Mystery #3: Mallory and the Ghost Cat

 

Thoughts before reading:

This was one of my favorite BSC mysteries when I was a kid, but I don't remember anything about it anymore, even though I know I read it quite a few times back in the day. For awhile it was also part of my collection, although I did eventually trade it in for new titles. This book was just the kind of very mild spooky story I used to love, before I got into R. L. Stine and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. 

I like this cover too. It's simple, but looks like a good ghost story scene. Perfect fodder for a rainy weekend afternoon when you're eight years old.

The basics:

The Pike family receives the news that Mr. Pike's Uncle Joe is coming to stay with them for a month or so, until he moves into a new nursing home. He's been living in one for awhile, but is taking a little break in between to visit with the family. Everyone is excited, because their father has told them a lot of stories about how much fun he had with Uncle Joe when he was a boy. The kids help clean the house, prepare a room, and make a banner for his arrival. When he finally comes though, they are all quickly disappointed. He's very standoffish and seems uninterested in any of the kids, basically sitting around all day and ignoring everyone. When Claudia comes over to babysit, he's even mean to her, very at odds with the warm, funny man from Mr. Pike's stories.

Meanwhile, the BSC gets a call from some new clients who are friends with Kristy's mom, the Craines. They have three daughters, Margaret, Sophie, and Katie, who will be needing a temporary regular sitter. Mallory takes the job. She likes the girls and the first job goes smoothly, but she keeps hearing a cat meowing the whole time, even though the kids tell her they don't have any pets. Her second time there, they all hear the meowing and decide to search the house. After they don't end up finding anything, Margaret starts to worry that it's a ghost. Even Mal ends up spooked as the afternoon wears on, until Margaret mentions to her that they have an attic. They search it, and sure enough, there's a little white cat hiding inside. (It looks like he was able to get in the house by climbing a tree outside and slipping through the rafters.) The girls give him food and decide to place an ad in the paper to see if he has an owner.

Ghost Cat, as the girls take to calling him, is thriving, but still hides all over the house. During one such afternoon where Mal is helping them look for him again, they find a hat box of old letters in the attic. Mal starts reading them to the girls, and the gist of the story they contain is: a man named Kennedy Graham used to live in the Craine house, and he wrote the letters to his nephew, Samuel. In them he mentions finding and taking in a small white cat. He loved and pampered it, until its sudden death of a "wasting disease". Afterward, Kennedy was never the same, and for the rest of his life he was tormented by a meowing sound coming from the attic. 

Mallory starts to wonder if the cat they found is actually the ghost of Kennedy's cat. She invites Dawn over to ghost hunt on her next babysitting job for the Craines. After running a bunch of "tests", Dawn determines that he's a real cat. Right after, a rude man calls the house and says the cat is his, but he's out of town for two more days, then he will come pick up his cat, Rasputin. On the day he's coming, Mal is sitting for the girls again, and they are playing around giving the cat an IQ test when they hear meowing coming from elsewhere in the house. Then Rasputin's owner promptly turns up, and Mal is shocked to see he looks just like the picture of Kennedy from one of the letters, right down to a scar under his eye.

The Craines end up getting a cat of their own from the shelter. This one is also white, with blue eyes, and is deaf. The girls tell Mal they've never heard any meowing from the attic since Rasputin left.

Back at the Pike house, Margo surprises Mal by feeling bad for Uncle Joe, because he seems so sad. Mallory realizes she hasn't even thought about his point of view on the situation. By this time she's also noticed that he roams around the house randomly a lot, and keeps collections of strange objects, like foil balls and pop tops. Once, he roams into a neighbor's house and falls asleep on their couch. He also forgets the time of day, and where things go. 

It's confirmed that Uncle Joe has Alzheimer's, and he ends up having to return to the nursing home early. On his last day with them, Mal has her siblings each draw a picture of the family for a contest, so they can give the winning one to Uncle Joe. She notices only Nicky includes him in his drawing, and declares him the winner. When she goes to tell Nicky, she finds him sitting on Uncle Joe's lap, watching a magic trick. Mal's amazed by the sweet scene. Uncle Joe tells her he's sorry for being so quiet the past few weeks, but he has a hard time being around so many people. 

