Thoughts before reading:
I know I read this at least once, but nothing about it stood out, because all I remember about this is the cover. It looks really familiar for some reason. Again though, this wasn't the type of BSC plot that would have appealed much to me.
The basics:
Claudia notices Mary Anne and Logan being sweet together and starts thinking about how much she wants a steady boyfriend of her own. She keeps daydreaming about it, and even makes a list of all the qualities her Mr. Perfect would have. Her and Stacey also chat about it, and Stacey tells her she thinks guys are intimidated by her, but she's unsure of the solution. Then the girls see a personal ad section in their magazine. They think it's a great idea, except for one problem: everyone in the ads is "old". This leads Stacey to suggest Claudia start a personals column at SMS. Claudia agrees to try it, and speaks to the editor of the school paper, who gives her the go-ahead. She'll have her own column called Claudia's Personals, replacing a pet care column.
Right away, tons of letters pour in for Claudia's Personals. She has her hands full sorting and editing them. (To help, Stacey introduces Claudia to spell check. It's about time!) One of the letters is from an angry boy named Sean, who's parents are divorcing. He's writing in to find other kids to talk to about it. She wants to help, and meets up with him to give him the number of the therapist Mary Anne used to see. There's also several letters from boys that sound like her Mr. Perfect that Claudia has her eye on. She responds to two ads herself.
The school paper becomes more popular than ever, thanks to the column. Each printing is running out in record time, and letters keep pouring in, so Claudia's granted more space in the paper. Stacey starts pitching in to help edit, because often times they still have to shorten the ads to make everything fit. This leads to a mix up where Mary Anne's message to Logan is confused with another ad, and Logan gets angry and refuses to speak to her for awhile. Claudia also starts match making people from the letters in a new column, Claudia Advises. It's insanely popular.
One of the guys Claudia writes to turns out to be Alan Gray. The other guy is named Brian Hall, who calls to ask her out. She's flattered, and agrees to a date. It turns out to be a flop though, as they have nothing in common, and struggle just to make conversation. She responds to another ad, which turns out to be from a boy named Richard, who goes to another school. They go out on a date, and it's an even bigger dud. Richard's obsessed with Claud being Asian, asking endless questions about it and stereotyping her. Next she dates a boy named Kurt, who's really dull. (He's the one from the cover pic.) She also tries putting her own ad in the paper, and receives a lot of unimpressive responses.
Eventually, Claudia gets a response she likes, but there's no phone number. After two letters from him, Stacey finally admits she wrote them herself, to try and make Claudia feel better. She thought knowing a perfect guy existed would cheer Claudia up about her lack of a love life. Stacey explains and apologizes in person; Claudia's angry and asks her to leave.
The girls make up a few days later, at a BSC meeting. Stacey admits what she did was dumb, and she doesn't blame Claudia for being mad. Everyone ends up laughing together, and all is forgiven. Claudia realizes she'll meet Mr. Right when it's time, and for now she has everything she needs to be happy.
For our side plot in here, Marnie's been having trouble with allergies lately, and it turns out she's allergic to pet dander. The Barretts will have to get rid of their beloved dog, Pow. Buddy and Suzi are heartbroken, and angry with Marnie, until the Pikes agree to take Pow. Now they can still see him all the time.
Timeline:
There's cold weather, so it's probably winter or fall.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn
*Claudia's hugging herself to see what it feels like "to be locked in a dreamy, romantic embrace with the boy of my dreams". LOL, oh to be a preteen again...
*It is about time poor Claudia gets some action! Even the 6th graders and closeted Kristy have had plenty. Too bad nothing works out for her... after Stacey she's the most boy crazy one, but she has no romantic luck at all.
*Claudia's list of qualities for her Mr. Perfect include: handsome, muscles, taller than her, extremely funny, athletic, sensitive, easy to talk to (a good listener), interesting (lots to say), artistic, a good dresser, good speller, not critical, crazy about her.
*Claudia says Mrs. Barrett is old because "she was at least thirty as far as I could tell" (pg 26). I'm pretty sure she's 34, which actually makes her a pretty young mom.
*Stacey and Claudia have a sleepover, which I thought was cute.
*Personal ads seem so dated now, with all the online dating options. It was funny to read a whole plot about them.
*Mallory's still sick, but able to be a bit more active.
*The error that made Logan angry? The ad "Fed up girl with a dud boyfriend looking to make a switch. I'm pretty, petite, and sweet." was supposed to be "Your kitten will love you furever." Claudia and Stacey accidently put her number with the former instead of the latter. This was actually pretty funny...
*I definitely remembered this column plot once I started reading. I think Sweet Valley Twins did something similar too.
*Claudia hates sushi.
*The scene where Buddy and Suzi leave Pow at the Pikes and Pow tries to leave with them broke my heart...
*Sean does see the therapist Claudia recommended and ends up feeling much better.
*I have no idea why Stacey thought responding to Claudia's ad was a good idea, but it is funny that she catfished her. 90s style, no less!
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
3 stars. This was a pretty average BSC read for me, but the message is a great one for young girls to be reading about.
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