#67: Dawn's Big Move

 

Thoughts before reading:

I read this as a kid, and back then I hated this storyline because I didn't understand why Dawn would ever want to move away from all her friends and her mom. Plus, I really liked Dawn and just didn't want her to leave. Now, I most definitely understand her decision, and the fact that she's wanted to go back to California for a long time. I think she was only holding out until her mom was settled and happy. Now that she has Richard, Dawn finally feels like she can do what's right for herself. 

The basics:

The Spier-Schafer family is having dinner together (tofu garden delight), and Richard mentions Run For Your Money, a charity event coming up, featuring various competitions they could enter as a family. Dawn's distracted because she can't stop thinking about her dad, Jeff, and California. Sharon tells her she can go visit for Thanksgiving, but Dawn's still bummed about how far away that is. 

The next day, the family is practicing for Run For Your Money, just goofing off and having a good time. Dawn still can't get into the spirit though, and she ends up blurting out that she wants to go home- not to visit, but to stay, for six months or so. Richard is understanding, but Sharon takes it personally (selfish as ever). 

Mary Anne advises Dawn that it's better to go than to be miserable and wondering what if, and she should try discussing it with her dad. She does, then her parents end up talking to each other for a long time. They spend the weekend working things out, and Sharon starts to be more understanding. By Monday, after checking with the schools about transferring her grades, it's decided that she can go. 

Dawn breaks the news to the rest of the BSC. Everyone's happy for her except for Kristy, who[s upset about the club being shorthanded. (Really unfair of her to make Dawn feel guilty about this...) Jessi's also taken a trip back to Oakley for a weekend, and she had a terrible time because everything was so different. Dawn worries that the same will happen to her, and wonders if she's making a mistake. 

After a wonderful weekend that includes a surprise Bon Voyage party and having a blast with her friends and family at the charity event, Dawn's even more confused about what to do. She makes a pro/con list, which comes out in favor of Stoneybrook, so Dawn announces that she's going to stay. Richard and Sharon gently explain to her the difference between following your head and your heart. A tough week follows, during which Dawn realizes her heart is telling her to go to California. Even Kristy ends up giving her blessing. The BSC girls give her a journal, and she starts her first entry on the plane, crying. 

Timeline:

It's early fall again.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis.

*Jamie Newton is STILL learning how to ride his bike. 

*Are frozen milky ways actually good? Sounds to me like they'd be really hard to bite into...

*Dawn believes in ESP. 

*Dawn's still super judgmental about Carol daring to act young when she's an ancient 32 year old. Someday she's going to feel very badly about this, haha...

*Mary Anne is actually decent and understanding in here! That was the biggest surprise in this book. First and only time so far that she was a class act. 

*Is Dawn getting this diary as a gift the origin point for the California Diaries series? I've never read any of them, but I'm considering it now. It would be fun to read everything associated with the BSC-verse.

*Dawn worries that no one in Stoneybrook will miss her, or that they secretly want her to leave. I remember having similar anxieties as a kid. 

*Sharon's parting words? "Let Daddy love you as much as I do." Hit me right in the feels, and I don't even like Sharon! 

*I'm looking forward to the books set in California now, and seeing more of Dawn's father. He strikes me as a really good dad.

Books mentioned:

*The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis

My rating:

3.5 stars. The charity event and the party planning took up most of the book, bogging down the otherwise emotional story. Dawn's decision and departure were well handled though, exploring the tough choice and it's consequences. I think divorced kids could find some comfort here. Also, I think everyone from her parents to friends handled her choice pretty well, and fairly. Sharon probably realizes by now that she created this bad situation, and these are the consequences of it.