Thoughts before reading:
This is one of the few Mallory books I never read growing up, which is too bad, because I probably would have liked this one quite a bit, since it's about books and authors. When I was around my BSC age I also wanted to be a writer, which was part of why I liked Mal so much. I used to write "novels" all the time.
It's been quite awhile since we had a Mallory book... this is her first one since Get Well Soon Mallory, back when she got mono.
I really like this cover, especially the fall scenery. Makes Stoneybrook look really cozy, the way I like to imagine it.
The basics:
Mal's just read a new book, Alice Anderson (fictional), and she absolutely loved it. She decides to write to the author, Henrietta Hayes, to tell her how much the book meant to her. Once done, she mails it to her publisher.
The 6th graders have also just been given an English assignment to do some type of creative writing that relates to their dream career. With the BSC's help, Jessi decides to write a book of stories of famous ballets. Mal wants to write a play featuring kids, and see if the Kids Club will perform it for her. (This is the club Danielle, Becca, and various other charges are in, that does charity projects.) When Mal pitches her idea, the teachers at SES in charge of the club are hesitant, until she says they could use the experience to put on plays to entertain people in nursing homes and hospitals. She hits another roadblock when her own English teacher tells her it's not involved enough, because she won't learn anything new from this project.
When Mal gets a generic fan letter in reply to the one she sent Henrietta Hayes, she's really disappointed. She learns that she actually lives in Stoneybrook though, and so she decides to dress up her project by trying to interview her, then writing a paper about her playwriting experience vs. that of Henrietta Hayes. (She's also written plays.)
Claudia goes with Mal to talk to the Kids Club about the play, and they end up with about ten kids who want to be in it, including Haley, Becca, Charlotte, Danielle, Sara Hill, and Buddy Barrett. Deciding to follow the advice to write about what you know, Mal wants to write her play about her family.
Next, Mal writes to Henrietta Hayes again, asking for help with her school project. She receives the exact same generic fan letter in return. Undaunted, Mal looks up her address in the phone book, then writes her a third letter, telling her all about the project. When this leads to a third identical reply, she decides to go talk to her in person, and rides her bike over. Ms. Hayes is surprisingly receptive to this, and invites Mal in to discuss the project. She not only kindly answers all Mal's questions, but also asks her to assist her for a few weeks with some filing, typing, and answering the phone. That way Mal will be able to see what being an author is really like, and make some money at the same time. Mallory is over the moon, thinking her life has now changed forever.
On her first day of work, Mal learns that Ms. Hayes had a daughter who died as a teenager, Cassie. She also learns that she inspired her to write an Anderson family reunion book, with Alice all grown up. Not only that, but she asks for Mal's ideas. It's a great start to the job, and inspires Mallory to work on her own play. She's titled it "The Early Years", about a young author in the early years of her life. (It's a fictionalized Pike family, with Mal as the star.)
Unfortunately, the way Mal depicts her siblings is really insulting, while her own character is a saint. Stacey comes to the next Kids Club meeting, and tries to warn Mal that her siblings are going to be offended, but she doesn't listen. Sure enough, when the other Pike kids read the material, they are understandably angry, but Mal refuses to change anything.
Mallory's English teacher reminds her that she needs to use outside sources for her paper, so she heads to the library to research Ms. Hayes. In doing so, she learns that her life has been vastly different from her sunny, happy books, which Mal had just assumed were based on her life. For some reason, this really shakes her and she now thinks all her books are lies because they aren't autobiographical (even though they are FICTION...).
The next day, when she goes to work, Mal asks Ms. Hayes a bunch of rude personal questions, then accuses her of lying in her books. (Her reply is awesome: she tells Mal to go look up fiction in the dictionary before hurling accusations!) Despite this, Mal still thinks she knows what fiction truly is: you don't report every fact, but the heart of the story must be true. Mal ends up writing a note saying she can't work for her anymore, and was wrong to think she could learn from her, then she leaves.
Back home, the Pike kids are picketing Mal's room. Mrs. Pike gets involved (for once) and comes to see the play the next day, so she can judge for herself what the big deal is. She ends up agreeing that the story is really insulting. All the kids in the play who are friends with the Pike kids end up dropping out as well. All of this finally gets Mal to rewrite the story, and the changes get her mom's approval. She realizes that her writing got better when she stopped worrying about being true to life. Seeing this, she decides she was harsh to Ms. Hayes, and should hear her out.
Ms. Hayes explains to Mal about emotional truth, making up stories, and how she modeled the Andersons after one of her foster families.
Mal's play does end up going well, and she gets an A+ on her project. Ms. Hayes even comes to see it, and shows Mal that she's on the acknowledgements page of her next book.
Timeline:
It's November, because the Kids Club is having a Thanksgiving food drive.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn.
*They were having a contest to name the new babysitter during the time this book came out. I guess they were released so quickly that they had to be pretty planned ahead.
*Vanessa Pike is trying to master a Skip-It! I had one of those in the 90s too, and I used to get 100's of reps without messing up. I was a little obsessed with the thing for awhile, haha. I still remember playing with it in my backyard for HOURS without getting bored.
*Continuity error: this book says Claire Pike is 4. She's 5, and this is a fairly big mistake to make in a Mallory book...
*Spelling error: page 43, Buddy Barret. Plus it was just spelled correctly the page before!
*I like it when a random pairing of the BSC members hangs out together, like Claudia and Mal do in here.
*These Alice Anderson books remind me of the Alice series I loved growing up, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I really want to go back and re-read those too.
*I'm very surprised a famous author would be in the phone book. Wouldn't she have fans and kids always dropping by?
*After reading this, I wish even more that I had found it as a kid. Since I wanted to be a writer, I would have loved everything about this.
*Henrietta Hayes is friends with Amelia Moody (the fictional author Mal loved in Super Special #11).
*I loved how Mal's parents let her go over to Ms. Hayes' house alone, when they've never met her and know nothing about her...
*Not only did Mal's play sound terrible, she even kept the names the same, just rhyming with the originals: Valery Spike, Ranessa. The Spike parents treating Valery like Cinderella was spot on though, haha...
*Henrietta Hayes was a foster child from age 3, when her parents and little brother died in a fire. College was the first time she lived in one place longer than a year. As an adult, she had a bitter divorce, followed by a lengthy custody battle. Then her only daughter, Cassie, died at age 18 in a hit and run. Holy crap! This is terribly depressing, NOT typical BSC-verse fare at all. These later books are getting a bit darker...
*The central conflict in here where Mal was upset about Ms. Hayes "lying" in her fictional books was so absurd I couldn't believe it. Mal is ELEVEN, and she loves reading and writing. Therefore, how does she think untrue fiction is a "lie"? She's old enough to understand the difference, and she's written other things herself without having this confusion. Now suddenly her logic about the topic is so flawed and frustrating. She now thinks if an author isn't drawing on real life experience, then they can't be a good writer.
Plus, what about fantasy, science fiction, horror, mysteries, thrillers...? Does she really think all those horse books she loves are true stories?
Books mentioned:
*Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie
*Charlotte's Web, by E. B. White
*Stuart Little, by E. B. White
*Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
My rating:
4 stars. Despite the huge flaws in logic, this was all about books, reading, writing, and authors, as well as the impact beloved books can have on your life. Also, no babysitting at all! I couldn't help but enjoy this, even though Mal was a huge brat in here. She's at her worst, but ends up getting everything she wants in spite of it, in typical BSC-verse style.
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