Thoughts before reading:
I read this book numerous times as a kid and loved it. I can't remember exactly what I liked so much about it, other than that it was a Mallory book. There is some kind of carnival in here that I liked reading about, and even tried to mimic at one point for my younger siblings. This book also actually taught me what mono was, and had me worried about catching it. I was always wary of water fountains after reading this, and avoided them for a long time in elementary school, haha.
The basics:
Mrs. Pike apparently has cousins in NYC, and they want the Pike family to come visit for Thanksgiving. They even have tickets for everyone to see the Macy's parade. All the kids are thrilled to hear the news, and start really looking forward to the trip.
Mallory still hasn't been feeling well, however. She ends up completely missing out on Halloween: she's so tired that she sleeps right through it. By a few days later, her temperature has soared to 103 degrees, and she's doing even worse. Her mom takes her back to the doctor, who runs a blood test. When the results come in, they finally find out she has mononucleosis. Mal's mortified to learn that mono's called the kissing disease, especially since she's never even kissed anyone! That doesn't stop her brothers from teasing her about it though, and she hears that kids at school are even teasing Ben.
Mal's parents explain to her that mono can take weeks or months to recover from, and it hits some people harder than others. She appears to be one of those, so even after she feels well enough to return to school, there will be no extra activities and no BSC for quite awhile. Mal is heartbroken at the thought of giving up the club, and reluctantly calls Kristy and Jessi to share the news. The BSC decides they don't want to replace Mal, so they make her an honorary member for the time being. Despite being touched by the gesture, Mal decides that by the time she's better, her BSC friends will hate her because of all the extra work they'll have had to do in her absence. Since they won't let her quit, she thinks the solution is to get kicked out.
During this time, the rest of the BSC members have been working on making Thanksgiving goody baskets for the residents of Stoneybrook manor, complete with a little carnival there. When Jessi sends Mal a note listing things she can do to help them from her bed, Mal puts her plan into motion by refusing to do any of them. Her little sisters are shocked. Mal also stops calling her friends back and acts cold and rude when they come to visit her. Luckily for Mal, the other girls realize what she's trying to do and call her out on it, telling her they need her to stay in the club.
Feeling much better about her friendships, Mal starts doing what she can to help from home. Everyone else gets busy fundraising, and Vanessa comes up with the idea to have a "promises campaign": offering people a promise to do something, like a chore, in exchange for money up front. It's a success, and the BSC is able to hold their carnival at SB manor, and make nice gift baskets for everyone, as planned. They also bring a mini version of the carnival and a basket to Mal.
The Pikes cancel their NYC trip due to Mal's mono, and all the kids are crushed. The family does end up enjoying a nice holiday at home together though, and Mal feels well enough to be up and out of bed for the day. The BSC stops by for dessert, and Dawn even calls.
At the end, Kristy and Claudia make up a new holiday BSC flier and show it to Mal. She tells them to leave her name off, because she has no idea when she'll be able to re-join the BSC.
Timeline:
Begins on October 30th, and goes through the end of November and the beginning of snowfall.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner
*Where were these NYC Pike cousins during the Super Special where the whole BSC was there? Seems like Mal would have visited or stayed with them instead of with Laine, who most of them barely knew.
*Jessi acts surprised that Mal is sick and exhausted in here, even though she has been for two books prior to this.
*Mono is a gland disease, and the only treatment is rest. Too much activity can actually damage your spleen. The rest needed can range from 1-4 weeks generally, but longer for some people. It's called the kissing disease because mostly teenagers get it.
*Mal misses so much school that she's worried she'll be stuck in 6th grade forever. I think this is a wink wink from the ghostwriters?
*Even when she's sick with mono, Mal's parents leave her to babysit Margo and Claire! Gee, this seems like a safe decision...
*One of the soaps Mal starts watching is called Young Doctors in Love, haha! Sounds about right.
*I remember being so jealous of the Thanksgiving carnival in this book that I tried to make my own, complete with booths made out of cardboard boxes from Costco. Not a big success.
*Were the Pikes really going to take all their kids on a trip to NYC with NO mother's helpers?! I didn't know they had it in them...
*Instead of Costco, they have Cost-Club.
*Mrs. Pike is randomly referred to as "Mother" once (pg 115). It sounded really awkward and out of place.
*The scene where the BSC girls visit Mal and bring her a small version of their carnival was really cute. I also liked the Cost-Club shopping trip scene. It was just a fun one to read about, like going to Target without any crowds.
Books mentioned:
*Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White
*The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame
*The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams
*Lucy Berky and the Thanksgiving Turkey (Sadly, this appears to be fictional. I can't find it anywhere.)
4 stars. I was really surprised by how much of this I remembered, and I was loving all the nostalgia. The story was well done, and the side plot was really sweet, much better than most. I felt really sorry for Mal though...this poor kid really does have the worst life ever.
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