Thoughts before reading:
I already know this plot makes no sense, and is going to really irritate me, so I'm really not looking forward to reading this one. Hopefully at least Claudia and Mark will break up, because he's awful to her.
The basics:
Claudia's really happy in 7th grade now, and has really hit her stride. She has good grades, understands math for the first time ever, has tons of new friends, and a great boyfriend. She's also excited because the color war is starting up: a contest between the grades. 7th grade will be orange this year, which Claudia hates, so she wants to take over organizing the event.
One day in school, Claudia gets a note to go see the guidance counselor ASAP. She's really nervous about it, thinking she's going to be moved to 6th grade. Instead Mrs. Amer says she's improved so rapidly that she may be ready to move on, back to 8th grade... but the choice is entirely hers. There was a time this would have thrilled her, but now, Claudia's really torn. She finally feels smart in 7th grade, and she doesn't want things to go back to the struggle they used to be. Her friends are no help, of course, because the BSC wants her back in 8th, and her 7th grade friends want her to say with them in 7th.
To top things off, Claudia starts to feel like things with Mark are off, because he's always acting aloof, trying too hard to be cool, and never on time when they have plans. Frustrated, she talks to her friend Josh about it, and asks for advice, since Josh is so different than that.
Claudia's other 7th grade friends finally tell her that Josh likes her (something that has been really obvious to everyone but her, readers included). Claudia doesn't believe it's true, until she catches Josh looking tenderly at her during their color war event. She's unsure how to feel about it though. Right after, Mark cancels plans on her for the third time in a row, leaving her furious.
After Mark's late to meet her yet again, Claudia has an honest talk with him, and they mutually decide to break up.
Josh has been avoiding Claudia ever since their color war event. She finally confronts him, leading him to finally admit he likes her. He also helps her finally make a decision about switching grades, by telling her it boils down to can she handle it, and would it make her happy? She realizes both questions are a yes.
The 7th grade wins the color war, and afterwards, Claudia and Josh kiss. She's very happy with both of her decisions.
Side plot: Kristy has a color war for the BSC charges.
Timeline:
It's November.
Misc. thoughts:
*Ghostwritten by Peter Lerangis
*Alan Gray's the 8th grade coordinator for color war. Who thought this was a good idea?
*Mark really isn't good enough for Claudia, but he does seem like a pretty typical 7th grade boy to me.
*Mark's way more concerned about his friend Frank moving than about Claudia... is he another super subtle gay character?
*This book mentions craypas, which I'd never heard of. Apparently they're some kind of extra creamy oil pastels.
*This color war plotline reminded me of the school spirit war. Do they do this now instead, because of all the problems?
*I don't even want to get into the ridiculousness of Claudia returning to 8th grade after missing part of the year, because I've already ranted about it before. All I want to add is that I hated how it was done. A choice like this should never be up to a kid, the way it was in here. Her parents weren't even there when she was asked about it, and we don't hear much from them about it. They should have made this a more family story, if they had to do this stupid plot at all, and had her parents at the meeting, then lots of family discussion. I'd like to hear what her parents thought... or better yet, had them put a foot down and say no.
Books mentioned:
None
My rating:
2 stars. Not much to say about this one, really. It was pretty quick to get through, and not completely terrible, but I still wish this storyline hadn't happened at all. At least we're done with Mark now.
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