[bsc] book 39+SS5, a distinct lack of gay
So if, hypothetically, I phone-posted dramatic readings of Baby-Sitters Club chapters, which books/chapters/passages would people vote for? (Bonus points if you choose something I'm unable to read without giggling or shouting "OMG SO GAY!")
Recently read:
#39, Poor Mallory! This is another one where I have very little to say because I liked it so much. Low on the snark/omggay! factor, high on the love.
There's this moment when Mal's father, who's lost his job, is lounging around in really casual clothes and has a "glass of something" that's clearly like OMG ALCOHOL DURING THE DAY. I immediately wondered how I'd forgotten the Mal's Father Is An Alcoholic subplot, and then realized that he wasn't (although I'm sure that "glass of something" was Ann's coy way of saying alcohol. Anyhow, I read my issues into everything I read, thanks much.
Mallory and Jessi are so gay for each other. Seriously! "Jessi's very pretty, (in my opinion)." That parenthetical makes it so much gayer.
Um. The friends-forever stuff makes me squeal.
And that's all I've got!
This morning at the mall I read Super Special #5, California Girls. In which the baby-sitters win the lottery and go to California. If you think my favorite part of this book was the ten second appearance by Maggie Blume, you are right!
The problem with most of the Super Specials is that there's really not enough space to elaborate on 7 plots (one for each baby-sitter), and so I felt like many of them got short shrift. In case you've forgotten, never read it, or just like lists, here are the 7 plots of California Girls
1. Kristy - babysits for two little holy terrors, whom the We ♥ Kids Club had warned her about; has to swallow her pride and admit that Sunny et al might know something about baby-sitting too.
2. Claudia - falls in love with a younger male version of Janine. Has to learn to Be Herself and not try to feign knowledge of things she has knowns nothing about. Eats snails.
3. Mary Anne - babysits a younger, asthmatic version of herself named Stephie. Falls in love. Accidentally coddles Stephie and thinks she can't handle strenuous activity, etc; in fact treating Stephie much like Richard treated her. OTP ensues.
4. Stacey - goes surfing with Cool Older People who drive fast and live dangerously. Gets into a car accident. Decides never ever again to be friends with Cool Dangerous People. Really.
5. Dawn - hates Carol. (RECURRING THEME!)
6. Mallory - dyes her hair blonde and wears lots of makeup. Loses all personality. Eventually sells makeup to Stacey and Claudia, who are old enough to wear lipstick without it causing their brains to leak out their pores.
7. Jessi - visits the set of a sticom. Thinks she might like to be an actress. Eventually decides to be a ballerina instead.
These plot arcs are in no way whatsoever tied to each other. Well, okay. I suppose the A-plot is Carol (Dawn's father's girlfriend), who gives Claudia boy-advice and gives Mallory makeup advice, making Dawn wish Carol would just act her age for once, and then finally does act her age when Stacey has the car crash, proving herself in Dawn's eyes and making Dawn come to terms with her dad's relationship with Carol.
And the B-plot is about the We ♥ Kids Club, and how Kristy and Mary Anne deal with their charges.
Still. Not a very coherent book.
Jessi and Mallory have their first fight.
Did I mention the part where Mary Anne falls in love?
Did I mention the best part was the We ♥ Kids Club? There was Jill! Maggie! Sunny! And somewhere, somewhere, possibly even at the beach at the same time as Stacey was, there is a Very Gay Sophomore just biding his time until his plot arc shall be revealed and ALL SHALL LOVE HIM AND DESPAIR. I'm sorry! The California stories just make me very happy in this regard!
Right now I'm reading Mary Anne vs. Logan, which for obvious reasons I expect I will LOVE A LOT.
Mary Anne, on her dad and Dawn's mom getting back together: "The rest is Schafer/Spier history." YES. YESx10000! The next 70-odd books should be entirely devoted to Sharon/Richard and Dawn/Mary Anne. YES.
I have two more things to say, and these are about things that get mentioned in almost every book:
1. The baby-sitters don't pool their money. Each girl (and Logan) keeps what she earns. I get that they do it this way, but why is it so essential that we be told it every book. I feel it's like right up there with "despite all the time they spend with their girlfriends comparing chicken pox scars, the baby-sitters are REALLY REALLY STRAIGHT. Also, not communists!"
2. But on the other hand, it's been mentioned a couple of times in the books I've read recently that secrets don't last long in the BSC.
This is kind of upsetting to me.
It also doesn't feel very realistic.
I mean, I love the idea of a group of girls so close-knit that they tell each other everything and stick with each other through thick and thin and so on and so forth.
On the other hand, being an intensely private person, when I was in eighth grade I had a deep dark secret fantasy world that I shared with no one. The idea of telling anyone, even my bff, everything, is kind of traumatic. And, er, that's about all.