After moving in to Stoneybrook Manor, the Pikes all go visit Uncle Joe. He seems much happier and at ease there. 

Timeline:

Spans a few weeks, but the time of year isn't made clear. School is in session though.

My thoughts:

This book was fairly entertaining, and probably still one of the better mysteries (we'll see though...). I have mixed feelings about the ghost cat storyline, but at least it was something different, and the kind of mild ghost story kids definitely love. This was also the second time there has been unexplained supernatural events, the first being in #35, Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook. So, I think it's safe to say that ghosts exist in the BSC-verse? Karen's not so crazy after all...

Mallory says in here that she takes care of her siblings so much that she feels like a mother. I 100% understand that feeling from my own childhood. I'm really surprised that she still likes babysitting, and wants to do it for fun. I don't think it will last very long though. She probably just likes the variety of watching other kids besides hers, and feeling like an adult. Those are the reasons I did other babysitting, although I was older than 11 when other people left their children with me, of course. I can also relate to her frustration at being given a lot of responsibilities, but otherwise treated like a kid. Even looking at it from an adult perspective now, I think that's a confusing double standard to give to a kid.

I was shocked to read that the first time Mal sits for the Craines, her dad gives her a ride and walks her up to the door so he can meet them, because they are new clients. Actual parenting! Where has this been for the last 50+ books?! It's mentioned in here that Kristy told them before that this is always a good idea, but it's never been done before or mentioned to the reader. Sounds like a big safety retcon to me, probably done in response to criticism from the parents of young readers. Either way, it was nice to see this finally done.

I also had a lot of sympathy for Uncle Joe, although I doubt I would have as a kid. He's old, tired, and not doing particularly well, then he gets dropped into a house with eight young kids. Since the Pike kids don't receive much supervision and are always running wild, this has to be even more jarring. It's not his job to entertain the kids, and he probably doesn't have a lot of energy either. I do think this was a good way to teach kids empathy for the elderly though, which is something very difficult to understand when you are young and bursting with energy all the time. The explanation of Alzheimer's was also a nice touch. All the topics in this storyline were well handled. Even though this was the side plot, it overshadowed the main, random ghost cat storyline.

Misc:

*Mallory's favorite vegetable is an artichoke. Jordan doesn't like waffles. (We get lots of Pike family meals in here.)

*In the early books, we were told that Mal had brown hair, but now she says it's red and the rest of her family has brown.

*Apparently sometimes Mal and Jessi pretend they're horses?! Wow, that's hilarious. I used to pretend to be a My Little Pony...when I was around 6-7. Could we please get a scene of them doing this, and being caught by another BSC member??

*Mal worries that the Craine girls' aunt is going to offer her a beer, just because she rides a motorcycle, LOL! Not only is this hilarious, I think it's also the first mention of alcohol in the series! Gotta cross that one off my list of things that I thought didn't exist in the BSC-verse.

*Kristy doesn't like cats. Is this because of Boo-Boo, haha?

*Since when does Mrs. Pike have a part-time job, and what is it? Or do they mean her temping? 

*Dawn owns a meter that "tests for the presence of ectoplasm"! She sent away for it after seeing an ad in a Ghostly Tales comic. This is SO something I would have done as a kid!

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles

Books mentioned:

*Mal's reading A Wrinkle In Time

*Angelina Ballerina, by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig

My rating:

3.5 stars, an entertaining read, and not bad for a mystery.

#51: Stacey's Ex-Best Friend

 

Thoughts before reading:

This is another one of the group of BSC books I read over and over for comfort growing up. I LOVED this book so much, mainly since I had this exact same problem happen to me during my BSC reading years. We were younger than Stacey and Laine, but my childhood best friend and I also drifted apart, then abruptly stopped being BFFs. By 5th-6th grade, she had outgrown me: gotten snobby, made "cool" new friends, become boy crazy, and gotten really into hair, makeup and clothes. I was still dorky, shy, and bookish. This book really helped me during that time, and made me feel so much less alone. I'd reach for it whenever we were having problems, and when we finally, inevitably, went our separate ways, this book helped me get over it and move on. It's one of those books to me that will always define a specific part of my personal history. So, obviously really hoping it holds up decently well now!

