scene, I thought to myself, "Why
don't they just have each of the kids do the same thing, like a
handprint?" And of course that's exactly what they end up doing. All the
kids put a hand and their name on the wall, and Claudia gets to do her planned
mural at the top.
Oh my gosh. Claudia throws a party with the BSC (current members and old
members), Alan, Pete, Cary and Erica. Charlie gives Kristy and Abby a ride
and...decides to stick around and grill for everyone. The poor young man really
has no life. *shakes head sadly*
I'm more than a little amused by a crash that occurs when Pete, catching a
flying bag of chips, runs over Mary Anne and a bowl of pickles.
Leave it Abby to laugh at corny jokes about Alan "putting Pete and
Mary Anne in this pickle," and "Goodbye, Mr. Chips."
Outfits:
Claudia: red, blue and purple tie-dyed t-shirt, beige linen shorts,
earrings made from bottle caps, purple high tops
I'm on vacation the next two weekends (Midwest Dariacon 2013 and my
sister's bachelorette party) so I'm hoping to get all my school work done
before I go. I've had a nasty case of vertigo the last week or so, but I have
to read one more Claudia book for July. Once school is out in another two
weeks, I’ll be able to catch up.
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