Thoughts before reading:
This plot sounds super mediocre, but at this point a Stacey book is very welcome, especially as a nice break between all the Abby books. I can't imagine the BSC fan base getting really excited over a book about a math club though.
Also, I really just hate this cover. Stacey looks nothing like she usually does, and in this particular picture she also looks about 35. No one gets that excited about math either, I don't care how much you love it.
The basics:
The chair of the SMS math department asks Stacey to join the mathletes. She's turned down the offer in the past, but this time they only have another month to go before their season ends, and they really want Stacey because her standardized test scores are among the highest in the district. Stacey agrees to think it over, but she thinks the whole thing is really nerdy. The BSC encourages her to try it though, and then she decides it will be fun. The problem was really that she was worried Kristy would be mad, or her friends would think she was a dork. Stacey has been tutoring Lindsay Dewitt though, which she won't have time to do now. To Claudia's dismay, she gets stuck taking over.
Stacey's dad turns up in Stoneybrook for the weekend, in a brand new car he just purchased. It turns out he's lost his job due to lay offs, but seems to be taking it well, and now he wants to spend more time with Stacey. He even wants to come over and cook for her and Maureen. Stacey's hesitant, but her parents have been getting along better lately, so she agrees. Maureen is surprised, needless to say, but the dinner goes fine.
At her first mathletes practice, Stacey's wary at first of some of the dorky kids on the team, but she quickly begins to enjoy herself. She's really good at the problems too, and her team is impressed. SMS even ends up winning their first mathlete contest. Stacey's thrilled, but that feeling quickly fades afterwards when her parents get into a misunderstanding about dinner. Her dad made reservations in the city, and forgot to tell her mom. It ends up being a really late night, and they have endless problems with the car: parking tickets, stolen hubcaps, a scratch. After this comedy of errors, Stacey starts to feel overwhelmed by how much time her dad wants to spend with her.
With Stacey's help, her team gets all the way to the state finals. Her dad ends up getting concert tickets for U4ME the evening of the tournament though. She decides family should come before math, so she'll go to the concert instead... but then she's miserable at the thought of letting her team down, plus she's tied for number 1 player in the state, which would be jeopardized by missing a match.
Mary Anne convinces Stacey to explain things to her dad (very good advice...). He's very understanding, and they all end up rushing to the contest together. Stoneybrook wins by 2 points, but it's a best 2 out of 3 competition. Afterwards, Ed takes Stacey and Maureen out to celebrate and announces he found a new job. Stacey tries to be happy for him, but she's hurt that he'll miss the last 2 finals and he doesn't seem to care. He's already back to his old workaholic self, it seems.
During the second final, Stacey gets flustered, misses an easy question, and her team loses by a few points. Her dad never even calls to ask how it went.
Stacey's on a roll at the last match though, but misses a question when she realizes her dad isn't there. He shows up at the end though, and she gets the final question right. SMS wins the state championship, and Stacey wins the individual score record. She talks to her dad afterwards, and he promises to still make time for her.
Side plot: SES has a math fair. Also, despite all her apprehension, Claudia turns out to be a good tutor, using Legos and songs to help Lindsay understand subtraction and borrowing.
Timeline:
No idea... I'm assuming it's sometime in January or February.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis.
*It's really not healthy that the BSC members are afraid to try new things because of Kristy's reaction...
*Mary Anne is still doing the job with Victoria. That's a nice little bit of continuity.
*On page 46, Ryan is misspelled as "Byan".
*Ryan and Marnie are apparently at friends' houses, at age 2? Right... Also, Claudia's expected to tutor Lindsay and babysit for other kids at the same time? More stellar parenting, and really unfair to Claudia and the kids.
*Mr. Dewitt "looks about as friendly as a cactus" when he learns Claudia's now tutoring Lindsay instead of Stacey. I feel bad for Claudia, but you really can't blame him.
*Ed McGill went to NYU.
*I also used to have a Sony discman in the 90s! I remember when those were the greatest thing ever too, haha.
*Too bad Claudia doesn't have more confidence in herself... she's been a tutor before, for Emily Michelle, and she was good at it then too.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
2.5 stars. This wasn't terrible by any means, but it was very average and forgettable.
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