Thoughts before reading:
This is actually one of the first BSC books I read, back when I first discovered them. Although I never owned my own copy, I remember being drawn to it at the library because of Karen being on the cover (I had only just moved from Little Sister to BSC, so she was something familiar and welcoming). I don't remember much of the plot anymore, but obviously I liked it, since I went on to become obsessed with the series!
The basics:
Kristy has what she calls the "softball blahs": she misses playing the game herself instead of just coaching it. Claudia tells her that the SMS girls team has tryouts coming up, but Kristy doesn't see how she could fit the team into her schedule. Stacey and Claud try to help by offering to take over coaching the Krushers during the SMS softball season. Kristy's skeptical of their ability to do this, but she really wants to try out, so she agrees. She does end up making the team, along with three other new girls: Bea, Dilys, and Tonya.
Several of the girls on the team waste no time telling the newbies that they have to pass an initiation to REALLY be a part of the team, though. The task they have in mind? Spray painting graffiti on the old equipment shed by the SMS track. Kristy and the other new girls refuse to do the hazing at first, but some of their teammates won't stop harassing them about it. It's not long before Kristy starts feeling so intimated that she's playing poorly. She really wants to stay on the team and do well, so she ends up agreeing to do the task.
On Friday night she tells Charlie she has a softball team party to go to, so he agrees to drive her to Bea's house. From there, the girls sneak to SMS and spray paint the shed. Afterwards, Tonya and Bea start smoking, and try to pressure Kristy to join in. She gets annoyed and leaves, and after a few minutes the other girls follow.
The next morning, Kristy hears on the radio that the shed burned down, and a neighborhood man tried to put out the fire himself, and ended up getting badly burned. He's now in the hospital in critical condition. Panicked, she calls Bea, Dilys, and Tonya to come over and discuss what to do. One of their teammates, Tallie, calls to warn them not to say anything. She also threatens that if they do, the rest of the team will deny everything. Kristy feels sick from the guilt, but doesn't know what to do. Remorse keeps weighing on her, until it's all she can think about.
SMS holds an assembly about the incident, which they already believe was started by students. Kristy wants to confess, but the other girls refuse. Then, after the assembly, she finds a note in her locker. It reads "I know what you did. I'm biding my time." It's followed shortly after by a blackmail note, threatening to tell unless she pays $50. Kristy shows the other three girls, who all admit they've gotten similar notes.
Kristy realizes the worst part of this whole situation is that she brought it on herself by letting other people talk her into doing something she didn't believe in. She copied others to fit in instead of being true to herself, and now she doesn't like herself at all (pg 106). It also doesn't help that Karen has been going through a phase where she's desperate to be 13, and she keeps trying to copy the older girls. Kristy's disheartened by what a poor role model she is.
Meanwhile, Stacey and Claudia have upheld their promise to take over coaching the Krushers, despite their lack of experience. Karen takes the opportunity to copy Stacey's outfits, and invites her boyfriend, Ricky Torres, to practice.
Word reaches Kristy that the boys baseball team was blamed for the fire, and their team was disbanded. Her guilt and bad mood reach an even lower point. After hearing this, and then a weekend where Karen follows her around and constantly imitates her, Kristy finally loses her patience. She tells Karen not to be in a hurry to grow up, and to just be herself. This also leads Kristy to realize she's going to hate herself forever until she confesses. She calls an emergency BSC meeting to tell her friends first. They are all supportive, comforting, and even offer to go with her to the principal. (These are the times I love their friendships!)
The morning that Kristy was set to confess, she's woken up by her clock radio. The news is on, announcing that a group of teenagers from SHS came forward and confessed to starting the fire. It wasn't the cigarettes the girls had after all.
Dilys admits that she wrote the notes herself to try and get everyone to confess.
Timeline:
Early spring
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker
*I'm surprised that Kristy never played school sports before this. It seems like something she'd always want to be a part of.
*Karen's mother calls for a sitter: a first for the series! I like her, just because she appears to be actually taking care of her own kids and spending time with them. Quite a rarity in Stoneybrook...
*Claudia calls being 13 being a grownup, hahaha! Just you wait, Claud. Once again though, I had the same mentality as a teenager. By 11, I thought I was an adult. Growing up reading these books probably didn't help, either.
*Despite the title and cover picture, Karen doesn't have a lot to do with this book. She doesn't actually appear at all until page 53, and it's with Mary Anne, not Kristy. Karen and Kristy aren't around each other at all until page 118.
*I was shocked by how dark this book was, especially for the younger BSC readers. No wonder it didn't stick with me. At 7-8, I was way too young to relate to a story about hazing and peer pressure.
*I did like the messages this book was trying to teach though, about being true to yourself and standing up for what you think is right.
*I do remember that this book, plus the DARE program, made me think that in junior high kids would be offering me cigarettes and beer left and right, haha.
*Even though she doesn't face any consequences for what role she did have in this situation, I felt really bad for Kristy. All she wanted was to play a sport she loves, and all of this happened instead.
*The cover scene never happens.
Books mentioned:
*Emma, by Jane Austen
My rating:
2.5 stars. Boring, with WAY too much softball for me. This book was pretty dark, and it got pretty real for a BSC book, which could have redeemed it. Instead, they used a last minute cop out that made it so Kristy was innocent of anything too serious. This had good things to say about peer pressure and hazing, but it would have been such a stronger story if it didn't bail the characters out of trouble. Kristy never had to actually confess to anything, or face any consequences. This kind of real scenario wouldn't have a perfect coincidence to swoop in and save you.
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