Thoughts before reading:
I read this as a kid, and I remember liking it, but I didn't own or re-read it, so I don't remember much now. Sounds like another generic storyline about a play, so I don't have high hopes.
The basics:
It's the last day of a Short Takes class called Learning to Read, about how to interpret the news. Coming up next is a drama unit. Each class will study a different aspect of drama. Claudia, Stacey, and Abby are assigned to Drama for Children (of course they are), meaning they will be writing a play for the 3rd graders at SES, then working with the kids through to their final performance. The class decides to do their play about the first Thanksgiving. Claudia's assigned to do scenery design for the pilgrims.
The play the class ends up writing is a fairly traditional first Thanksgiving story, except they don't gloss over the uglier aspects of the history. Problems begin to arise early on when some of the SES parents object to the play's points about women, sex roles, and the role of the European settlers. They start calling the play un-American, and calling the pilgrims heroes. Then their drama teacher gives them bad news: the SES principal has stipulated that they put on a more traditional first Thanksgiving story instead, or they can't do a play at all.
Opposing the censorship, but not wanting to disappoint the kids, the drama class decides to put the play on under protest. They wear buttons announcing the story has been censored, and stamp censored on the playbills. The original play will also be performed at SMS.
The SES censored version ends up going ok: the kids have fun, the parents grumble about the censorship notices written on everything, but it's too late for them to do anything about it. Then a different Short Takes class puts on the original version at SMS. It draws a huge crowd, including angry parents from the elementary school. They even picket outside, wielding signs like "un-American", and "We're for family values and the American Thanksgiving". When the play starts, people are disruptive, even booing, until the principal intervenes. Only then do they finally get to tell their story.
Also during this time, all the BSC members see their Thanksgiving plans fall through, which gives Kristy the idea to have all their families eat together (36 people, total, although I'm honestly surprised it's not more). Watson and Elizabeth agree to host the event if they do it potluck style, after the girls promise to do all the clean up and babysit during. Dawn also surprises them by showing up during the dinner.
Timeline:
Begins in late October, so time overlaps with the last book. Once again, this happens without mentioning its events... in this case, probably because they were so absurd.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker
*This book opens right into the whole "Janine is a genius and Claudia sucks at school" spiel. Yawn. In fact, this book was really padded with filler. In chapter 1 we get descriptions of everyone's outfits, even Claudia's parents and Janine, and then we get a description of what SMS looks like! Not a good way to start.
*Claudia says SMS was built before air conditioning, but wasn't the AC being broken in #1 what led to the infamous decorum essay? Why even include such a specific detail so late in the series, especially when it's not necessary to the story?
*"Some of the other classes are okay sometimes, such as the one in which we were assigned to write our life stories," Claudia tells us (pg 9). Uhm, you mean... ENGLISH class, haha?
*They're really milking this Short Takes idea for plots...
*Betsy Sobak is back, yuck. I was hoping she'd been sent off to military school or something by now.
*Claudia wonders if she could make a mosaic out of potato chips, lol.
*Mallory's family is going to NYC to visit cousins and see the Macy's parade for Thanksgiving, the same trip they missed when she had mono... and it's canceled for the second time.
*Mary Anne's grandma is supposed to come visit from Iowa, for the first time that we've been told, but she ends up canceling.
*Thanksgiving is Claudia's favorite holiday.
*Claudia says, "Kristy had folded her arms and was surveying her kingdom" at a BSC meeting. Well, haha, that sounds about right.
*I wonder why this book didn't just start in November, to smooth out the continuity. Halloween had nothing to do with the plot in here.
*Abby's jokes are so bad that they make Jessi's old jokes seem funny. (Remember the book or two where she was supposed to be "the funny one"?)
*Claudia's expecting Kristy to start requiring doctor's notes to miss BSC meetings! Wouldn't surprise me. Even then I bet no one would quit, except maybe Stacey.
*I came up with everyone's families adding up to 38 people, so I guess Karen and Andrew aren't being counted.
*The original, uncensored play was about a girl named Alice who falls asleep the night before Thanksgiving and wakes up at the first Thanksgiving. She talks to the children and helps them prepare for their feast, and both sides learn about the other's holiday.
*It says in here that "Maid Mary Anne" refers to a BSC job that involved tons of housework, which is completely untrue. It was a reference to the older woman that gave Mary Anne sewing lessons in exchange for help around the house.
*We don't know enough specifics about the play to know exactly what the big deal is, aside from the obvious touchy topics, and the feminism that's included, which I liked. They're basically just trying to make the point that women still aren't equal, which is true.
*The censorship button slogans include: The price of freedom of speech is eternal vigilance; Native Americans for the real Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving then, Thanksgiving now: where are the women?; Were the pilgrims against freedom of speech?; Narrow-minded, racist, sexist, CENSORED; Who's play is this anyway?; The truth about Thanksgiving has been canceled by the parents and teachers of SES.
*What the hell is wrong with the adults in Stoneybrook, anyway? This is the school spirit war debacle all over again...
*This isn't even the same Halloween! In the last book, all the kids were Ghostbusters. In here, they're Groucho Marx. (Every little kid's dream costume, LOL.)
*Kristy stops Abby from yelling at the picketers. I never thought I'd see the day, haha. I'm surprised she didn't join her.
*It's pretty sad that adults would boo at children trying to put on a show. Even sadder is the fact that now, in 2021, people are still offended my feminism and the truth. I could still see this same thing happening.
*Claudia (and young readers!) learn that history is censored, resulting in a complex mix of truth and fiction. It's really just an interpretation, edited by the people in charge. ("The past is taught by those who win.")
*Apparently Sam can do origami.
*One of the walls in the Pike living room is corkboard? That's awesome.
*Claudia suddenly likes puns. Honestly, I'm kind of surprised she knows what a pun is.
*Why is Claudia dressed like a hippie on the cover?
Books mentioned:
*The Incredible Journey, by Sheila Burnford
*Sarah Morton's Day, by Kate Waters
*Molly's Pilgrim, by Barbara Cohen
*Alice in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll
My rating:
3 stars. This was entertaining, and educational for the kids. Plus I am a bit of a sucker for the holiday stories.
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