Thoughts before reading:
That's definitely the face I'd be making if I were on a date with Alan Gray.
The basics:
It's summer vacation still, and Claudia has a summer job working at the library with her mom. (What about those labor laws?) Her and Erica Bernstein are working together in the children's room. During one of their shifts, Erica confides that she's going to use the library computers to look for her birth parents.
Claudia and Alan have been in limbo since the dance, and now they're finally going out on a date to the movies. She's keeping it a secret though, that way if it ends up being terrible no one will give her a hard time about it. He also comes by the library to see her, but accidently makes more work for her when he tries to help her with some books.
There's an old, dated mural in the children's room that Claudia wants to redo, and the children's librarian loves the idea. Mrs. Kishi, the head librarian, isn't so crazy about the idea though, and gets annoyed with Claudia for not asking her first.
After Kristy gives Claudia a hard time about liking Alan, Claudia starts to find him less funny, and their date is awkward. She can't shake the feeling of being too stiff and formal. Luckily, she confides her problem to Erica, who (rightly) tells her that anyone who would judge her for dating Alan isn't worth listening to.
Alan catches on that Claudia's trying to keep him secret from her friends, and suggests they go on outings together so they can get to know him better. Everyone agrees to a group mini golf date, although Dawn and Kristy are very reluctant. Alan also invites Cary Retlin and Pete Black, presumably so he won't be the only guy there. Everyone breaks into pairs to play, and Kristy ends up with Alan. She's grouchy about it, but he's really nice to her, even trying to let her win. Once the date is over, Kristy scoffs and declares that he's a wimp. Claudia's only left feeling more uneasy than ever.
Meanwhile, at work, Claudia gets the go-ahead to work on a new mural. She ends up feeling like a wimp herself though, because after a disaster where the children's librarian lets a bunch of kids paint on the mural, which results in a big mess that Mrs. Kishi blames Claudia for, she doesn't want to broach the subject with her at all anymore. Afterwards, her and her mom are barely even speaking.
Erica asks Claudia to keep a lookout for her at home while she goes through her parents safe to look for any information about her adoption. She finds her birth certificate, with her birth parents names: Alison Stiller and Jonathan Gardener. Claudia tells her she needs to talk to her parents about all this, because it's too big to deal with alone. Her and Claud sit down to tell them together, then Claud slips out as the family begins to talk things over.
Realizing anew the importance of honesty after this experience, Claudia hugs her own mom when she gets home, and explains that she just saw the mural project as an artist would. She saw the potential for something beautiful, and didn't think of asking for permission. To her surprise, her mom says she understands, because words and books help her make sense of the world, like art does for Claud.
With the air cleared, Claudia resumes work on the mural, and includes the kids by letting each make a paint handprint on the wall and sign their name to it.
Claudia also sits down with Alan and tells him to be himself, instead of trying so hard. He tells her that he's afraid to, because then she might not like him. Claudia (wisely) tells him everyone feels that way, and it probably takes your whole life to figure out who you are.
She ends up throwing a big BBQ for all her friends, Alan included. He's back to joking around like normal, and everyone gets along fine. They finally decide to be boyfriend/girlfriend.
Timeline:
It's summer vacation, July.
Misc. thoughts:
*This book really stretches credibility with the timeline... apparently nothing at all has happened between Claudia and Alan since the dance, but that was in February, and it's now July! That's 5 months, which is an absolute eternity when you're a teenager. To make any sense this book should have come much sooner.
*Kristy keeps giving Claudia a hard time about Alan, saying she could ruin her reputation, which was really annoying. Since when does she care about stuff like that, or what others think? Thankfully, the other girls defend Claudia.
*Dawn's still visiting for the summer, and has been attending BSC meetings.
*Stacey, awesomely, reminds Kristy that she went out with Alan once, to a dance. That shuts her up pretty quick.
*Kristy also gets mad at Claudia because Alan calls during a BSC meeting... but it's Claudia's phone and her line!
*Alan Gray's dad makes stupid dad jokes! So fitting.
*Claudia and Alan's relationship in here is a pathetic, jumbled mess. Dating shouldn't be this much work, especially at 13.
*Mrs. Kishi once wanted to be a writer, but she wasn't any good.
*Claudia and her mom do have something big in common! Now that she's learned this, hopefully Claudia will feel less like she's in the wrong family, poor kid. I think she really does have good parents, some of the best in the series.
*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker.
*Based on those names, it sounds like Erica's birth parents weren't married. Makes sense of course, since they gave her up for adoption, but pretty scandalous for these books nonetheless.
Books mentioned:
*Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell
*A Baby Sister For Frances, by Russell Hoban
*Fell, by M. E. Kerr
*Find a Stranger, Say Good-bye, by Lois Lowry
*Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
My rating:
2.5 stars. A little all over the place, but not bad. Even though I don't care for them, I'm glad Claudia and Alan decided to work things out instead of immediately breaking up.
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