I promise there will be more gay in the next BSC-related post! And get back to me on that dramatic read-aloud thing.
Recently read:
#39, Poor Mallory! This is another one where I have very little to say because I liked it so much. Low on the snark/omggay! factor, high on the love.
There's this moment when Mal's father, who's lost his job, is lounging around in really casual clothes and has a "glass of something" that's clearly like OMG ALCOHOL DURING THE DAY. I immediately wondered how I'd forgotten the Mal's Father Is An Alcoholic subplot, and then realized that he wasn't (although I'm sure that "glass of something" was Ann's coy way of saying alcohol. Anyhow, I read my issues into everything I read, thanks much.
Mallory and Jessi are so gay for each other. Seriously! "Jessi's very pretty, (in my opinion)." That parenthetical makes it so much gayer.
Um. The friends-forever stuff makes me squeal.
And that's all I've got!
This morning at the mall I read Super Special #5, California Girls. In which the baby-sitters win the lottery and go to California. If you think my favorite part of this book was the ten second appearance by Maggie Blume, you are right!
The problem with most of the Super Specials is that there's really not enough space to elaborate on 7 plots (one for each baby-sitter), and so I felt like many of them got short shrift. In case you've forgotten, never read it, or just like lists, here are the 7 plots of California Girls
1. Kristy - babysits for two little holy terrors, whom the We ♥ Kids Club had warned her about; has to swallow her pride and admit that Sunny et al might know something about baby-sitting too.
2. Claudia - falls in love with a younger male version of Janine. Has to learn to Be Herself and not try to feign knowledge of things she has knowns nothing about. Eats snails.
3. Mary Anne - babysits a younger, asthmatic version of herself named Stephie. Falls in love. Accidentally coddles Stephie and thinks she can't handle strenuous activity, etc; in fact treating Stephie much like Richard treated her. OTP ensues.
4. Stacey - goes surfing with Cool Older People who drive fast and live dangerously. Gets into a car accident. Decides never ever again to be friends with Cool Dangerous People. Really.
5. Dawn - hates Carol. (RECURRING THEME!)
6. Mallory - dyes her hair blonde and wears lots of makeup. Loses all personality. Eventually sells makeup to Stacey and Claudia, who are old enough to wear lipstick without it causing their brains to leak out their pores.
7. Jessi - visits the set of a sticom. Thinks she might like to be an actress. Eventually decides to be a ballerina instead.
These plot arcs are in no way whatsoever tied to each other. Well, okay. I suppose the A-plot is Carol (Dawn's father's girlfriend), who gives Claudia boy-advice and gives Mallory makeup advice, making Dawn wish Carol would just act her age for once, and then finally does act her age when Stacey has the car crash, proving herself in Dawn's eyes and making Dawn come to terms with her dad's relationship with Carol.
And the B-plot is about the We ♥ Kids Club, and how Kristy and Mary Anne deal with their charges.
Still. Not a very coherent book.
Jessi and Mallory have their first fight.
Did I mention the part where Mary Anne falls in love?
Did I mention the best part was the We ♥ Kids Club? There was Jill! Maggie! Sunny! And somewhere, somewhere, possibly even at the beach at the same time as Stacey was, there is a Very Gay Sophomore just biding his time until his plot arc shall be revealed and ALL SHALL LOVE HIM AND DESPAIR. I'm sorry! The California stories just make me very happy in this regard!
Right now I'm reading Mary Anne vs. Logan, which for obvious reasons I expect I will LOVE A LOT.
Mary Anne, on her dad and Dawn's mom getting back together: "The rest is Schafer/Spier history." YES. YESx10000! The next 70-odd books should be entirely devoted to Sharon/Richard and Dawn/Mary Anne. YES.
I have two more things to say, and these are about things that get mentioned in almost every book:
1. The baby-sitters don't pool their money. Each girl (and Logan) keeps what she earns. I get that they do it this way, but why is it so essential that we be told it every book. I feel it's like right up there with "despite all the time they spend with their girlfriends comparing chicken pox scars, the baby-sitters are REALLY REALLY STRAIGHT. Also, not communists!"
2. But on the other hand, it's been mentioned a couple of times in the books I've read recently that secrets don't last long in the BSC.
This is kind of upsetting to me.
It also doesn't feel very realistic.
I mean, I love the idea of a group of girls so close-knit that they tell each other everything and stick with each other through thick and thin and so on and so forth.
On the other hand, being an intensely private person, when I was in eighth grade I had a deep dark secret fantasy world that I shared with no one. The idea of telling anyone, even my bff, everything, is kind of traumatic. And, er, that's about all.
I promise there will be more gay in the next BSC-related post! And get back to me on that dramatic read-aloud thing.