Thoughts before reading:
This book is a rarity: a Stacey book that I've never read before. The subject matter probably didn't interest me, so I think I just overlooked it. I'm not looking forward to this one still, because the storyline sounds super creepy. I have zero desire to read about a thirteen year old crushing on a twenty-two year old teacher. Ick, sounds like a way worse Boy Crazy Stacey book. Hopefully she doesn't go full on ridiculous like that over this guy. She's usually more mature than that, but when it comes to guys, not so much.
I wonder who this book was trying to appeal to? Eight year old's aren't going to be interested in someone falling for their teacher. Plus this strikes me as a tad racy for a BSC book.
The basics:
Mr. Zizmore, Stacey's math teacher, announces that a student teacher will be taking over their class for the last month of the school year. The class is disappointed, and so it Stacey, because Mr. Z is her favorite teacher. She's already been feeling down lately, because now that her mom works she always comes home to an empty house. It's been a really lonely experience. With the added news about her teacher, she sinks into a glum mood.
All of this changes when she walks into class and sees the student teacher, Mr. Wes Ellenburg. She thinks he looks just like Tom Cruise, and he's young, only twenty-two. Instantly she feels like she's in love. The day before, she had hated his nerdy sounding name. Now, it's making her think of romantic things, like a Victorian era village. (Yes, this is really what the book says! I couldn't make this stuff up...) He explains to the class that he's a senior in college and needs three weeks of student teaching to finish his BA.
Stacey sets about trying to impress him any way she can, and is encouraged when Wes asks her to stay after class to help him get organized. He even calls her a genius, because she's so great at math. Her staying late to help him becomes a regular thing, and she even helps out with his forms and grades. The second time she almost misses her BSC meeting, so he gives her a ride to Claudia's.
Sam calls to ask Stacey to the Spring Dance, and she turns him down because she thinks Wes might ask her. (Sigh. Now Sam and I both have broken hearts, and Stacey has lost all grip on reality.) She then writes Wes a love poem and gives it to him after class. He reads it awkwardly, tells her it's beautiful, then rushes off. To her disappointment, he never mentions the poem again, so Stacey decides to tell him how she feels directly. He's shocked to silence by her confession, and she finally realizes he never felt the same way and flees.
Wes ends up being one of the chaperones at the Spring Dance. He's never mentioned Stacey's confession again, which somehow gives her hope. She decides his problem must be that teachers can't date students, so at the dance she should be able to "draw him out". Stacey asks him to dance with her, which he agrees to. She has a blast until another student cuts in. Only after she later specifically seeks him out for a slow dance does he finally say they need to talk. Then he FINALLY explains to her that she's great, but only thirteen, which is much further from twenty-two than she realizes. She looks across the room at Sam, who could have been her date, and goes outside to cry.
Stacey tells Claudia about everything that happened at the dance, and they agree that sometimes love just hurts.
There's a fair amount happening with side plots in this book too. Mary Anne and Dawn's neighbors, the Stones, ask them to take care of their baby goat for three weeks while they're on vacation. (The Stones have a farm, and apparently Dawn and Mary Anne go over there often.) Both girls quickly fall for the little goat, Elvira. Everyone has a blast playing with her, and the neighborhood kids also love her. They even start bringing her on sitting jobs, where she predictably causes a lot of chaos.
Charlotte also has a crush in here, on a boy from school. She writes him a poem, which causes him to fall hopelessly in love with her. He starts writing her 3+ poems a day, then calling her to recite them. She has serious second thoughts about him now that he won't leave her alone.
Timeline:
It's late spring, the last month of the school year.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis
*Stacey loves lilacs.
*Stacey judging teachers she hasn't met yet by their names= so relatable. I definitely did this when I was in school.
*I have so many questions about the student teacher set up in here... Isn't the whole point of having a student teacher to have the actual teacher there too, to guide and observe? I had a few in school, and that's how it always was. 22 also seems really young to be doing this to me. Don't you usually have to get a BA, and then get a teaching certification?
*Stacey says that her and Sam have drifted apart in recent weeks... so is that all we're going to get, after all that? How lame. There's no scene, or closure, or anything.
*Stacey doesn't call LOVE "LUV" in here. Now I kind of miss it...
*Didn't we just have a Spring Dance in the last book?
*There's a funny scene where Stacey thinks Elvira is a human kid and is horrified when she hears Dawn and Mary Anne discussing things like leaving her in the barn, her needing to be constantly watched so she doesn't eat trash, etc.
*Mr. McGill went to Wesleyan.
*Stacey mentions that she dotted all her i's with hearts in her math notes, but she always does that in her writing.
*Stacey describes Wes as "drop-dead incredibly hunkified gorgeous", and plays with his name: "Wild Wes", "how the Wes was won". In other words, she 100% loses her mind over this guy, Scott-the-lifeguard style. It's both annoying and hilarious at the same time, and from my memories of being 13, very accurate.
*There's a rumor that Sabrina Bouvier went out with a teacher? This is very risque for the BSC-verse.
*Kristy and Mallory think dating someone as old as Wes is like dating someone your father or grandfather's age, LOL. It's gross, but I definitely wouldn't go that far.
*Stacey includes jokes in her math homework, so Wes won't think she's too serious. Wow.
*Charlotte's dad is an engineer.
*From my now adult POV, Wes doesn't sound like a remotely good teacher. He singles Stacey out to the whole class as having the one perfect homework paper, calls on her constantly, and always picks her to work out hard problems for the class. She's obviously really good at math; he should be picking everyone, not favoring one student who clearly doesn't need any extra help or practice. How's this going to make the other kids feel? Especially the ones who struggle in math...
*Stacey has a daydream that her and Wes are goat herds in the Alps. Yes, really.
*The scene where Mrs. Stone drops Elvira off is really cute. She gets all choked up about leaving her. I definitely relate to this pet owner struggle.
*The Newtons go to visit Mr. Newton's brother with Lucy, but they leave Jamie home with a sitter because he doesn't want to go. Who lets their four year old make choices like this? He's going to grow up thinking he runs the household.
*Stoneybrook has a university? I thought it was supposed to be a fairly small town...
*The whole BSC, including Claudia, clearly think Stacey's lost her mind.
*For those interested, here's the poem Stacey wrote for Wes. It's really...something.
"I see two stars in summer's night,
Hovering, lost in blinding light,
Each so dull in heaven's net,
So each remains, as yet unmet.
But Fortune moves in strangest ways,
It lengthens nights, it shortens days.
May this night end, and day begin
And bring two young people back again." (pg 94)
*I was SO hoping that Stacey giving Wes this poem would lead to a parent teacher conference, and a discussion of appropriate student/teacher boundaries. But of course, no such luck. He doesn't even talk to her about it.
*Despite Stacey's sheer insanity in here, I must admit she was really brave. Most adults have a hard time telling someone they have feelings for them to their face, the way she did in here.
*Sam attends the Spring Dance with another 8th grader? This seemed weird, since he had such a hard time with Stacey's age.
*The dance dates: Claudia and Austin Bentley, Mary Anne and Logan, and Mallory and Ben. Stacey, Jessi, Dawn, and Kristy go stag.
*Apparently tuxes make Stacey weak, and she thinks men were born to wear them. This girl is SO boy crazy for 13, it's overwhelming.
*Some wisdom from Charlotte: "Boys are just dumb. It's stupid to even think about them." Too true, girl.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
2.5 stars. Probably my least favorite Stacey book. This was honestly just an odd one.
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