Thoughts before reading:
Never read this one before, but it actually sounds pretty good! Looks like we will finally see some things we never have in this series before: possible good parenting decisions, an ADULT babysitter, a realistic, responsible situation, and one of the BSC members treated like the kid they actually are! I can't wait for that last part especially. Plus, in the last book, I liked Aunt Cecelia. We aren't supposed to, but she was completely right about everything that happened in SS#4. She's already a way better and more practical adult than any of the parents in Stoneybrook.
Jessi looks like such a brat on this cover, with her angry, "how dare you tell me what to do when I'm 11" face, haha. Becca looks both worried and amused, the way siblings get when someone other than them is in trouble. Squirt looks like he's eating and sleeping at the same time. Love the outfits though.
The basics:
Mrs. Ramsey gets a full time job in advertising, for the first time since she had Jessi. Aunt Cecelia, Mr. Ramsey's strict older sister, will be moving in to help out. Becca and Jessi are upset, because they can't stand their stuffy aunt. Before she even arrives, they make a list of mean pranks to play on her so she will decide not to stay.
Things get off to a rough start right when Aunt Cecelia arrives. She brings too many things with her (because she's been recently widowed and doesn't want to leave her family's things behind), so the girls resent her for invading their space and taking over the house. Right from the beginning, she also sets rules and boundaries for them, instead of letting them have free reign all over town like they are used to. The girls feel like she doesn't trust them, as she orders them around about basic things like their hair and clothing too. Jessi starts pulling her revenge pranks, such as short sheeting the bed, putting shaving cream in her slippers, and rubber spiders in her bed. Aunt Cecelia never mentions the pranks.
Stoneybrook Elementary is having a science fair around this same time, and naturally the BSC becomes involved. Jessi convinces Jackie Rodowsky to enter, because he wants to make a volcano and impress the boys in his class. She basically ends up taking over the entire project though, doing everything her own way, and not listening to Jackie at all. A few other BSC members help siblings or charges, but they all stay out of actually doing the work.
The situation at Jessi's house gets worse after she's 10 minutes late getting home from Jackie's house and doesn't call. Her aunt makes her stay home from that day's BSC meeting as punishment. Jessi resents her all the more. By this point she's already been calling her Aunt Dictator. Stacey points out to Jessi that talking to her parents about all of this would be a lot nicer than playing mean tricks, but of course, she still doesn't say anything to them.
The science fair arrives, and most of the BSC attends. Jackie's volcano erupts impressively, but he can't answer any of the judge's questions since Jessi did all the work for him. He doesn't end up winning as a result, and gets understandably angry with her. (Charlotte Johanssen wins third place, for her project where she played music to plants to see how it affected their growth.) Jessi feels bad, and finally admits how she took over because she didn't trust Jackie to do it right.
After learning this lesson, Jessi finally talks to her parents. They listen to her with concern, and then call for a family meeting with Aunt Cecelia and the kids. Once they explain that they trust Jessi and Becca, therefore allowing them a lot of responsibility, Aunt Cecelia explains that she just wanted to show she cared by helping them grow up kind, responsible, neat, and polite. Everything is cleared up immediately. A few days later, Aunt Cecelia pranks the girls back, and they laugh over it together. Jessi tears up her list of mean prank ideas.
Timeline:
There's absolutely nothing to go on in here. The events seemed to span at least a few weeks though.
My thoughts:
This wasn't as good as I'd hoped, unfortunately. It seemed like they didn't have a fully fleshed out idea of where to go with the Aunt Cecelia storyline, because most of this book was filler. There was so much time spent on the science fair, especially the volcano project. I know it was to eventually make Jessi realize she was doing to Jackie what Cecelia was doing to her, but it took up more of the book than her problems with her family. We also got back-to-back babysitting chapters a few times, one of my least favorite things. Up to page 48, we'd had almost nothing but recap and babysitting chapters, which was brutal. My main takeaway from this book was just how boring it was.
The conflict with Aunt Cecelia and Jessi had real potential to be a learning experience for her about numerous things, such as how she really does still have a long way to go before she's an adult., or that she needs to respect adults more. Of course, none of that happens. Her parents side with her in the end, and she gets all her freedoms back without consequences. What bothered me way more though, was just how pointless all of this was. She could have solved all of her problems right away if she had just told her parents. I found it hard to believe both her and Becca would have kept quiet so long, for no reason.
As far as the actual struggle between Jessi and Aunt Cecelia, I would have sided with Jessi as a kid, but I sympathized with both sides now. It makes sense that Jessi is so upset, when she's used to being treated like an adult. She's not one though, and this is her parents fault for giving her this mindset. I wasn't allowed to go wherever I wanted at her age, or do most of what she does. Most 11 year olds would also still have a babysitter, and this isn't a bad thing for Jessi either. She's a kid, she should be having her own life full of friends and activities. Otherwise she'd be stuck home after school every day, taking care of the younger kids, cooking, and cleaning? Would she really prefer that? Apparently none of that occurs to her though. She also doesn't help her own case by acting really immature about the situation. Instead of communicating, she handles her problems by pulling mean pranks.
On Aunt Cecelia's side, yes, she is way too strict on the girls when it comes to things like their appearance or diet. They are too old to need someone telling them how to do their hair, or dress. However, Aunt Cecelia appears to come from a sincere place, where she really just wants the best for the girls. She's older, her children are grown, and her husband has passed away. I definitely got the feeling that she raised her kids in this same manner, and genuinely feels it was the best way. I also think she was just extra concerned about the girls after SS#4's events. I definitely would have been! She doesn't mention the pranks to the girls' parents, even. Then when everything comes out and the family sits down to talk, she's more than receptive to adjusting her ways. I really enjoyed her pulling revenge pranks on Jessi and Becca too, instead of them being punished. Aunt Cecelia does have a sense of humor! She's just been through a lot of sad life changes lately, like losing her husband.
Misc:
*It made sense that the Ramseys will need help if they both work full time, especially with Squirt, but Mr. Ramsey says they won't have time to shop, cook, or take care of the house either? All working parents have to do those things...
*Jessi still hangs a Keep Out sign on her door. But she's too mature to need a babysitter...
*Kristy takes ROLL call at a BSC meeting? I wonder when this started??
*Aunt Cecelia and Mr. Ramsey must have a big age difference, if her kids are grown and her husband has passed away? Either that or he just had kids later in life, and is much older than the other BSC parents.
*Kristy decides she might want to be a teacher.
*The BSC girls, other than Jessi, stay out of the science fair projects because they learned a lesson from the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant. Character growth!
*Mallory mentions her dad's job might be in trouble, setting up an upcoming storyline.
*It was nice to finally side with one of the adults. I thought that would happen a lot more during this re-read, but most of the adults are terrible.
Books mentioned:
*Hardy Boys series
*Bobbsey Twins series
My rating:
2.5 stars, really dull, another one to skip.
No comments:
Post a Comment