Friends Forever #12: Claudia and the Disaster Date

 

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. 

Friends Forever #7: Claudia Gets Her Guy

 

Thoughts before reading:

Ugh, I'm already so tired of hearing about Jeremy that I don't think I can even stand this book. I don't care if Claudia gets "her guy" or not in the slightest. I hate the way this little douchebag is bouncing between Claudia and Stacey with no idea what he wants, and no concern for the trouble he's caused. He doesn't deserve either of them, and I'm still baffled as to why they're fighting over him. Is it just his good looks? He seems bland and dull, not to mention not very bright. 

The basics:

Mary Anne tells Claudia that Stacey and Jeremy broke up, prompting her to spend all weekend obsessing about him. On Monday, she wears a special outfit to school in an attempt to impress him, but he doesn't even stop to talk to her all day. She's crushed, and as he avoids her all day, she keeps obsessing all the more. 

Claudia and Erica have still been hanging out too, and the girls are now volunteering for a program at SMS where kids with work immigrant families. Claudia's assigned to a family from Japan, the Yashimotos. Along with an adult volunteer, she'll help them with learning English and basic skills, like shopping. 

There's also a Valentine's day dance coming up, and as the school week wears on, Claudia obsesses more and more over asking Jeremy to be her date. She decides to write him a note (not a great idea for her, in my opinion!). Thankfully, she uses spellcheck. After all her careful planning though, she ends up dropping the note into the wrong locker. Horrified, she enlists help from Kristy, who gets Cary Retlin to break into the locker for her. Of course, it turns out to belong to none other than Alan Gray. He gets it open, but the note is gone. 

Alan thinks the note was really for him, because Claudia didn't include Jeremy's name (because she didn't know how to spell it...). He's flattered that she's seen past all the joking and goofy behavior to the real him, and says yes to going to the dance. Claudia can't hurt his feelings, especially when he's being sincere for once, so she agrees to go. Kristy gives her a hard time, but Mary Anne and Stacey understand. (Stacey even says he's kind of cute, probably just to be nice, haha.) 

When Jeremy hears about Claudia and Alan, he's upset. (Wtf right does he have to be angry? He hasn't even spoken a word to Claudia since he broke up with Stacey, and prior to that, he knew she liked him, but went ahead and dated her best friend instead of her, without even talking to her first or letting her down easy. I HATE this guy!) Even when she explains the mix-up with the note to him, he just says it's her problem, then walks off. 

This same day, Alan leaves a huge flower bouquet at Claudia's locker, then surprises her with a romantic lunch in an empty classroom, complete with sprite "champagne", candlesticks, and Burger King. (This is actually a cute scene.) There's even hostess cakes for dessert. Claudia's touched by the gesture. 

Stacey and Claudia end up talking again, apologizing, and agreeing to move on and be friends. Stacey even tells her that Jeremy broke up with her because he liked Claudia. 

Jeremy, however, goes on avoiding Claudia, while Alan showers her with gifts and compliments. Jeremy ends up asking Emily to the dance.

The night of the dance, Claudia's having fun dancing with Alan when Jeremy cuts in. They slow dance together, during which she realizes they have more of a friend vibe, and she'd actually rather be dancing with Alan. There's just no spark at all. (If only she could have realized this sooner!!) Jeremy notices it too, and they both agree to just be friends. Claudia goes to find Alan, and they resume dancing. She feels the fluttery feelings she used to feel with Jeremy, much to her surprise. 

Timeline:

It's February.

Misc. thoughts:

*This book opens with a sitting job for the Rodowskys, a rarity in the FF series. 

*Was Mr. Kishi always an investment banker? I think we were only told his job once, quite awhile ago, so I can't remember if that's right or not.

*Claudia made Mimi's kimono into a blouse. That's a pretty good idea, actually, but I'm surprised her parents let her cut it up.

*At the beginning of this story, it's still the night of Mr. Z's party, so no time has passed between this book and the last. 

*Even though Stacey and Claudia supposedly made up in the last book, Claudia hasn't actually let anything go, and still sounds really angry in her narration. In hers, Stacey had let everything go and wasn't mad at all. 

*Claudia wakes up at 7 am everyday for junior high? She's lucky. My middle and high schools both started classes at 7:20 am. 

