#39: Poor Mallory!

 

Thoughts before reading:

This is one of my childhood favorites! I really related to Mallory in this book because I went through a lot of money struggles as a kid, and my dad lost his job several times too. During those times, I always got a lot of comfort from this book. My best friend growing up came from a rich family, which only added to the problems I felt. I remember often feeling just like Mallory looks on this cover, wondering why some kids live so differently and have things so much better.

I do still love this cover, too. Mallory looks just like a mopey preteen thinking about the unfairness of her life (haven't we all been there?). The kids are all adorable here too, especially considering how strange a lot of the kids featured on these book covers have looked...

The basics:

Mrs. Delaney (from Kristy's wealthy neighborhood) is taking a real estate class and needs a regular sitter for the next month, three times a week. Kristy takes the job, since she lives close by. She ends up giving the job to Mallory instead though, after Mal learns her father has lost his job. He was fired because his law firm wasn't doing well, not because of anything he did wrong. Despite this, he takes the loss very hard, and becomes grumpy and short tempered with his family. The kids aren't used to this, and become afraid of him. Mrs. Pike informs them that she will be going to work for a temp agency, and they will be doing without extras for awhile. Mallory will also be expected to babysit for free now.

Mallory wants to help her parents out by giving them her babysitting money, so she's extra grateful for the Delaney job. She quickly grows jealous of their super rich, spoiled kids though. They brag about their dad making a lot of money, and all the expensive things they have, like their fancy pool. It quickly becomes clear to Mallory that their "friends" are using them for their pool though, so she sets her feelings aside and helps them figure out who their real friends are. She has them tell other kids that they aren't allowed to swim when their parents aren't home anymore, and so they know the kids that come over anyway really want to play with them.

Right after losing his job, Mr. Pike spends most of his time searching for a new one. When he runs out of ideas of places to apply, however, he ends up lounging around the house instead. He spends his days eating, watching tv, and not paying any attention to his kids. He doesn't keep an eye on the little ones, or even make them lunch, until Mrs. Pike gets on his case. Only after she tells him that if she's working and he's home, then he should be doing what she used to do at home (obviously...) does he begin to cook, clean, get dressed, and take care of his own children. 

The Pike kids take on various odd jobs to try and help their parents, and come up with ideas for saving money. They continue to try to help out, despite being scared of their dad and being teased at school for being poor. Mal even ends up standing up to her bullies and getting them to stop. 

Mr. Pike ends up getting a new job for a place called Metro Works, as a lawyer. It will be lower pay than his old job, but things will mostly return to normal. The kids are all relieved. The BSC has a sleepover to celebrate, and they prank call Mal's bullies.

Timeline:

Spans at least over a month, but no idea about the time of year beyond the fact that it's nice enough out to go swimming. 

My thoughts:

I can't even properly describe how much I hate Mr. Pike in this book. It's sadly obvious from the beginning of this story how little time he spends with his children. He tells them that when their mom's at work, he's in charge and expects them to listen to him and behave. Even Mallory finds this little speech to be bizarre. He's their dad, why would he need to explain any of this to them? It's not like he's a babysitter.... Has he really never watched his own kids without his wife around before? How pathetic. It's also really cruel how he takes his feelings of inadequacy out on them, and his wife. He's even shitty to her about how she's working to help out! She just takes it too, and apologizes for him to the kids. I now wonder even more why these people had so many kids in the first place. Does this guy even LIKE kids? He has somehow had 8 of them without learning the basics of how to care for them. When he's home alone with Claire, he doesn't watch her, or make her meals, and even has a neighbor pick her up from kindergarten! Apparently he was just too busy watching tv to do any of these things himself. 

Growing up, my family was very similar to how the Pikes are in here, except all the time. We were always afraid of my dad, who always took his feelings out on us. He always treated our mom poorly, and she always apologized for him and just took it. When my dad was in charge of the younger kids, he didn't watch them at all, and just left them to make their own meals and do whatever they wanted. That's why I liked this book so much. I was actually jealous that the Pike kids didn't live that way all the time. This time around, I found this book kind of sad, and it was a little painful to read and remember some of those memories. 

Misc:

*Mrs. Prezzioso is pregnant with her second child.

*This book gave me the idea to start an odd job business when I was a kid. It was actually pretty successful in my neighborhood, even though my best friend's parents were the ones who mostly hired us. We made a fair amount of money, then consistently blew all of it on beanie babies, haha. 

Books mentioned:

*Superfudge, by Judy Blume

*Uncle Roland, the Perfect Guest, by Phyllis Green

My rating:

4 stars. This one was hard to rate, but it was a solid, entertaining read overall.