Claudia and the Terrible Truth (1-5)

[syphabelnades]

Oh my god guys I am actually back. It's me, Star Ultranova/syphabelnades (formerly xenaeilonwy) and I got locked out of my LJ account for a whole fuckin' year because of a password conflict. But I managed to get back in and not a moment too soon, because I missed BSC Snark and I missed taking the piss out of terrible books from our childhoods

Comments

[the1812overture]

An amazing book on child abuse is I Won't Let Them Hurt You by Linda Barr. It was originally published in 1988, but has been republished in ebook format. I read that book in the 90's, and it still hurts my heart. It was so well done that I haven't been able to re-read it. It was so real, and I felt Katie's pain and confusion about what to do.

That being said, some material in this snark may offend you.

These books are so bad that I'm offended by their publication. I'm not at all offended by snarks that I see as out attempts at skewering Ann, and I take them all in that manner. Anything that could be offensive in a snark I real sarcastically, and that makes it make snark-sense. So snark away.

That being said, Peaches is quite reluctant to leave Lynn alone with Claudia, but mainly because she is leaving her for an extended period of time for the first time and not because Claudia is a creepy baby-napper. Claudia's mother reassures Peaches that Claudia is a "professional babysitter" and that her child is in good hands.

If Ann knew the first damn thing about parenting, she'd know that it's normal to the point of expected that all parents (this is pretty much universal among parents who want their kids) will have a hard time leaving their babies for a while. It has nothing to do with the caregiver being professional, and everything to do with being parents. My daughter will be seven later this year. I still feel like my gut has been punched when I get in the car without her with me.

she finally has Lynn to herself for an entire week.

I'd say something about this, but this IS the series where an 11-year-old was left in charge of a little girl and a BABY for a weekend. At least there are actual adults in Claud's house.

It is not just physical, and to establish that abuse is only hitting is to establish a terrible message about abuse.

In 2016, we are having to try getting our peers to understand that abuse can be mental. I've been trying for three years to get my best friend to see that she's being abuse. But he hasn't hit, so it's okay!

Mr. Nicholls is stern with the boys because he's the obvious villain of the story.

The first time I read this book, I was a parent already, and I was confused about how being stern is abuse. Everyone who knows me knows I love my daughter more than anything, yet I'm stern. She's stubborn, and so I have to out-stubborn her sometimes, which requires being stern. I know when to be a marshmallow, and when to be stern. Sternness isn't always harsh, and plenty of sweet-seeming people are horrid parents.

"Hey, let's go to a friend's house while my friend is babysitting him. Because that's totally something you should DO while you're babysitting."

I ALWAYS wondered why those girls NEVER ask the parents if it's okay to leave. In the pre-cell days, I ALWAYS asked so that parents could either say no, or have a heads-up about why they might get the answering machine.

children behaving politely and pushing in their chairs means that something is clearly wrong.

Something IS wrong. It means someone's actively parenting in their world, and people who parent are always abusive, y'know.

He starts crying and pleading that he'll replace the book and to me, again, this is just a really kind, considerate kid who feels bad about damaging something that doesn't belong to him.

This is the FIRST sign that something is wrong in that house. Unless a child is over-sensitive, fear over accidentally tearing a book page shouldn't get THIS reaction.

peanut butter on the celery and wtf EW

YUM

So he starts shouting about it because no one will answer him. For fuck's sake, Claudia, just say you did it.

What she should have done, I think, is NOT say anything at that time due to the risk that he could strike out and hit her. What she should have done is run home to tell her parents that he started going off the handle about peanut butter, and let them handle it. Of course we all know that that would solve this story's problem.

[shatisarockgod]

I ALWAYS wondered why those girls NEVER ask the parents if it's okay to leave. In the pre-cell days, I ALWAYS asked so that parents could either say no, or have a heads-up about why they might get the answering machine.--I think can answer that one. They can't risk the opportunity of having a parent that might tell them "No, I'd rather you stick around the house." That might not be the real answer but it's the first thing that came to my mind. I know the Stoneybrook parents had the Big Gulp version of the Kool-Aid so they probably wouldn't even say a word if the girls wanted to take the kids to another town. Still, that's my answer.

[syphabelnades]

At the time he wasn't going off the handle about the peanut butter. He was just asking "Who left this peanut butter open on the counter" and raising his voice after nobody answered him. I don't see that as a red flag. The red flag is that he insulted his sons after Claudia finally admitted she was the one who left the peanut butter.