#1 Kristy's Great Idea (Chapter 11 - Chapter 15)
I'm finishing this book today and feeling happy, so have my favorite Toby Fox song Moonsetter:
Click to viewI've been trying to learn how to play that on the piano, but it's a bit too fast for my fingers. On with the snark!
UK COVER
WHO THE FUCK DREW THIS
IT'S GAZING INTO MY SOUL
CHAPTER ELEVEN
We meet the Marshalls for the first time and the girls make sure to ask about everything, but not to the extent of future books, like book #5 where Dawn wants to know the Barrett kids' nightmares.
Claudia gets the job, and they count their earnings. They got $26.75, which is probably what they should've been paid each. Instead of saving up, they decide to use the money immediately on a pizza party. Normally, I'd be mad because I think it's better to save your first earning and spend the second one so you still have money to fall back on. But it's their first week of business, so I'll give that a pass.
The girls start getting pumped up until they remember Stacey's diet. Stacey mentions that she has to go to New York on pizza day anyway. Another awkward moment of Stacey trying to hide her diabeetus, and the club is dismissed.
Kristy goes home to find Watson lounging on the couch like he lived there. Watson's having dinner with the Thomases, and instead of take-out, they're having leftovers. Which is a bad sign for Kristy. I'd feel the same way.
Elizabeth asks her to go put on a dress and Kristy yelps, “What's wrong with my school clothes?” and says she doesn't wear a dress if she can help it. Wait, didn't she say earlier that her school clothes were “a skirt and blouse”? And she's wearing a jumper on the original cover too. I understand inconsistencies with this book and later books, but this one is in the same book. AMM couldn't get it straight even for the first book?
Apparently Elizabeth has an “I'm the Mommy” shirt which is only in-name as later books will have her leaving her kids with a bunch of other kids so she can go buy groceries.
Charlie, Sam, and DM are also dressing up. Looks like something important's about to happen. They all go to the dining table, and I'll use this moment to insert a couple of doodles I made last night:
Being Filipino, I have no idea what Spaghetti-O’s are. I looked it up and it looks disgusting. They also have Gatorade in wine goblets, which reminds me of a restaurant I went to that served red ice tea in goblets and the waiter acted like he was giving us vintage wine.
Watson and Elizabeth are considering getting engaged. The boys congratulate them but Kristy almost ruins the mood by asking what would happen if they did. Elizabeth does what I would do and tells Kristy to care about that stuff later and dig into her heart attack-inducing dinner of Twinkies and fried chicken. I really hate mood killers. It makes everything awkward and quiet.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The club postpones the pizza party. Sam almost misses a Math club meeting, and Charlie loses his football helmet, foreshadowing the death of their personalities. Louie almost dies, foreshadowing his literal death. Mary Anne calls saying “Mmfawolemspoo-munno”, foreshadowing the spelled-out accents of later books.
What MA's trying to say is Richard won't let her spend three bucks on pizza because she needs to save for “clothes and college”. A) MA can't even buy her own clothes yet and B) MA is 12. I understand saving for college but geez, can't a 12 year-old hang out with friends and have a pizza every once in a while, Dick?
Claudia calls up saying that her parents got a letter from school again, so they're banning parties so she can catch up on all the homework she didn't do. I agree with Kristy, we don't need to multiply fractions in daily life. And I'm a math person myself.
Stacey's mom (I need to make a joke about that someday) says Stacey's at New York, but MA calls to say that Stacey's at home.
Kristy says that mothers don't usually lie on their own, which is another false assumption from Kristy. She makes a few more calls and Watson calls asking for a sitter for Karen and Andrew. Kristy realizes that she's trapped and can't escape the presence of Hellspawn any longer.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Karen and Andrew's mom, Lisa (or is it stil Sheila?) broke her ankle and Watson had to deal with insurance forms. That's interesting, a man rushing to his ex-wife's side because no one can care for her at the moment. I feel like Watson cares for everyone around him except his own children.
Kristy says his divorce was amicable but the Little Sister books beg to differ. Kristy meets Karen and Andrew, who remain adorable for the time being. Kristy bonds with the kids. There's a bit of filler:
Take a bite, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, swallow, wipe mouth, start over.
