Thoughts before reading:
I remember reading this towards the end of my BSC phase, because I was all into the relationship drama in here by then. This time around though, I can't muster up much enthusiasm for reading this one. I can't stand Mary Anne or Logan anymore, so a whole book of them fighting and being even more horrible sounds like torture. I'm sure this is going to be a really irritating one.
Not much going on with this cover, but I guess they look appropriately sappy, based on things we've heard about their relationship. The tagline on this one is good though, perfect preteen drama lead-in. I have no doubt that the BSC did think Mary Anne and Logan would get married. Based on how I remember viewing relationships at thirteen, that's completely accurate thinking.
The basics:
We start off with Mary Anne complaining that Logan's been pushy lately, and recounting some of their fights from past books. (It's a little disjointed though, since at the times of all those fights she easily forgave him and didn't mention them again until now.) While she's thinking, Logan calls and tries to get her to blow off her baby-sitting job that day to go to a movie instead. She refuses, citing the fact that she's already made a commitment to sit. Logan's annoyed, and he proceeds to call her repeatedly during the job. He then makes plans for a date for them to go on, without asking her for any input.
A few days later, Mary Anne is enjoying a rare free afternoon with no homework and a quiet house. She's happily reading by the fire when Logan drops by unannounced. He insists that they go to the park, and has a whole afternoon's worth of activities planned there. She doesn't really want to go at first, but rallies and gets into the spirit. Her easy-going attitude fades when she gets tired and cold though, at which point Logan gets huffy and takes her back home.
Logan's pushiness continues to be a pattern. He takes Mary Anne on another bad date, where he orders for her, and they end up arguing over which movie to see. They end up going home early instead of seeing anything. Her dad notices, and comments that she's probably spending too much time with Logan lately. To his surprise, she agrees, and decides to tell Logan she needs some space to think. Logan doesn't say much, although he's clearly not in agreement. It's decided that they will take a few weeks off to cool down. Mary Anne cries, even though this is what she wanted, mostly due to remembering how their relationship used to be.
Mary Anne continues to be miserable during the separation, and is unsure if it was the right decision. Things get worse after Logan calls for a sitter on Valentine's Day. He's going out that night and his brother and sister requested Mary Anne as their sitter. She swallows her feelings and agrees to the job, then spends most of her time obsessing over him getting a new girlfriend. It's not long before she's come up with a whole imaginary girl she pictures him with, a girl named Olivia who's super out-going and the opposite of herself.
In side plot news, Mrs. Prezzioso is expecting her new baby very soon, and Jenny is upset about not being an only child anymore. Her mom's trying to make her excited about the baby by bribing her with new stuff. Mr. P is also throwing his wife a surprise baby shower, and the BSC girls are helping out with that and with watching Jenny.
When Mary Anne shows up for the job at Logan's, he surprises her with a corsage and a candlelight dinner. He's eager to heat up their relationship again, showering her with gifts and the fancy evening to impress her. She's not ready to get serious again, but now she feels guilty and doesn't protest.
Mrs. Prezzioso has her baby, Andrea, and Jenny falls for her instantly when they meet. Mary Anne witnesses this sweet moment and starts thinking about all the different kinds of love, and how important it is to be understanding of those you love. She realizes Logan isn't understanding of her anymore, even though he used to be (very true). He now expects her to always be available to him, like he owns her, and he wants everything his own way. None of this is what she wants from a relationship though. Even though she's quiet, she has her own feelings and opinions, as well as a full life apart from him.
Mary Anne calls Logan to come meet her in person, and she finally breaks up with him, explaining that she's just not happy anymore.
Timeline:
It's now randomly winter. It's snowy out for the whole book, and the first mentioned Valentine's Day of 8th grade takes place.
My thoughts:
This was actually a lot better than I expected! Mary Anne wasn't bad in here at all, and I actually had some sympathy for her situation. The things she's going through with Logan are realistic, and useful things for young female readers to learn and think about before they get older and may face similar situations. Mary Anne was a good role model in here, for the most part. She stood up for herself, and really thought about her own values and what was important to her. I was proud of her for breaking up with Logan, FINALLY, when she realized she wasn't getting what she needed from the relationship. A lot of girls stay in bad or unhappy situations simply because they remember the good times from the beginning of the relationship, expecting it to suddenly be like that again at any time. Some stay simply because it could be much worse, and there are no huge problems. I liked that this book is teaching girls not to settle for any unhappiness, or to compromise their own importance to be in a relationship. It's also important for them to see that relationships change over time, people can change, and love can fade.
Logan is terrible in this book, but he also has been for awhile. I've mentioned specific incidents as they've happened, and my past thoughts on him being really selfish and controlling. That all comes to a head in here, as he stamps all over Mary Anne's feelings and opinions like they don't matter at all. He doesn't respect any of her boundaries, and even suddenly expects her to drop her babysitting jobs for him (he's in the freaking club, he knows that isn't how it works). If someone doesn't respect the fact that you have a life outside of them, full of other commitments, as well as feelings, opinions, and needs of your own, then they don't respect you, period. Logan is alarmingly controlling in here. Although I do like how it was handled, I'm very disappointed that him and Mary Anne will be getting back together. Hopefully he'll be making some big changes first. Based on his character so far, I can just picture him being a domineering boyfriend in high school, a douchebag frat boy in college, and a controlling, emotionally abusive husband later on.
The sibling rivalry side plot was out of place in here, although well done on it's own. Mrs. P was giving me creepy vibes though. She apparently bought Jenny a doll, and makes her practice putting real diapers on it, burping it, and giving it bottles every day? What the hell? It's like some weird sort of big sister boot camp drills. Jenny is only 4. This is NOT the way to make her excited about a little sibling. I'm also still finding it weird that BSC clients always need the girls to help them with things like baby showers and kid's birthday parties though. Don't ANY of these people have adult friends or family members? Grandparents? Anything?
Misc:
*Mary Anne lies to us right off the bat in here by saying she didn't help search for Dawn and Claudia during SS #4 because she didn't want to get sunburned?? That's the first time she's used that excuse. The real reason at the time was because she felt "too guilty" after fighting with Dawn.
*First mention of Stacey being a brittle diabetic.
*A client family called the Ohdners is mentioned for the first time, although the girls already know who they are. We aren't told who their kids are though, or even their names.
*I can definitely relate to the pain of blissfully enjoying solitary reading time and then having someone pushy interrupt it and not understand. It's a terrible feeling.
*Karen Brewer is fighting with her "husband" Ricky about a girl named Pamela in their class. I so remember this exact plot from the Little Sister books! This is really the first time one of those storylines have overlapped in the BSC books. You can tell the LS books must have been popular by this point.
*When Mary Anne and Logan are fighting over which movie to see, Logan is pulling for Halloween 3. How would they have even seen that though? It's rated R, I double checked. Even if Mary Anne liked horror movies, Logan must know she'd never sneak into one.
*MA mentions that Logan used to feed her off his fork in the cafeteria at lunch?? Gross, they sound like the most annoying couple ever to be around. The BSC girls are probably secretly glad they broke up...
*Everyone hates sitting for Jenny, because they all think she's such a big brat. She really isn't that bad though, even in this book.
Books mentioned:
*Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
*To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
*The Dead Bird, by Margaret Wise Brown (yes, this is real. I was surprised too.)
My rating:
3.5 stars, a pleasant surprise...at least until Mary Anne Misses Logan, ugh.
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