The basics:

Stacey's chatting with Laine on the phone, and listening to her talk about her new fifteen year old boyfriend, King. Laine mentions she has a week off school coming up, and several good options for how to spend it. Stacey begs her to come to Stoneybrook, telling her about all the fun they could have. She seems a little hesitant at first, but then agrees. Both girls get permission for the plan, and Stacey is beyond excited. She runs around fixing things up for Laine, and hiding things she thinks are too babyish.

The first night of Laine's visit, the girls throw a BSC sleepover. Laine seems really unimpressed with it, and with Stoneybrook in general, but she does end up having fun. Also, since Stacey doesn't have the week off school, Laine goes with her for a day. She finds SMS equally unimpressive though, and she acts like she's too good for everything, even the boys. Pete Black clearly likes her, and Stacey tries to convince Laine to go with him to the Valentine's Dance the following weekend. After Pete ends up asking her, she agrees to go, but then later makes fun of him on the phone to King. Stacey overhears and starts getting angry.

The rest of the BSC is also planning to attend the dance, but that week everyone starts fighting with their dates and worrying that it's because the dance is on a Friday the 13th. Bart apparently wants to watch a game on tv instead of going at all, so Kristy's mad at him. Mary Anne is mad at Logan because he wants to dance...at the dance. (They usually always dance together at dances, despite what she says here.)

Laine also attends a BSC meeting, which she finds boring (I don't blame her there). She informs Stacey that she got a "real" summer job. Stacey's also getting more and more annoyed with her, because she's calling everything immature, and insisting on calling her Anastasia. Despite this though, Stacey keeps trying and making the choice to be mature and rational. (Another reason Stacey's awesome.)

By Friday, when the dance rolls around, things are a wreck and only getting worse. Laine makes fun of everything about the event, including Pete. Stacey finally loses her patience when Laine turns down a dance with Pete, hurting his feelings in the process, then immediately accepts a dance with someone else. When Stacey confronts her and calls her out on acting snide and superior to everyone else, Laine says she wants to go back to NYC that night. 

Stacey calls her mom to pick them up early, after apologizing to Pete, and her own date, Austin Bentley. When Mrs. McGill arrives, she tries to mediate between them. Laine really just wants to leave though, so she gives in and calls her mom. Mrs. Cummings blames Stacey, which we can tell just from the one side of the conversation Stacey hears. The moms also end up arguing, and Laine goes home on the late train. 

In the morning, Stacey starts calling people to apologize for Laine. Her and Claudia discuss how much she's changed, into a completely different, unkind person. Stacey's anger begins to fade into sadness, because her and Laine were friends for over eight years, sharing a lot of memories. She also realizes that not everyone makes up after fighting, sometimes fights are just the end. In this case, she has no interest in being friends with this version of Laine, and realizes the friendship is really over. She writes Laine a letter about how she's feeling after all this.

Timeline:

Only spans about a week, the week of Valentine's Day. This is the second one of 8th grade so far.

I'm wondering now if they are going to start going through time in order again?

My thoughts:

Obviously this wasn't going to be as ground breaking as I once found it, but I can definitely see how this appealed to kid me. I loved how Stacey and Laine didn't make up, or even talk after Laine left early on bad terms. It's so much more realistic this way, since a lot of friendships end when you're this young. This isn't a story about a fight, it's really about a friendship ending, which is so much more important and helpful. Almost any kid reading this is going to have gone through something similar, and I'm sure most won't get a happy ending. It's really painful and hard to lose friends, particularly the first time. Not feeling alone really helps.

Stacey was really the mature one in here, and she impressed me again with how she handled things. Even when the visit was turning very ugly, she was actively reminding herself to keep trying, and to cut Laine slack. She also had some good insights into how this experience feels, that I still agree with now: mainly, the pain of losing all the memories, and all the time you shared together.

I was also really surprised that Laine even agreed to go on this trip. She knew Stacey wasn't even on a break, so she'd have quite a bit of alone time in a place where she doesn't know anyone. Plus, she has to leave King for a week, and one of her vacation options was spending time with him. It definitely sounded like he was also on a break from school.