Which is unnecessary. The only reason for repeating words more than thrice in a row is if you're going to fill two pages of your book with the word for comedy (I think it was The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket?).
Karen asks if Kristy's mom is “Edie” Thomas and Kristy says yes, This leads to a nice and quiet conversation about parents, divorce, and stepparents, slightly ruined by Karen saying “asposed” instead of supposed. The only reason why I think it's ruined is because it reminds me of “ackaminnie”.
Speaking of ackaminnie, Kristy offers to get some ice cream so they could all feel better. After that is an another nice moment of bonding between Kristy and the Brewers. Nothing that snarkable here.
Elizabeth and Kristy talk about the sitting job. Elizabeth says that Andrew has “a big talker for an older sister. He almost doesn’t need to speak.” In the future, he won't at all once Hellspawn completely takes over Karen.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MA struck a deal with her dad: she can spend her earnings however she wants, as long as she puts half in the bank. That's way better than my deal, where whenever I get money I keep 30% of and the rest goes to my bank account.
Claudia struck a deal with her parents, too: she can keep babysitting and doing parties as long as she does her homework. Stacey shows off her plaid wool pants and avoids the subject when they ask about Saturday. Kristy asks her straight what's really going on, and Stacey blows up. Kristy actually has a smart analysis of what Stacey could've done instead of getting angry if she wanted an out. It's so smart, I'm wondering why the conclusion is simple and obvious.
Claudia and Kristy start fighting and the topic goes from Stacey to childishness and maturity. The image of Kristy playing with dolls is funny. There's a knock on the door and Mimi's (!) behind it. I love Mimi, and this moment is an example of why. The fight goes from yelling to the silent treatment, then the phone rings.
We get a rare occurrence of Mr. Johanssen. From what I've seen in the community, I'm not alone in thinking that the Johanssens were black at first. I thought it was a nice that a series from the 80s/90s had black people without drawing attention to it. Only until I read books with Jessi in it did I realize how AMM really would've handled black people in Stoneybrook.
Kristy's too mad to do the club meeting so she and MA leave early. Later in the day, the Thomas kids get the news: Elizabeth and Watson are engaged! Watson throws a handful on confetti over Elizabeth, which sounds hilarious.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The Thomas kids meet the Brewer kids. Karen thinks Charlie is 35. I know it's because Karen's a kid, but I can't help but think that Charlie really can pass for 35. He's already growing into his chauffeur looks. Sam makes a joke and DM, Karen, and Andrew go hang out.
They're having fondue and Watson makes a rule that if you drop it, you kiss the person on your right. Watson ends up on Kristy's right. If that was planned, that's creepy as hell. Kristy does end up kissing Watson and writes a note to him saying it's all cool.
Later at the BSC meeting, everyone apologizes and decide to have that party. At that party, Stacey reveals that she has a disease. Kristy jumps to conclusions and thinks it's anorexia. When I first read this at age 10, I knew what anorexia was, though because they didn't explain what anorexia was I think some kids got confused and thought it was similar to diabetes.
Stacey corrects her and says she has diabetes. Claudia gives her an awkward hug and Kristy says it's fine, because her cousin Robin, who will never appear ever again, has diabetes too. She also notes how both too muchand too little sugar is bad for a diabetic. From the way Stacey carries on throughout the series, it's more like any sugar at all is bad for a diabetic.
After that, they bring out the food and Stacey asks Kristy if she likes any boys and Kristy makes a face. I don't think AMM meant to have so much lesbian subtext with Kristy, but I'm reading into that and reading it deeply. Kristy x Abby forever.
I'm at the author's note. BSC was actually supposed to be a four-book mini series. MA is also based on AMM. Seeing MA's behavior in future books, that worries me a little. AMM also mentions that she babysat a lot in college. Either she's lying or she sat for some interesting kids, because the more the books went on, it's like none of the authors have ever met a child.
That was fun! I did run a short poll on the Dreamwidth, but I've decided to do the first ten books in order then go do what everyone voted for later. So coming up next, #2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls!