Thoughts before reading:
According to the old checklist of BSC books I kept from childhood, I read this book at some point. I don't remember anything about it though. So far in my re-read, I liked one of the Sea City books and disliked one, so we'll see about this. I'm also still a little down on the BSC after Mystery #9, honestly. What a mess.
The basics:
The Pikes are taking their annual summer trip to Sea City. Jessi's going with them as a mother's helper this time, and Stacey's doing likewise for the Barretts. As far as other summer plans go, Claudia has to attend summer school in July, Dawn and Mary Anne are running a mini-camp for BSC clients, and Logan's working at the Rosebud Café part-time. A week after the Pikes, Barretts, Jessi and Stacey leave, the rest of the BSC will be coming to join them. Logan's also coming to visit for a weekend. Alex writes to Mary Anne to tell her that he and Toby will also be in Sea City again as mother's helpers. Stacey's not pleased with this news, since Toby dumped her last time (in #34).
Shortly after arriving, Mallory sees Stacey talking to Toby, and is surprised that she didn't remember how cute he is. She talks to him for a bit after Stacey gives him the cold shoulder, and Mal's flattered that he seems to like her. When she mentions this to Stacey, she warns her that Toby talks a good game, but is likely to end up breaking her heart. Mal gets angry and fires back that she's probably just jealous. Her and Stacey don't speak for most of the trip, but Toby does end up asking her out.
Stacey's also feeling weird about not being with the Pikes on this trip, even though she's staying next door with the Barretts. It doesn't help that Mrs. B is driving her crazy: she's a nervous, angry driver, and she's completely scattered and unorganized about everything. Between dealing with her and being angry that Toby dumped her and is now going after her friend, she's having a rough time.
The Krushers team is short due to so many kids being on vacations, so Kristy starts going door to door in her neighborhood to try and recruit temporary players. Her makeshift team has to play one game, which they lose, 34-1. The one run was Gabbie, the two and a half year old.
Dawn and Mary Anne end their mini-camp with a big sleepover for the kids, camping out in the barn. Claudia finishes her class, and makes some new friends during it. They then leave for Sea City with Kristy, Logan, and Mr. Dewitt (Mrs. Barrett's boyfriend).
Not long after everyone arrives, Sea City is hit by Hurricane Bill. The Pike family and the BSC members get stuck because the causeway (to leave the strip of land that forms Sea City) gets flooded. Along with many others, they aren't able to evacuate, and take shelter in the elementary school instead. A scary night for everyone follows, but the damage ends up not being too bad. Everyone returns to their vacation homes the next day, even though there's still no power.
Mal's date with Toby rolls around, which she's been really looking forward to. She gets ready for it, but then starts to miss Ben Hobart and feel guilty (but only after Claudia mentions him does she even think about him at all). Mal calls Ben, they have a great talk, and she decides not to go on her date. Toby tells her to "let him know if she comes back next summer and knows of any cute, unattached girls". (Wtf?)
Stacey apologizes to Mal and admits she was jealous. Back home, Toby writes to Mal and asks for Jessi's phone number.
Timeline:
End of July, beginning of August. This is already the 4th summer since 8th grade began in #10.
Misc. thoughts:
*This was hard to summarize, because the plots were a bit all over the place, even for a super special. A lot of the characters didn't really have a storyline at all.
*Is it weird that I could relate to the heath vs. skor bars taste test? This is the kind of dumb stuff I did as a kid.
*I feel like it should be weird that Mary Anne and Alex still write to each other, but because of the time loop, who knows how long it's actually been?
*Shannon's going to drama camp for the summer, and will be in Annie.
*Claudia thinks that teachers make summer school terrible as revenge for the fact that they have to work during the summer. She forgets that they probably need the paycheck.
*It was nice to see Claudia make some new friends in her remedial math class. She does miss out on attending a party with them though, since it was during her Sea City trip.
*Sea City has a new restaurant called Weiner's Wieners.
*Mallory is really judgmental in here, thinking "typical Stacey. She would find the guys right away", then thinking meanly about the whole Scott the lifeguard debacle. All just because Stacey's talking to the guys, jeez.
*Mal was also really quick to get mean and nasty with Stacey when she tried to warn her about Toby. I'm sure she honestly believed that Stacey was just jealous, but she vastly overreacts. Based on Stacey's POV chapters, she's honestly concerned and angry that Toby would toy with an 11 year old. Which is not unreasonable, because Toby is 14. That is pretty disgusting. He's only a year younger than Sam, and look at all the problems that caused for him and Stacey. Dawn is also concerned, so it's not like everyone else is on board and Stacey's the only upset one.
*It's mentioned that Mary Anne and Dawn watched Elvira for a few days recently, but it was actually 3 weeks.
*Kristy calls two of her temporary players "moon shaped" because they are overweight. Not very nice, and definitely fat shaming. Apparently she also still doesn't know any of her neighbors very well.
*This book had a way better set up than I was expecting. I thought all the girls would be in Sea City the whole time, or all working as babysitters. This scenario where they had separate things going on, but went to visit Sea City for a bit, was much better. It does avoid ever giving a specific reason that everyone is coming though, such as which family actually invited all of them.
*Dawn invents a girlfriend for Jared Mullray in a ghost story for the mini-camp. She's actually a pretty decent storyteller.
*Sam's at camp as a counselor for the summer.
*Stacey says "somehow Kristy had devised a way to convince the grown-ups to take the kids for a half hour". As in, to get the parents to watch their own kids and spend time with them for a mere 30 minutes. I wish it would be acknowledged in the books how ridiculous this really is. I mean, Stacey is sincerely impressed that Kristy's able to arrange it.
*There's an actual hilarious line after Logan returns home from Sea City. Mary Anne starts blubbering. Kristy hands her a Kleenex, which she promptly soaks through, so then she hands her a beach towel.
*Speaking of, WHAT is with Stacey and towels when she's in Sea City? This is the second book where she's been mad about something while there and freaked out over towels. She's mad about Mallory and Toby in here, so she gets really passive aggressive with Dawn about towels, plans, her snack...it was honestly pretty funny. She does also get bitchy with Mal, but apologizes- which Mal never does, despite the fact that she got shitty first.
*Logan's jealous of Alex, and frustrated by his busboy job, so he's also having a rough time in here.
*What does putting masking tape on windows during a hurricane do?
*I was actually a bit emotional about the hurricane, until the super random Karen POV chapter broke up the action in Sea City...
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis
Books mentioned:
*The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss
*The Golden Key, by George MacDonald
My rating:
3.5 stars, very entertaining. This is my second favorite of the Sea City books now, after #8. Also, not bad for a super special.
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