Thoughts before reading:
Never read this before, but it sounds like it could be fun. At least it's something a bit different than a vacation Super Special. It's also nice when actual life events happen in this series, because then it still feels like there is some passage of time.
The basics:
Dawn is freaking out because her dad and Carol are getting married the same weekend as the Barrett-Dewitts. This means that all of her friends won't be able to attend the wedding. Mrs. Barrett wants Stacey to be one of her bridesmaids, and Shannon and Mallory are going to be babysitters for her at the wedding. Kristy, Claudia, and Mary Anne are going to fly out to California for Dawn's father's wedding though. Mary Anne and Dawn are going to be bridesmaids. (Dawn also has finals going on, and her 6 months in California are almost over.) Before her Stoneybrook friends arrive, Dawn goes shopping with her CA friends and buys bridesmaid dresses for Mary Anne and herself.
Mary Anne is nervous about seeing Dawn again, fretting about the idea of a beach wedding, and freaked out about being a bridesmaid. All this turns her into a mess, and she ends up bickering a lot with Dawn. When it turns out she actually isn't a bridesmaid, Dawn had just assumed she would be, they end up full on fighting.
Mallory accidently tells Ben that she'll take some kids in the neighborhood, including his little brothers, caroling on a Saturday. Unfortunately, it ends up being the same Saturday she had committed to the wedding job. She has to cancel on him, and Ben's furious. She later calls him to apologize, and they agree to go caroling another day, which ends up being that Sunday. Everything works out fine, and everyone has fun.
Jessi ends up being a Santa at Bellair's, after they lose theirs last minute. Stacey's mom gets panicked and asks if one of the BSC girls can fill in, and she's the only one available.
The Schafer wedding is on the beach, and it turns out beautifully. A lot of the guests cry, and Dawn's never seen her dad look so happy. Claudia takes pictures for him and Carol.
Stacey enjoys being a bridesmaid for Mrs. Barrett, even though the others are way older than her. During the ceremony, Marnie slips away from Mallory and toddles up to her mom to hug her. Everyone's touched, and she ends up staying at the altar with her mom for the rest of the ceremony.
Kristy helps Dawn's CA friends plan and throw her a going away party. The book ends with Dawn and Jeff back in Stoneybrook for Christmas.
Timeline:
It's December, leading up to Christmas.
Misc. thoughts:
*I was relieved by how this book ended up being set up, because I thought Dawn's dad was going to fly the entire BSC out to California for his wedding, and pay for them all to be bridesmaids to a woman most of them hardly know. Ridiculous, but that's how the books have been lately, so I wouldn't have been surprised.
*The girls all keep journals of their wedding experiences.
*The whole We Love Kids Club is vegetarian? This is new info... and very hard for me to believe. Plus, for the 100th time, Dawn isn't even one! She just avoids red meat, which is very different. She eats seafood all the time, and has eaten chicken many times.
*What is an "anchor store of the mall"? I'd never heard this term before, so I looked it up. Apparently it just means the big department store at said mall, usually more than one. My local mall growing up had 4 in the 90s, one on each side.
*Based on the picture of Dawn shopping inside the book, the bridesmaid dress she loves is terrible.
*In Stoneybrook, if you have a lot of kids, you are apparently unable to do even the most basic of family outings without hiring a babysitter, even with both parents present. I always thought it was just the Pikes who had this problem! Now, however, the Barrett-Dewitts do also.
*Mal says that if a BSC member cancels an appointment but has someone cover for them, Kristy still chews them out? That's really harsh, especially considering they are all kids, and kids don't have control of their schedules all the time. This girl is lucky anyone wants to be in her club...
*Claudia doesn't understand how time zones work in this book, despite having traveled and been to California before. She's not dumb just because she does poorly in school, and she's not usually written to be.
*The journal entries in this book were actually dated. I don't think we've been told any actual dates since the Peter Pan play from Super Special #9.
*Carol has lava lamps? Maybe she actually is trying too hard to be cool. Dawn also says she has framed pictures of Micky Mouse in the bathroom, which is just plain weird.
*Jeff says his dad is a slob now, but got that way after their mom left? Uhm, what now? Shouldn't that be the other way around? Sharon is such a slob she can't even put basic items away correctly, and Dawn has always said her dad is organized like her.
*Kristy is STILL hating on the We Love Kids Club. It's time to get over it, girl.
*Maggie now has dreadlocks? Yikes...
*Dawn's dad paid for half of Claudia's ticket, in exchange for her helping with flowers and hair for the wedding? That's pretty generous...
*Dawn eats fish in here, the same book that called her a vegetarian! This will never stop bothering me, because how hard is it to get this stuff straight? Especially within the same book!
*Why did Dawn just assume Carol would want Mary Anne as a bridesmaid? Carol barely knows her. How awkward.
*Mary Anne is back to her old awful self in here. She's mad that she has to be a bridesmaid, and having anxiety over the wedding (making it all about her). Then she finds out she actually isn't a bridesmaid, and she's furious that they didn't invite her to be in the wedding! Then she makes a huge deal over how no one cares about her, and how Dawn's dad must not like her. I wanted to slap her, honestly. This is someone else's wedding, it has nothing to do with her or what she wants! No wonder Dawn never lasts long in Stoneybrook...
*I can't believe a department store would let an 11 year old be Santa. I feel like parents would definitely complain.
*Dawn thinks her dad and Carol broke up because Carol was jealous of all the attention he was giving Dawn? Wow, way to rewrite history there... since in reality she had a huge tantrum, ran away cross country, and caused a bunch of problems and discomfort between them as a result.
*The narration said Dawn's dress was sleeveless, but in the pictures it has huge sleeves.
*Not only are there two Dewitt families, but there are two Ryan Dewitts! Really bad planning...
*WTF is Dawn's dad's name?? In this book he's called John and Jack at different points, and this isn't the first time it's been confused either.
*Carol's moving van with all her furniture gets stolen, to everyone's relief, because her things are all tacky.
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis.
Books mentioned:
*My Teacher is an Alien, by Bruce Coville
*The Chronicles of Narnia, by C. S. Lewis
*Freckle Juice, by Judy Blume
*The Wizard of Oz, by Frank Baum
*Animalia, by Graeme Base
My rating:
3 stars. A pretty average Super Special for me, but the weddings were sweet, as was Dawn's homecoming. Despite the two weddings happening though, this book was thin on plot, and had a lot of filler.
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