I
thought I had blogged this one before? If I have, I apologize. I’m usually
pretty OCD about keeping track, so since it’s not marked off, I’m going to
assume I didn’t actually blog it. I might be getting it confused with another
book, or maybe I referred to the plot when I blogged SS#15 or something.
Two
exciting events are happening this summer in Stoneybrook. First, a camp is
opening, and the staff is looking for middle-school aged counselors with
babysitting experience. All the BSC members, including Dawn, who’s in town for
the summer, and Logan apply. When the club learns that SMS is sponsoring
another summer trip—to England and France, this time—several of the members are
excited to go to Europe. The trouble comes when the two events, camp and the
trip, overlap. Fighting between BSC members over who is the best sitter and
deserves the camp job becomes constant. A few even consider lying during the
interview process to get a better edge. In the end, the members who decide not
to go to Europe get the job, while the others make plans for their vacation.
Meanwhile,
Victoria from #102 is heading back to England. The BSC invites various kids to
a going away party for her. Victoria wants MA to visit her in England, only to
learn that MA isn’t going on the trip…she’s staying in CT because Dawn is.
Interesting
Tidbits
The
cover: This is not a good look for Mary Anne. This isn’t the first time she’s
worn attire that makes her look like a boy, either. Even Karen and friends in
the background are better clothed.
Mistake:
MA says she lived with her grandparents in Nebraska when she was little. Her
grandmother lives in Maynard, Iowa. It’s actually Karen’s step-grandparents—her
stepfather’s parents—who live in Nebraska. It disturbs me that I remember that.
I LIKE
this a lot: After English class, Mary Anne walks back to her locker with Gordon
and Barbara. If you remember all the way back to #93, the two of them and
Amelia were her English project group. It’s nice to see her still be friendly
with them and that they’re actually still in her English class. Later, it’s
mentioned that MA and Abby have the same math teacher, but not the same math
class, as mentioned in #96.
Victoria
tells MA and Logan she doesn’t want to move back to England, as she’s
‘Americanized,’ and that having to move sucks. I just love that they got away
with putting that phrase in a kids’ book, even with Miss Rutherford chastising
her afterward.
I’m
still trying to figure out in what universe the airfare to London is less than
the airfare to Hawaii. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but some girls I know
went on a trip very similar to one to London and Paris in SS#15, and it cost
them $2400. Now, these girls were born
in1998, not traveling in 1998, but you know prices haven’t sextupled in the
past eighteen years.
Abby’s
mom studied abroad at ‘London University’ in college.
“Sometimes
Logan sounded just like Kristy.” Even more reason to ship them? I know I’ve
seen that somewhere, and not just in FF#3…
Charlie
agrees to drive Kristy, Vicki (what Victoria insists upon being called, because
it’s more American) and a slew of neighborhood kids around the neighborhood so
she can…say goodbye? Reminisce? I’m not exactly sure. But if I were Victoria’s guardian,
I wouldn’t want some seventeen year old I don’t know driving my kid around
without my knowledge. Not to mention the fact that Kristy told Miss Rutherford
she and Victoria would be at her house. What kind of responsible babysitter
takes the kid elsewhere without letting her guardian know?
So Dawn
is on her way back to Stoneybrook, and MA decorated her room…which is steeped
in presents. I’ve said before that I don’t get why Dawn needs a present every
time she goes from one house to the other, but here are my questions this time:
Did they completely redecorate her room for her? That’s what the book makes it
sound like. Also, is Jeff’s room also piled high with gifts and redecorated?
The
title quote is about Claudia, who is eating at her ‘favorite’ restaurant,
Cabbages and Kings.
Dawn
likes to sleep in, and Jeff apparently repeatedly tells her she doesn’t live up
to her name. I think that joke would get old after about the first time he said
it…
Wow, a
lot of people are going to the bathroom in this book. Dawn does it during a BSC
meeting, and then Claudia (during another meeting). It’s really just an excuse
to talk about her or read her playground job application without her being in
the room, but it reminded me of a whole chapter in one of my favorite book
series. These books would have chapters that seemed to have absolutely nothing
to do with moving the plot forward, but were funny and brilliant anyway—and
actually did relate directly to the plot, if not right away. At one point, the
author discusses how a lot happens to the main character that doesn’t get into
the books, like eating breakfast and going to the bathroom, because that would
make the story drag on and be 3000 pages long. We know the BSC members have to
pee sometimes, but rarely does it actually come up in the story.
It must
be super-fun to go out for pizza with the BSC and try to share a pizza. Between
certain members preferring meat, Dawn refusing to eat meat, and Abby being
allergic to pizza on the whole…awesome.
I love
this technique; I’ve tried it myself and it works.
When Stacey arrives at the Kent house, she can hear Victoria shouting before
she even gets into the house. When she’s let in, Victoria is still screaming at
Miss Rutherford. Stacey walks and whispers her hello, explaining—when Victoria
asks—that she’s whispering specifically to counterbalance the shouting. The
person shouting starts to realize how ridiculous they sound.
Victoria
is angry when she learns MA won’t be going on the Europe trip, because she
thinks Mary Anne doesn’t want to see her anymore. She points out that ever
since Dawn came home, she’s been seeing a lot less of MA. This is interesting
for two reasons: it’s also part of the reason Kristy is angry (although Kristy
hasn’t said that, and it’s never acknowledged in the book), and when MA shows
up at the Kent house to apologize to Victoria for not telling her herself, Miss
Rutherford says Victoria doesn’t wish to see Mary Anne. Umm, Victoria’s seven.
I can see honoring her wishes to some extent, but it seems a little silly to
send MA away when she just walked all the way across town to come visit,
without even letting her say her piece through a closed door or something.
Alan
tells the interviewer during camp interviews that he knows CPR and has lots of
sitting experience. Well, who knows whether or not he’s got sitting experience,
but he does know CPR. He was in the
same safety class the BSC took in #114, where MA learned the CPR that saved
Timmy Hsu’s life. And he could have
babysat before. The BSC aren’t the only sitters in town.
Okaaaay.
The interviews are in alphabetical order, so the BSC members would go Logan,
Claudia, Stacey, Dawn, Mary Anne, Abby and then Kristy. Yet, in the book, Abby
is somehow interviewed before Dawn and MA.
This
was actually funny. Victoria wants some ‘cool American clothes’ so she buys an
outfit that hadn’t been cool since 1991. But the funny part was when she called
them authentic American clothes and Karen pointed out that the shirt was made
in China.
The
ending to this book is dumb and unrealistic. The counselors are chosen, and
Logan, Mary Anne, Claudia and Dawn, who all weren’t going to Europe, were the
winners. As soon as that happens, everyone makes up, with no hard feelings.
Yeah, right. If Kristy’s that quick to get snippy, I can’t imagine she’d really
be that quick to get over it.
Outfits
Victoria:
t-shirt, jeans, red high tops; jean shorts, Mets t-shirt, no shoes; hot pink
shirt, pink and black leggings, pink sunglasses
Next:
Mystery #36
Maybe the interviews were alphabetical by first name?
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