BSC: The Summer Before

I realized after my last post that I should start with this book instead of Kristy's Great Idea if I wanted to go in chronological order. I bought and read this a few years ago when I was on a nostalgia kick but had honestly forgotten about it until recently. 

This was published in 2010, so I was long past my childhood obsession with the books by then. I only discovered this book existed when I first got nostalgic years ago for my childhood favorite books and started collecting them. I think this was around the same time they started re-printing the BSC books with "modern" covers and changing things in the text, like VCRs to DVD players. I absolutely hate the new covers, and the fact that they changed the original text. What's wrong with a book being specific to the time it was written in? All the 80s and 90s culture is part of the fun, especially the awesome campy covers. 

This book covers the summer before Kristy, Mary Anne, Claudia and Stacey start 7th grade, starting with the last day of 6th grade and running right up to where Kristy's Great Idea begins. Despite the younger age of the characters, I thought this book was more mature and had better characterization than some of the others, either a reflection of the author's growth as a writer or the change in YA book market since the 80s. 

Like the Super Specials, this one switches through everyone's perspectives, something I always liked as a kid reading these. This addition to the franchise definitely adds some new depth to the original four characters and their families/backstories, as well as vividly capturing that feeling you get as a kid when school ends and you have the whole, long summer to look forward to.

During this summer, each girl is caught in that awkward place between being a little kid and being a teenager, feeling unsure where you fit in anymore. Claudia is starting to be interested in clothes, make up and boys. She has new friends, her first boyfriend, and feels distant from Kristy and Mary Anne for the first time. Kristy is trying to enjoy her vacation but struggling with her mother's new boyfriend (Watson, of course), and missing her father, who she rarely even hears from. Mary Anne is learning about her mother's past via some old things she found in her attic, while also trying to move forward into a new part of her life. This is challenged by her strict father, but she grows a lot over the summer, especially when she begins baby-sitting. Stacey has just finished a terrible 6th grade year, during which she learned she had diabetes after quite a few health struggles, and dealt with losing all of her friends. After several public incidents caused by her yet undiscovered diabetes, her best friend Laine turns on her, and she is bullied by most of her class. Her parents decide to move and give her a fresh start, and things have become so lonely at home she's relieved to leave. 

Overall, I gave this book 4.5 stars. I really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.