Abby's Book

 

Thoughts before reading:

I have pretty mixed feelings about Abby so far, but it will still be interesting to learn more about her and her life before Stoneybrook. At least I hope so...

The basics:

*Abby and Anna were born on October 15th.

*Anna's 8 minutes older, but Abby walked first.

*The twins had their own private language, which caused them to be slow at learning English.

*The girls started preschool together at age 3.

*They used to trick people by switching places.

*Abby was surprised to see in preschool that not everyone has a twin, and she was scared she'd lose hers like the other kids must have.

*The twins always had identical toys and possessions when they were very young.

*Kids in first grade called them Abby-Anna, which they both hated. Their teacher wanted them to try wearing a color coded wardrobe so the class could tell them apart, and for their safety, and their parents agreed to the plan. (Abby would be red, Anna blue.) Kids teased them by calling them their colors instead of their names, so they hated the whole thing. When they told their dad, he suggested one of them cut their hair instead, which Anna agreed to do.

*After the haircut, people started treating them like 2 separate girls, and they started doing separate activities too. 

*Abby used to be in brownies.

*The twins 6th birthday was the first one where they got separate, different gifts, instead of identical ones.

*Their dad died in November of their 4th grade year, which the girls were at school. Their grandpa came to pick them up and break the news.

*Mrs. Stevenson's parents stayed with the family for a week. When they left, she returned to work.

*It was important to Mr. Stevenson to save the environment and not waste things. (Both of those are also important to me.)

*Their mom started wearing their dad's bathrobe while she was grieving, and stopped cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry until Abby said that their dad would have hated seeing things that way.

*By 5th grade, Mrs. S had become a workaholic.

*When their dad was alive, they went on camping trips every summer, and to Disney World once.

*During 5th grade winter vacation, Mrs. S planned a family vacation to Sanibel, an island off the Florida coast. (Is this a real place?) Abby felt like they weren't a real family anymore, because even during the vacation they didn't spend time together.

*To make up for being distant, they spent New Year's Eve together, which was the first family celebration without their dad. The three of them talked about how much he loved traditions, and decided to keep some of his and also start new ones. 

*By the end of 7th grade, Mrs. S was still heartbroken and wanted a fresh start. She announced the move to Stoneybrook, to the twins dismay. Their mom also wanted to give away all the furniture and start completely fresh, but Abby convinced her to keep some things. 

*Abby worked hard to befriend Kristy, because she could tell Kristy was wary of her. 

*Abby gets an A- on her project, and Anna gets an A.

Timeline:

N/A

Misc. thoughts:

*I thought they've said in other books that Mrs. Stevenson was going to school to be a chef before Mr. S died, and only started working in publishing in the city after he was gone? But in here it says she started that job back when the twins were in first grade.

*The picture of the Stevensons' new Stoneybrook house in here shows how huge and fancy it is, and Abby has said it's one of the smallest in the neighborhood. In here it says that it's "just as big as the other houses on the block". 

*Abby's allergies are the worst in September.

*Apparently Abby's hair has already grown out from her haircut in #104? Pretty crazy, since Mary Anne got hers cut in #60 and it still hasn't changed at all...

*Ghostwritten by Jeanne Betancourt.

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

2.5 stars. More entertaining that I expected, at least. Also, this is the last portrait book! Another milestone reached in this project.