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.
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