Mystery #7 - Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs (Part 1)
Chapters 6-10
Chapters 11-15
Hello, all! I'm new here! ^_^ This is my first snark; I hope it's okay!
By the way, I know this has been snarked before; I actually didn't read it yet. I sincerely apologize if it's too similar, hehe.
Chapter 1
The book opens with Dawn insisting that she doesn't hate animals. She says she likes dogs, cats, and even gerbils "although they are, you have to admit, kind of useless." :( That wasn't very nice.
She explains that she's not an animal lover, and she's only a vegetarian because she doesn't like the taste of meat, not because she feels bad for the cow. I take it she has no idea how they're killed, then. Seriously, what kind of sense does that make? If she really doesn't care about animals, she shouldn't be as self-righteous as she is about being a vegetarian.
We're told that Mary Anne tries to make her kiss Tigger, which Dawn thinks is "blechh" because she "doesn't believe in kissing cats." I don't like Dawn. She's mean. :(
Anyway, Dawn has been thinking about animals because she saw Mrs. Mancusi at the playground while she was sitting for the Barretts. She thinks that Mrs. Mancusi is stupid for talking to her dogs. Seriously, shut up, Dawn. Judging by your personality, I think one could hold a much more pleasant conversation with a dog than with you.
Dawn takes Suzi and Buddy to softball practice and watches them play, but she gets bored and goes to sit on a swing instead. I don't really like Dawn's description of Kristy's Krushers, though; she mentions at great length how bad some of the players are, and says that they only win occasionally. Sheesh, you're in full bitch mode today, aren't you? Cut them a break, they're only kids!
As she swings, she goes into monologues about Nicky Pike, how swinging gives you motion sickness as you get older (WTH? I'd love to see her ride a roller coaster, then), and, of course, how she's from Califoooornia. She tells us the story of how Mary Anne became her stepsister, and, speak of the devil, Mary Anne shows up to tell her that a cool new store just opened. At first, Dawn is all like "awesome!" but then she finds out it's a pet store, and she's like "AW HAYULL NAW!". However, she puts on her poker face because she totally doesn't hate animals, you guize.
I think Dawn got mauled by a gerbil or something when she was a kid, because she as a really unjustified hatred of animals. :(
Chapter 2
Chapter 2, guys. You know the drill. Sadly, there is no outfit description for Claudia. Dawn mentions that she likes being the alternate officer because she likes to think of herself as a "real individual" so that "special, different job" really "suits her style". Ugh.
After long, boring descriptions of the club members' life stories, Mrs. Mancusi calls for someone to watch her pets for the weekend. Betcha can't guess who gets the job! Dawn closes the chapter by reminding us, yet again, that she doesn't hate animals. I don't believe her.
Chapter 3
Jessi and Mallory really wish they could have taken the job, and I'm sure Dawn does too. They instead reminisce about their previous experience with the Mancusis, and how they got their hamsters. Apparently, Mrs. Mancusi's sick, male hamster turned out to be pregnant. Wow... That's one of the oldest cliches in the book. Great job, ghostie! (Unless AMM wrote that one, in which case, great job AMM! ^_^)
Mary Anne still has a list of the Mancusis' pets, which Dawn studies. The next day, she goes over to meet the pets. One of the pets is a Siamese cat named Ling-Ling. Haha. When I hear Ling-Ling, I think of this:
...And that's REALLY not the best crossover...
While being introduced to the pets, Dawn meets the Mancusis' newest addition: Petie, the iguana, whom Dawn mistakes for a baby dragon. (LOLWUT?) Even though Dawn hates is totally okay with animals, she actually likes Petie, and even whispers hello to her. Ha! Who's stupid now?! She swears that Petie smiled back, and decides that maybe petsitting won't be so bad after all.
Dawn goes back the next day to take care of the pets; Jessi comes over with Charlotte, Becca, and Squirt. They all walk the dogs, and Dawn notes that they look so strange ("like a circus parade", in fact), someone in a green car drives past them very slowly and watches. Dawn begins to get comfortable with walking the dogs, but notices that same car drive past them three more times, each time slower than the last. It starts to creep her out, so she and Jessi decide to take the kids home and give them a speech on not talking to strangers. Jessi and co. leave, but Dawn still has a creepy feeling about the car.
Chapter 4
Dawn wakes up early the next morning and makes a big deal of it since she doesn't like waking up early. Dawn's the kind of person to make a big deal out of anything, huh? She says it's because the animals are waiting for her, but not because they like her or anything, no, they just want her to take care of them. I love how she clearly thinks animals have no feelings whatsoever. Why exactly is she a vegetarian, again? Oh yeah, because she doesn't like the taste of meat. Gotcha.