There was a weird mention in here of Claudia bringing a rag doll to Stacey's house for a sleepover? I'd love to know when, why, and exactly HOW this happened, because I can't picture it at all. There was so much made of the fact that Mary Anne and Kristy still played with dolls up until 7th grade, but Claudia was too mature for that. It's mentioned a lot in the early books. I know she didn't bring it to Stacey's to play with, but this still needed a quick explanation.

Misc:

*At one point Stacey mentions the effects of global warming. I didn't know people were concerned about this in 1992.

*Jessi goes to the dance with Curtis Shaller, a 7th grader.

*Stacey hiding stuff before Laine comes over? I also used to do this.

*I am really loving Stacey's mom post-divorce. She's fun but also firm, and you can tell how much she loves her daughter.

*Stacey has a hair ornament made of shoelaces! I also had one of those in the 90s!

*Claudia thinks Ron Belkis is cute, but he's only in 7th grade. I think she actually dates him later on, when they put her back in 7th grade for awhile.

*Laine calls King Heart and he calls her Babe, LOL. These kids...

*Mallory and Ben get into a fight in this book...over the card catalog?? They definitely win for stupidest fight ever...I'd love to know how this even happened.

*Kristy cancels the Friday BSC meeting because of the dance? This definitely does not sound like her.

*We learn that Stacey bought a clown on a home shopping show? I love that under her "sophisticated" exterior she's got a dorky side. 

Books mentioned:

*The Clue of the Tapping Heels (Nancy Drew)

*Laine is reading A Summer of Diamonds. Unfortunately this appears to be fictional, but her summary of it is fantastic. 

*Mrs. McGill is reading The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan

*Stacey's reading Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell

My rating:

3.5 stars, kind of slow, but there's some good stuff in here.

The BSC...Where Are They Now?

 

To celebrate hitting book #50 in the regular series, I wanted to post something different, just for fun. Not to mention, when you're reading so many of these books, you start to think about things like this. Years ago, I read Sweet Valley Confidential, and like many others, I absolutely hated it. The idea got me thinking about the BSC though, and wishing something similar would be released for them. Since it never has, I want to come up with my own.

Now, to be clear, I'm far from the first blogger to come up with this idea. I've seen these on quite a few other blogs. The ones I've come across weren't very serious though, they were more dark and snarky. It doesn't really bring me any type of amusement to imagine my beloved childhood characters dying in car accidents or having multiple abortions. I want to write one that my eight year old self would approve of. Is it also wish fulfilment? Most definitely. We could all use some of that, especially this year.

Some of the younger characters I feel like we don't know enough about to really speculate on how they will end up. If that changes in later books, I might update this. For now, this is what I came up with.

Kristy Thomas:

*Continues a babysitting business through high school, even though she has to find almost all new members when her original club  moves on to new things. Also keeps busy playing several sports and coaching kids.

*After graduation, she goes to a local college while living at home. She remains involved in sports, various clubs, coaching, and of course, still babysitting to earn her own money. While in college, she decides coaching is her main passion, and gets her teaching credentials. 

*When she finishes college, she gets a job coaching and teaching PE at SHS. She also coaches little league and works at the Boys and Girls Club during the summers.

*She remains living in Stoneybrook, but only remains close with Mary Anne and Stacey from the former BSC.

*She dates only boys until her late 20s, when she finally figures out her sexuality. After some internal struggle and a slow coming out, she begins dating women. Suddenly everything makes much more sense to her, as there is a world of difference in how it makes her feel. (Her entire family is very supportive and happy for her. Most of them already knew she was gay long ago.) The coming out process is also helped by her free spirited step-sister, Karen (more on this later!). 

*In her late 30s she gets married to a divorced single mom with one child, a three year old son. She's a restaurant manager, a great mom, as well as serious, quiet, and a great listener. The marriage is a happy one. Kristy doesn't have any other kids of her own, but is a wonderful stepmom, and a devoted aunt (see below!). She babysits for her nieces and nephews whenever she can.

Mary Anne Spier:

*Only original BSC member to remain in the club with Kristy in high school. She dates quite a bit, all long term relationships, but never gets back together with Logan.

