Thoughts before reading:
I read this one when I was a kid, just in passing though. I don't remember what I thought about it, so it clearly wasn't a favorite.
The way this series rotates the narrators is so random. We just had a Dawn book one book ago (a mystery), and recently in the regular series order as well. I'm not complaining, since I still enjoy her POV, I'm just curious how they decide.
The basics:
A feature writer from the Palo City Post calls the We Love Kids Club, wanting to write about them for her special feature on kids who run businesses. The girls all agree, thrilled by the idea. She comes over the next day, interviews each of them, and takes pictures to run with the article.
Once the article comes out, the local news wants to do a human interest story on them too. After their tv spot, business starts booming, and the girls get completely overwhelmed, especially since they were never very organized to begin with. Dawn calls the BSC girls to tell them about it too. Predictably, Kristy's really jealous, and tries to pitch the BSC to the local media outlets herself.
Dawn's also dealing with some big personal changes: her dad and Carol get engaged. She's upset by the news, and hurt because she thinks her dad should have waited until during her six months in Stoneybrook. Since he did this during her California stay, she assumes he must not care about spending time with her, and decides she wants to return to Stoneybrook ASAP. Around her family she tries to hide that she's upset, while in secret she makes plans to leave. She writes her dad a note saying goodbye, and uses his credit card number to buy herself a plane ticket. Then she leaves for school, fakes sick to her friends, then returns home after her dad's left for work and takes a cab to LAX. Dawn actually pulls all of this off, not feeling guilty at all until she's already on the flight to Connecticut.
When the plane lands, Sharon's waiting for her, beyond furious. She's already booked Dawn a return flight for the next day. In the meantime, she takes her home, where Dawn spends her partial Stoneybrook day talking to Mary Anne non-stop.
Once Dawn is BACK in California, she talks things out with Carol and her dad, but things remain tense at home after her little stunt. Dawn feels guiltier, realizing how bad she made everyone, but especially Carol, feel.
Carol and her dad end up breaking off the engagement and ending things, although we aren't told exactly why, just that they had been arguing and Dawn's departure had brought some issues to light. Dawn feels bad and promises herself that she'll deal maturely with these issues in the future.
After numerous scheduling errors, the We Love Kids Club decides to have regular meeting times and actually keep track of their schedules.
Timeline:
It's winter still.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis.
*This book actually says all the things the other books have said about California are a stereotyped idea of California life. I guess they've seen the error of their ways, haha?
*Sharon's farmhouse in Stoneybrook was built in 1795, according to this book. Is that right? I could have sworn another book said a different year, but I don't know which one to check this far into the series...
*Dawn's grossed out by the mere idea of baking a cake with Stephie, a sitting charge, because of all the sugar in it... This is way overkill on the healthy eating thing.
*Jeff now wants to be a stand up comedian.
*This is one of those BSC books that makes you hungry. The vegetable chimichangas mentioned multiple times sound amazing!
*Apparently Sunny's parents have friends who named their kids Vernal Equinox and Lunar Eclipse.
*Logan calls Dawn "Runs With Squirrels", LOL.
*Dawn and Stephie have gotten really close, and in here Stephie gets clingy too. She accidently calls Dawn "Mommy" once, and she writes a story about her.
*Stephie likes to look at an old school picture of her mom (who died when she was little) and make believe that they're talking. Ugh, my heart!
*Dawn's dad proposed to Carol in a coffee shop, which seemed weird to me. Was it just spur of the moment then? Not a very romantic location...
*Dawn's behavior in here was beyond obnoxious and bratty (it's literally a cross-country tantrum!), but... it's about what I'd expect from a thirteen year old too. Minus the credit card, which is just straight up stealing, however she justifies it. I never knew Dawn was so devious.
*Also, does Dawn know that taking unnecessary plane trips is really bad for the environment?
*I have so many questions about how Dawn got away with this scheme too. Didn't anyone at that airline need to see an adult, or an ID? Or confirm the credit card? Anything at all??
*I get that Sharon was furious, and she had good reason, but she also hasn't seen her daughter in months. WHY does she not spend the mere hours Dawn is home with her, discussing the Carol situation, her feelings, etc? Instead she does nothing and barely even talks to her about it.
*Based on Dawn's eating in here, I think she's a pescatarian, although I have no idea why they can't just tell us that.
*If Dawn's actions caused Carol and her dad to break up, it couldn't have been the strongest relationship though. It definitely doesn't sound like they are ready to get married.
Books mentioned:
*Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
My rating:
3 stars. This was a quick read, full of some good angst. It's another weirdly titled one though, as it's not really about the club at all, other than the beginning. The larger family plot was a lot more impactful. This cover picture was a weird choice too. A carefree pool picture REALLY doesn't match the book's tone.
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