#52: Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies

 

Thoughts before reading:

I've never read this one before, but I'm interested in the egg baby plot because I also had to do that in 8th grade. (Do kids still have to do that, I wonder?) Mary Anne and Logan will probably be REALLY annoying, but this idea is still potentially entertaining. At least it's something new. 

The babies on this cover look really creepy, but I think this is one of Mary Anne's better covers. I love her outfit, it's perfect for the early 90s, and she looks just like how I picture her. She could look a little younger though. 


The basics:

The 8th graders at SMS are taking a new Modern Living class. The teacher has them pair up and get "married", so Mary Anne of course pairs with Logan. Right off the bat, they are shocked by how much things cost, and realize they can't afford to be financially independent. They decide instead to "live" in Mary Anne's bedroom. The class couples are then all given egg babies to take care of for a month. Mary Anne and Logan name theirs Samantha. For the assignment, they have to pretend it's a real baby, keeping it with them at all times.

Mary Anne takes her project very seriously, leading to all sorts of problems. She gets upset with Logan for hogging her. She takes Samantha on her babysitting jobs, and becomes overwhelmed by having the extra "baby" to care for. Logan and Mary Anne take her with them to the movies, and have a terrible time trying to juggle her with their food (even though they could have easily just set her on the floor for a second). Then she briefly loses the egg because she rolls under her theater seat. After that they start fighting for real, because Logan doesn't trust her with Samantha anymore. 

Meanwhile, Mary Anne is babysitting for Ricky and Rose a lot (new clients from the baby care class). Being around them makes her and Dawn start to wish their parents would have a baby. Richard and Sharon tell the girls that they are happy with how things are, and they do not want a baby at all. Mary Anne's still obsessed, even doodling baby name ideas. After some disastrous sitting jobs with Ricky, Rose and Samantha, including one where she has to call Dawn for help, she changes her mind though. Ultimately her and Dawn decide their parents are too old to deal with a baby (LOL...). 

Timeline:

It's spring, because we're told the weather is warm and there are "new leaves in the air". 


My thoughts:

This book was entertaining, but it was also really damn annoying. These kids are SUCH goody goodies that it doesn't give real kids much to relate to. They take the egg project so seriously, stressing out about how to take care of the egg while doing other things, and having to take it all kinds of difficult places. What 13 year old would really get so obsessed with an egg baby, or a homework assignment for that matter? Who wouldn't just leave it at home if they weren't in school, around their teachers? That's what everyone really does, and of course the teachers must realize that. All the problems in here were pretend problems that just wouldn't happen. They should have had the class using the crying dolls instead, so these scenarios could be a little more relatable. All this being said, I did enjoy seeing the characters in a new situation, and some of the discussions that thinking about the future brought up. 

I did love that Stacey pointed out to Mary Anne how overboard she was acting about her egg project, especially since at one point, she's literally crying over not spending enough time with her "daughter". Stacey was still doing the project honestly and carrying her egg around everywhere, but she had the good sense to recall it's all PRETEND. 

Misc:

*This opens right into backstory, ick. Chapter 2 is bleeding into Chapter 1 more and more, as the explanations grow out of control...

*First mention of the Shillaber twins in forever, and apparently they now have a baby brother.

*Mary Anne and Dawn talk about how weird Modern Living class is, but how so? At my school we had a life skills class that sounds really similar. Isn't it actually one of the most practical, useful classes? Egg babies aside, of course.

*Mrs. Salem and her twins, Ricky and Rose, are from the infant care class. Good continuity! 

*The Modern Living teacher tells the class that they are biologically capable of becoming parents! Wow, I think this is the first mention of sex in the bsc-verse, even though it's still not direct. 

*Why does this book have Shawna Riverson making the dumbest possible comments, like not knowing what a condiment is? I thought she was a straight A student?

*A few of the boys have to pair up, and everyone wonders who will be the wife and who's the husband. Probably realistic for the time, but really painful reading here in 2021.

*Rent for 2 bedroom apartments in Connecticut in 1992 was $2,000?? That seems really steep, California apartments are around that much now, almost 30 years later...

*Mary Anne likes the names Tara, Bea, Charity, and Will. Yawn. 

*As far as I know, this stage of being baby obsessed is really common. I went through one at 13 also, and doing the egg/doll project actually made me more interested, not less. I had names picked out and everything.

*Kristy's married to Alan Gray, with an egg son named Izzy. She takes him to her babysitting job at the Papadakises' and he gets temporarily lost. 

*I definitely relate to Mary Anne's excitement over getting catalogues in the mail, although I was a lot younger when I found that thrilling, haha.

*Stacey's egg son is named Bobby, and she's married to Austin Bentley.

*New BSC clients mentioned in here, the Gianellis. 

*When Stacey was 5 she was terrified of pigeons. Is this a NYC thing?

*Taking care of her egg baby gives Stacey more empathy for her single mom, and she decides to wait until she's "really old" to have a baby.

*Dawn marries Aaron Albright, and they have an egg son named Skip. Dawn also likes the name Douglas.

*There's a lesson in this book about enjoying being a kid and waiting to have the responsibilities of kids, marriages, and money. This doesn't seem like it's going to be of much use to your average elementary school aged reader, though, haha. 

*Sex ed is also mentioned in here! 

*All the girls say they want kids, but not until they're at least 25. Mallory wants to have 8. Jessi wants a daughter named Mary Rose.

Books mentioned:

*The Telltale Heart, by Edgar Allan Poe (Mary Anne's English class is reading it)

My rating:

4 stars. I really like these school themed ones, and I did as a kid too. They are a bit more realistic, in the sense that they deal with some age appropriate aspects of growing up, and some things BSC readers will later face.