*Goes to college in NYC, her dream. She attends NYU with Stacey, and they remain close. During her junior year she studies abroad in London. Her major is English, and she also decides to get a teaching credential. Student teaching is a disaster for her though, and she ultimately decides littler kids are her passion, and becomes a preschool teacher.

*In her early 30s she marries the single father of one of her former students. He's divorced, with two young children. Mary Anne wants to have children right away, but they end up struggling for years with infertility. Instead they adopt two children together, both as newborns. 

*She remains on the East Coast, but travels a lot with her family. Her father Richard also moves after his retirement so he can be close to her and her children. (He's a wonderful and attentive grandpa.)

*Mary Anne also remains lifelong friends with Kristy and Stacey, but keeps in touch with everyone in the former BSC. She never misses a Christmas card or a birthday. Her and Dawn are not very close as adults, although they of course remain family.

*When all her children are grown, she fills her empty nest with cats.

Claudia Kishi:

*Quits the BSC after 8th grade, but still babysits on her own occasionally. Instead she keeps busy in high school with dating and her art. She wins numerous art prizes, and studies abroad in Italy the summer after her junior year at SHS. Despite her artistic successes in high school though, she's never a professional artist. (Sorry, but that's almost impossible to do!)

*Academically, she struggles even more in high school, and has to repeat 10th grade. After graduation, she enrolls in community college, where she's FINALLY diagnosed with a learning disability that went undetected during her years in grade school. From there, she's able to get specialized help and graduate college, even though it takes her much longer than 4 years.

*She quickly learns it's nearly impossible to make a living as an artist, and gets a job teaching art to 8th graders at SMS. Her students adore her, and she's one of the most popular teachers. She also loves the job, so she remains in Stoneybrook.

*In her late 20s she marries another local, and they have two daughters. They end up divorcing while the girls are still young, and she's a single mom for many years, before settling into a second marriage later in life. 

*In her free time, she teaches art at the Stoneybrook Community Center, and runs a very popular Etsy store. One of her daughters is also very artistic. 

*She lets her kids eat, wear, and read anything they want.

Stacey McGill:

*Also leaves the BSC after 8th grade, but unlike the others who do, she doesn't do much babysitting afterwards. Instead she enjoys spending her years at SHS trying new things, traveling, making new friends, and dating. During the summers, she works at Bellair's to make her own money. When she's 15 she starts dating Sam Thomas again, more seriously this time. By then the age difference doesn't matter. They break up towards the end of her senior year, after a pregnancy scare leads her to realize all she wants to do before getting really serious with someone.

*For college she moves back to NYC and attends NYU, majoring in fashion. That ultimately doesn't turn into a career, but she finds some success doing interior design instead. She also gets to travel quite a bit, mostly with her dad during the summers. Her and her mom are still very close, so she's constantly visiting Stoneybrook.

*After college she reconnects with Sam while she's back in Stoneybrook for a BSC reunion (organized by Kristy, of course). This time they make it work and marry young, 24 and 26, respectively. Stacey's the first BSC alum to get married. 

*Sam goes back to school after the wedding, and gets a job working for Watson's company. They live in NYC, and have three very well dressed children. Stacey continues working in interior design, and does volunteer work helping the city's homeless. 

*Stacey's lifelong friends with Claudia and Mary Anne. She also remains close to Kristy, who is now family, and very involved with her nieces and nephew. She drifts apart from the others though. Her mom ends up moving back to the city to be with her daughter and grandchildren. 

Dawn Schafer:

*She remains in California for high school, doing a lot of extracurriculars and some babysitting. During her high school summers, she returns to Stoneybrook to visit her mom. On these trips she always sees the other former BSC girls, but as time goes on they drift apart. 

*After high school she opts out of college, and finds work in restaurants while searching for her passion. 

*She gets pregnant in her early 20s, during this period of searching. Her boyfriend is too young to deal with it, and isn't involved. She becomes a single mom, as well as the first BSC alum to become a parent. Her father and Jeff help out a lot with her son though, and she lives at home with them for many years.

*Eventually she decides she needs a fresh start, and moves to San Diego. There, she opens her own vegan restaurant. It's a modest success, and she enjoys the work, especially spreading the word about healthy eating. (Her son is also raised vegetarian.)

