Thoughts before reading:
I haven't read this before, and it really could go either way for me now. I don't know anything about it, so I don't have any expectations...but it is a Mary Anne book, so it could be either fine or extremely annoying.
I do like this cover though, haha. Looks like a pretty accurate depiction of babysitting to me!
The basics:
Mary Anne's been worrying lately that she's too self involved, so she's vowed to start putting the needs of others first. An opportunity to put this to the test arises when she takes the Arnold twins to visit the Stone farm. Mrs. Stone tells her she should meet another neighbor, Mrs. Towne, and check out her amazing sewing. Mary Anne calls Mrs. Towne, who's flattered by her interest. They agree to have tea together the next day, which goes really well. Mary Anne is fascinated by Mrs. T's work and all her sewing equipment. She asks for lessons, and Mrs. T happily agrees. When she arrives for her first lesson, however, she finds Mrs. T on the floor, weak. Mary Anne calls 911, and then her dad, who rushes right over. They follow the ambulance to the hospital, where they learn her ankle is broken. Mary Anne feels sorry for her, and in keeping with her new vow, decides to be as helpful to the older woman as possible.
Seeing all of Mrs. Towne's beautiful sewing work also inspires Mary Anne to start a sewing class for the BSC charges. Nicky, Vanessa, Buddy, Becca, Charlotte, and Haley sign up. Their first class is a success, and the kids decide to make a friendship quilt together as their class project. Mary Anne also takes them to visit Mrs. T. While there, she notices how messy her previously tidy house has become, and she does the dishes and tidies up for her.
Soon after, Mary Anne finally has her first lesson with Mrs. T. She also notices the state of the house getting worse. Mrs. T doesn't mention it, only asking Mary Anne if she minds putting away a bag of groceries for her. She does, and then does several other chores to help out. They decide to barter, sewing lessons in exchange for some help around the house. Mary Anne ends up really enjoying her sewing lessons, and starts to help Mrs. T more and more. Her friends suggest that maybe she's doing a little too much, but Mary Anne insists that she doesn't mind. She has been missing Logan though, now that she's so busy. They plan a fun day together: a picnic, hike, and bike ride. As they're getting ready to leave, Mrs. T calls needing help getting some items off a high shelf, plus she has a wasp in her house. Logan's annoyed, but Mary Anne insists they can just go by on their way, it will only take a few minutes. Of course, things spiral, and they end up spending most of the day there. He's not happy at all, and Mary Anne feels torn between the needs of her relationship and her promise to Mrs. T.
After Mrs. T ends up interrupting two BSC meetings in a row, Mary Anne starts to get angry herself. She tells her that she has other responsibilities and can't always come to her aid at a moment's notice. Mrs. T is very understanding, and admits she's mostly just been lonely.
The sewing lessons with the kids endure a few hiccups as well. Buddy and Nicky both end up quitting because other boys are teasing them about it. Claudia does step in as a helper though, and becomes interested in quilting herself. The remaining kids make a garden quilt, which the boys end up helping with at the last minute. They end up giving it to Mrs. T as a gift.
During this time, Dawn's been struggling with missing California more than ever. She tries to talk to Mary Anne about it, but she isn't very understanding, and instead tries to distract her from being homesick by talking a lot about other things. The girls do finally have a heart to heart about it, and Mary Anne realizes she's just scared that Dawn will want to leave. She promises Dawn that she'll listen to her better moving forward.
Timeline:
It's now summer break again, so I guess the last Logan book was outside the normal continuity? Who knows anymore...
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker
*Mary Anne has finally figured out that she's self centered! It only took her 66+ books...
*Dawn's thinking about California while listening to the Beach Boys...I can't decide if this is funny or sad.
*Needless to say, Mary Anne does a terrible job not being self involved, especially with Dawn. While Dawn is homesick for CA and trying to talk about how she's been feeling, Mary Anne just blabs on about Mrs. Towne, totally oblivious.
*This book refers to watching videos as "vidding out"? This was definitely NOT a real 90s thing. I never heard anyone say that before, haha.
*The cover scene does actually happen. The kids are the Arnold twins, making a mess at Mrs. Towne's while Mary Anne is attempting to clean up.
*I used to make mazes for my pet hamsters too, like the Pike kids do in here.
*Claudia wants to make a junk food quilt, haha. Big surprise.
Books mentioned:
*Nobody's Family Is Going To Change, by Louise Fitzhugh
*Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion
*Georgie's Halloween, by Robert Bright
*Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
My rating:
3.5 stars, pretty good for a Mary Anne book. This did a good job of presenting a realistic dilemma too. I really felt bad for Mrs. Towne and Mary Anne both in here.
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