So Dawn hustles on over and finds herself talking to the animals, which she decided isn't that stupid, as long as you're alone when you do it. She does note, however, that they don't understand a word of it, severely insulting their intelligence, IMO. I don't think they're exactly fluent, but they're not as dumb as she's is making them seem. Dawn is mean. :(
She goes about taking care of the animals, which is incredibly boring. Cheryl, the Great Dane, has to go out so Dawn puts her outside on a leash before returning inside. There, she talks to Frank, the parrot, who quotes Bounty commercials, and it's actually pretty amusing. She asks Petie if she remembers her, and when she (Petie) doesn't respond, Dawn decides that it was stupid to ever think that she smiled at her the day before. Wait. I thought you thought that animals can't understand people, nor do they have any feelings outside of instincts. Why is this different for Petie? Is it because only animals you personally approve of are smart?
Dawn goes to feed the rabbits, which she describes as "kind of cute, I guess. If you like rabbits." Are...are you trying to tell me that you don't even like bunnies? >:( Well, you know what, Dawn, bunnies don't like you either so MEH!
So she goes back outside to find that Cheryl is gone. She briefly wonders how this happened, but decides that it doesn't matter as she needs to find her, and fast. She goes around the block, searching, but alas, no Cheryl. She runs into Jessi, who was on her way to babysit Charlotte, and Jessi gets involved in the search. Soon, the whole BSC and their charges are looking for Cheryl, and Dawn is sure that they'll find her soon.
"That's what I thought, anyway. But I was wrong." That's what the next paragraph opens with. Dawn tells us that informing Mr. and Mrs. Mancusi that their dog was missing was the hardest thing she ever had to do. The Mrs. is upset, but Dawn doesn't really get in trouble. I think she should have, though. That's what she gets for insulting the bunnies. >:( They put a curse on her.
Chapter 5
Babysitting chapter. We're given a bit of foreshadowing in the form of a notebook conversation between Mallory and Claudia, and then the chapter begins...
Claudia comes over to help Mallory babysit her siblings, and Claire greets her by saying "Hi Claudia silly-billy-goo-goo!" LOLWUT?! Claire then lets Claudia in on a big secret: She looks really pretty. O.O We're finally given an outfit description!
"...a blue minidress with white polka dots, white leggings, and earrings that looked like big white polka dots."
That outfit doesn't sound too bad, actually. :)
So Claudia comes into the kitchen to find the triplets eating after-school snacks such as peanut butter and ketchup and Fig Newtons with Marshmallow Fluff. What the hell. Vanessa is upstairs helping Margo find her Krushers T-shirt, but since Vanessa is a complete ditz (that's more or less how Dawn describes her), Mallory has to intervene. All of the Pike kids work together to clean the kitchen, and then we get a page and a half of deciding who will stay at home with the triplets, and who will take the kids to softball practice.
It is decided that Mallory will take the kids to practice, so we leave Claudia as she goes on her exciting journey. At this point, Dawn reappears in the story, and it continues like normal. I know this is common in BSC books, but I wonder... How exactly does Dawn tell us what happened with Mallory and Claudia if she wasn't there? It must be magic...
Mallory looks across a field, and notices that a weird car she has been seeing all day. Dawn looks over and -- le gasp! -- it was the same car that had been stalking her a few days before! Could it be..?!
Nah, Dawn doesn't come to that conclusion yet, though they do talk about how Cheryl is still missing. Mallory is sure that she'll come back, because she read "The Incredible Journey" and those dogs traveled across a country to find their masters. LOL. I'm pretty sure this is not a similar situation, but okay. :)
Kristy finally calls the practice to order. She explains that she and Bart are going to make an All-Star team with members from the Krushers and the Bashers in a new team cleverly dubbed "The Krashers". However, there's a catch: only the older members are allowed to play. Ouch. As you can imagine, the younger members are crushed -- particularly Claire. She clenches her fists, stomps her feet, and starts screaming "NOFE AIR NOFE AIR NOFE AIR". (The book typed it that way, not me.) I have to agree with her here. It was kind of mean to let the younger kids in on it when they weren't allowed to play. I mean, I guess it was easier for Kristy to tell them that way, but... I don't know, maybe she should have been a little more tactful. :I
Anyway, Mallory handles the tantrums, and Claire throws three more that afternoon. And...that's pretty much it.