*Dawn never marries or finds "the one", but has several serious relationships, and a lot of friends. She also does volunteer work, rescues strays, and refuses to drive or own a car. After saving enough money, she buys a tiny house and has an organic vegetable garden.

*After she retires, she teaches an adult education class about global warming.

*She never gets to live close by her mom again. Sharon remains with Richard, and they live out on the East Coast, close to Mary Anne's family. Dawn usually sees them only once a year. Her and Mary Anne aren't very close as adults either, although Dawn is the maid of honor in her wedding. 

Mallory Pike:

*By high school, Mal starts rebelling from her parents, who she feels never let her do anything. She ends up messing up her high school grades, but she's still smart enough that they aren't terrible. Tired of her parents nagging her about her wasted potential, she skips college and tries to make it as a writer without going. 

*This doesn't go very well, and by her early 20s she's reconciled with her parents, is back living at home, and attending night school to graduate with a creative writing degree. During the days, she works as a barista. 

*Eventually gets her BA and ends up doing freelance editing work, lots of textbooks mainly. She keeps writing off and on but never gets anything published. (Her sister Vanessa does however, making family reunions a bit strained.)

*Relocates to LA, and later Portland, Oregon, where she marries and divorces. She never has any kids of her own...she feels like she's already raised 7. Plus she has tons of nieces and nephews to spoil, because all the other Pike kids except Jordan have children.

*Continues dating, but decides to never marry again.

*She does get contact lenses for awhile, but never gets that nose job.

Jessi Ramsey:

*Keeps doing ballet through high school, and also participates in the SHS dance team. Remains a perfectionist, doing a lot of extracurriculars and getting straight As. She does mostly stop babysitting though, due to her busy schedule. 

*After graduation she goes to Georgetown, the only BSC alum to attend an ivy league school. She devotes herself to academics there and mostly gives up ballet, because of her demanding course schedule. Following some searching for her passion, she decides to major in law.

*Once she earns her degree, she begins working an entry level job in DC, ultimately becoming a campaign manager.

*She marries in her mid 20s, and has a daughter, but the marriage doesn't work out. After a stint as a single mom, she ultimately remarries and has another child, a boy. Her second husband also has three children from another marriage. Both of her children take dance classes.

Karen Brewer:

(No, unlike a lot of BSC re-readers, I do not hate Karen. I read the Little Sister books before the BSC ones, and she was my first beloved book character ever. Is she annoying to me now? Yes. Because she's a seven year old kid, and I'm not anymore. Otherwise, I find nothing wrong with her at all.)

*Remains interested in storytelling, and ends up going to a small liberal arts college in Rhode Island, where she majors in English, tries out tons of new extracurriculars, and dabbles in Wicca. She also comes out as bisexual her sophomore year, and dates around a lot, just having fun.

*After college, she remains on the East Coast to be near her family. In her late 20s she marries a man and has four kids. Finally, she gets to be in a loud, busy household full time.

*Works in a library, and starts seriously writing while her children are small. She gets published after a few years of trying, and ultimately becomes a wildly successful author of spooky book series for children. Her main book series are Shivers & Spooks, Campfire Nights, and The Coven, as well as numerous spin-offs. Eventually she outsells R. L. Stine.

*She repeatedly tries to get a paranormal tv show to investigate her father's mansion, but without success until she's famous. When they finally agree to do an episode, there are numerous strange occurrences recorded on the third floor. 

*Despite some hard times, she works hard to make her marriage a success, so that her children never have to be two-twos. 

Charlie Thomas:

*Marries young and becomes the kind, responsible, hard working father that he never had himself. 

*Remains in Connecticut with his wife, moving to another small town. There, he works as a mechanic, and eventually owns his own place. 

*Has five children of his own, and is a good uncle to all his nieces and nephews, as well as always being there when one of his siblings needs him. 

Janine Kishi:

*Mellows out during college, when her interests also expand a great deal. She attends Princeton, and earns a degree in computer science.

*Works doing freelance computer science for various companies.

*Marries in her early 30s, and has one child. 

*Her and Claudia are very close as adults, getting together often. 

Whew, that's all for now! When I get further in the series I will add Abby, Logan, and probably a few others. I also wanted to do Andrew Brewer and David Michael Thomas, but we don't really know a lot about them.