“What if we have to stay in here forever?” BSC: Kristy’s Book (1996)

So these “autobiographies” don’t have one plot. They’re similar to the memorysuper special in that they’re a series of stories from the past, divided in to time frames. Obviously, this book is all about Kristy growing up. So, here’re the major highlights:

·         She was nearly born at a baseball game because her dad didn’t want to leave.

·         Kristy’s first “great idea” involved making snowmen for profit when she was five.

·         Kristy basically ran away from home to watch a movie with Charlie and Sam.

·         After Mr. Thomas left and Elizabeth got a job, Charlie, Sam and Kristy basically turn the Thomas house into party central and eat junk food for a while before Elizabeth realizes she needs to lay down the law.

·         Kristy gets a scholarship to softball camp, makes an enemy and eventually, a friend, while learning a lesson about teamwork.

·         In a plot taken straight out of the BSC movie, her father comes back into her life but wants her to keep it a secret.

Interesting tidbits

Sam takes DM to Krushers’ practice, yet Karen is still around, annoying the shit out of Kristy (and me.) Shouldn’t she be at practice, too, and who’s running the practice, anyway?

Kristy’s mom comes in to ask her to babysit and ends up lying on her bed for a while. This kinda cracked me up. She says Kristy’s bed is just so comfortable.

I think it funny that Kristy was almost born at a Yankees/Red Sox game when she’s a Mets fan.

Of course, Kristy didn’t walk her first steps; she ran them to pick up a dropped ball.

I always wonder why little Kristy always tells Mary Anne her plans to break the rules when she knows little MA can’t lie to adults.

When Mr. Thomas left, Charlie got mad at his dad, while Sam got mad at his mom…for making his dad want to leave. Not only does this sound realistic, but it is consistent with the Forever Friends book when their dad gets married again.

Kristy, meanwhile, embodied the stereotype of the kid thinking the divorce was her fault.

How does six year old Claudia have junk food? I can understand teenaged Claud using her babysitting earnings to buy snacks, but most six year olds don’t have enough allowance to buy that sort of thing, and how is Claudia able to get to a place to buy snack food on her own?

I can understand most of the photos in the book, but at one point, the Thomas kids, MA and Claudia get locked into the bathroom with Louie after he gets sprayed by a skunk. There’s a picture of this in the book. How? Who took it and why? When Elizabeth lets them out, she’s all pissed and makes the girls go home and everyone else get changed.

I’m not even going to relate most of the stupidness with Kristy at Camp Topnotch. Rent any summer camp movie and you’ll see it all.

Ten year old Mary Anne has the same handwriting and spelling as twelve year old Mary Anne.

In the picture of Kristy at camp, she looks as if she has no nose.

Ahh, an explanation to a question I’d had for a while. When the series first begin, Kristy says her dad is married and living somewhere in California. Later, in FF, he gets married again. This one explains that his marriage in FF was his third marriage; when Patrick runs into Kristy, he tells her he and his second wife split up.

As I mentioned at the top, the plot line with Kristy’s dad showing up is straight out of the BSC movie. I hadn’t seen it when it was first out because I had just quit reading the books the year before and didn’t want to get sucked back in. I watched it for the first time as an adult (circa 2004) and thought it was really lame. I’ve seen it a few more times since then, and my opinion hasn’t really changed, though I do quote a couple scenes here and there….

(Icon courtesy of this awesome livejournal.)

 

Mistake? Kristy ran into her dad “last spring,” possibly meaning seventh grade. Yet she tells him about the Krushers, which she started in eighth grade. Maybe it’s just part of the Time Warp Stoneybrook is suffering.

I kept reading. It’s part of the Time Warp Syndrome, because Elizabeth is already married to Watson.

Real question about Patrick coming to town: He makes Kristy keep his visit a secret. Why would he want to just visit Kristy and not Charlie, Sam and David Michael also? I can almost understand the DM thing: he wasn’t ever there for DM, so he doesn’t even consider DM his kid. At least in the movie, I don’t think they ever mention Charlie or Sam, so maybe Kristy and DM are supposed to be the only kids in the family.

The ending to the Patrick story is actually pretty sweet: After Patrick gives Kristy a “gift” of a hand-me-down baseball mitt—it’s a righty and Kristy’s a lefty—and skips town, she realizes how awesome Watson is because he buys her a proper ball glove.

Kristy gets a B+ on her autobiography, in case you care.

We’re officially starting September this weekend with a switch to Mary Anne. I’m thinking well begin with #86 Mary Anne and Camp BSC.