Thoughts before reading:
I've never read this one before, but I'm looking forward to reading about my home state. Also can't wait for all the stereotypes! Let's just hope this is better than the other vacation/trip super specials have been so far.
This is a good cover, with everyone looking the way I would picture. I like the covers like these, that get little details right. Mary Anne is all covered up from the sun, as she would be. Stacey's wearing the tiny bikini we've heard mention of before. Kristy's up and active instead of lounging around.
The basics:
Apparently Claudia likes to play the lottery, even though this has never been mentioned before, and she's only 13 years old. There's a big jackpot coming up, so the BSC girls all agree to pool their money and play together, then split the winnings, if any. Their parents have no problem with this and buy them tickets. They end up matching all but 1 number and winning $10,000. Everyone decides to use it on a trip to California, since spring break is coming up. Dawn's father agrees to host everyone for 2 weeks. He'll be working the first week, but on vacation with them the second.
Everyone arrives in California excited, but really jet lagged. They decide to take it easy the first day, so they just hang out together, then go to meet Sunny and the We 💓 Kids Club. Kristy and Mary Anne both end up getting babysitting jobs, but Kristy is appalled by how informal their club is. She thinks hers is better, and that she knows a lot more about babysitting.
The next day, the girls go to the beach with Carol, Mr. Schafer's girlfriend, which Dawn isn't thrilled about. She's annoyed that Carol tries to act like their friend instead of an adult. Despite this, the day goes well. Stacey starts learning how to surf, and Claudia meets a smart boy named Terry that she likes.
Claudia thinks she's not smart enough for Terry though, and spends most of the trip trying to impress him. She tries to act more like him instead of being herself. She even accidently orders escargots when they go on a date to a fancy French restaurant. She chokes them all down, but then cries in embarrassment on the way home. Terry doesn't notice. Janine ends up giving Claudia good advice about being herself, because eventually he'd find out the real her anyway. She does, and ends up learning they have things in common after all.
Mary Anne babysits a few times for Stephie, a little girl who's a carbon copy of her. Stephie also has asthma, which MA is really paranoid about. She's afraid to let the little girl do anything at first, but ends up lightening up after Stephie has an asthma attack. Only then does Mary Anne see that it can be handled, and she is still a normal kid.
Jessi visits Derek Masters (child star, #27) on the set of his tv show, and gets chosen to be an extra. She starts thinking about trying to model or act again, but ultimately decides to stick with dancing.
Mallory goes to a beauty museum with Carol, then gets a makeover at the mall. She blows all of her lottery money on makeup she'll have to throw away after the trip anyway, since she's not allowed to wear it. Then she dyes her hair blond. Despite her new "California look", she still isn't chosen as an extra when she visits Derek's set. She mopes about this for a few days, then dyes her hair red again.
Kristy ends up sitting for two little boys, but ignores the We 💓 Kids Club's warnings about how wild they are. She takes them to Universal Studios to show she can handle them, but the warnings prove true. The boys are wild, and she spends the whole day chasing after them and stressing. This experience finally teaches her that other people besides her know how to babysit.
Stacey starts going to the beach to surf almost every day, with a group of older teenagers. The boy who always drives them is a crazy, reckless driver, and she ends up getting into a car accident. He's weaving in and out of traffic on the freeway, and hits another car. Stacey's only banged up, but she realizes how much worse things could have been. She owns up to her bad judgement to Mr. Schafer, and stops hanging out with her surfing friends.
Dawn begins to respect Carol more after Stacey's accident. She notices that Carol handles the situation like an adult, and insists that they call Mr. Schafer to tell him, instead of trying to just be their buddy. After a talk with her dad about it, she writes Carol a nice letter telling her.
The girls also do a lot of fun things together during their trip: Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, Hollywood, and Medieval Times.
Timeline:
Spring break, the first mentioned of 8th grade.
My thoughts:
I had so many problems with the premise of this book that I got off to a rough start reading it. It's just so hard to believe that some of the stricter parents were okay with their 13 year old daughters gambling. The Kishis really buy Claudia lottery tickets all the time? I just can't imagine that. The Ramseys, Mary Anne's dad, the Pikes, and Kristy's mom were also all fine with this? Also, even if they were, would those same parents allow their daughters to blow all of their winnings on one trip? Most parents would want at LEAST some of it in a college fund.
So, why use this stupid gimmick at all? A bunch of kids winning the lottery may be pure wish fulfillment, which is fun when you're a kid, but it's also just too ridiculous. What were the odds that they would have even won anything? Surely there was a better way to set up a trip. After all, it's been done several times before...
Once I got past all of this though, I was surprised by how much I actually liked this book. It's much more grounded and less silly than the other trip super specials. The problems presented here were so much more realistic, instead of silly filler things of the past, like meeting compulsive liars and playing spy games. Various characters deal with things like jealousy, body image issues, a divorced parent dating again, having a reckless friend, learning to be true to yourself while also not being afraid to try new things, and self esteem troubles. What a change from tiresome plotlines about haunted lodges or pointless bickering. That stuff doesn't go anywhere, whereas in here we get character growth, and young readers get stories they can actually relate to. There's also plenty of light fun to balance it out. As a kid I would have loved reading about the theme park visits, to name one.
Misc:
*Dawn eats chicken! What the hell...
*Why can't these kids ever just relax and take a vacation without babysitting?
*Dawn complains that Carol is too old to be their friend, and to act as young as she does, but then Stacey tells us she's 32! Ouch, Dawn, that hurts.
*Mallory is so much more shallow than I remember, even for an 11 year old. I get that she just has body image issues, but her issues with her appearance are just mentioned so much...
*I remember when Stacey's parents flipped out over her going to Sea City, and now they just let her go anywhere.
*The girls have almost no supervision in CA, which is a big part of why Stacey ends up in a car accident. You'd think at least one parent would have gone with them. None of their parents even know Mr. Schafer, and he's at work the whole first week anyway.
California stereotypes:
Actually, these weren't nearly as bad as I expected! I only found a few small ones:
*You won't end up as an extra just by being in the right place at the right time. Most Californians never have been one.
*The chances of seeing a celebrity are still very, VERY small.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
4 stars, this was actually good, for a Super Special.
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