*What ever happened to Claudia's 7th grade friends? They were important to her for a brief while, but they've vanished in this new series.

*Claudia eats combos in here! I so remember those and loved them when I was a kid in the 90s. They sound kind of gross now though, like so many childhood snack foods. 

*Claudia has Monet stationary. 

*I had high hopes for the FF books, but I'm not liking them at all, except for some of the changes I've mentioned before (less babysitting, more character focus, more adults around). They are boring, read like fan fiction, and they ruin other things I liked about the BSC books. Worst of all, the characters are like caricatures of their original selves. I don't even like FF Stacey, my favorite character. FF Claudia is pathetic and annoying. Kristy and Mary Anne, however, two characters I really didn't like, are actually a little better in these. 

*Cell phones and internet have entered the BSC-verse with no fanfare, but I still remember Claudia freaking out about getting her first cordless phone. 

*Kristy complains about Alan Gray sticking straws up his nose, yet she did the same thing in Stacey vs. the BSC. 

*When Stacey and Claudia do talk in here, it's weird and awkward. Stacey asks her about Jeremy, but Claudia says she isn't comfortable talking to her about it. They still have a long way to go before having their best friendship back.

*There's an Egyptian temple in the Met? That's awesome, I'd never heard of this before. (Temple of Dendur.) I've since looked into it, and for those into art or history, it's a really interesting story. 

*Alan was really sweet to Claudia in here, and so genuinely happy that someone saw the "real" him, that I almost liked them together. The problem is, he wasn't just a goofy class clown type all this time. Quite often, he was genuinely a bully or a real asshole, and he had quite a mean streak. I can't just forget all that and get behind this. I think he's just thrilled that a girl likes him and is trying to be what she wants.

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.

*Claudia decides to learn Japanese after her experience working with the Yashimotos. 

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

3 stars. This was one of the better FF books so far, mainly because it was 100% different than I expected. I'm thrilled that Jeremy and Claudia never end up dating. He doesn't deserve her, I want him out of the series ASAP, and if they dated her and Stacey would get back their friendship much more slowly. Even if it's Alan Gray, I'm thrilled that this ended up being about her choosing a different guy over Jeremy instead. I didn't see that coming. For once, her poor spelling skills save the day!

Friends Forever #4: Claudia and the Friendship Feud

 

Thoughts before reading:

I'm hoping that the point of this book is for the girls to make up, but somehow I doubt it. 

The basics:

Claudia misses Stacey, as the former best friends haven't spoken for a month now. She's still angry about her and Jeremy though. A sitting job with Erica leaves her feeling a little bit better, and hopeful that she's found a new friend. (Gasp! Babysitting with a non-BSC member?? I think that's a series first!)

She also bumps into Jeremy one day, who mentions that he wants to invite Stacey over for Thanksgiving, but he's nervous about it. Then he tells her he still wants to be friends, and asks if her and Stacey aren't speaking because of him. She dodges the question, and they end up chatting until Stacey comes along, sees, and glares at them. 

After talking to Peaches later and learning she went through a similar situation with her best friend as a girl, and they're still friends, Claudia decides to call Stacey and make up. Yet she somehow finds herself calling Erica instead. The two girls go shopping at the mall together, which Erica's not really into. She does enjoy the art store though, and Claudia's pleased to have a new creative friend, something she hasn't had in awhile. 

Jeremy and Claudia keep running into each other, and he even calls her one evening to chat. They end up talking for an hour, which leaves Claud feeling more confused. The next day at school, she runs into Jeremy again, and they talk about how great it is to be friends. Once he walks away, Stacey comes up and whisks Claudia away to talk... then she basically just tells her to remember that Jeremy is HER boyfriend. 

Claudia and Erica end up going Black Friday shopping together, something she always loved to do with Stacey (never mind that they could have only gone once together if not for the time loop, since they met during 7th grade). Claudia talks about Stacey the whole time, and even accidently calls Erica by her name once. Erica's finally forced to remind Claudia that she isn't Stacey, can't replace her, and doesn't want to be a rebound friend. 

The Pike kids get Kristy to switch places with Stacey at a sitting job, to force her and Claudia together and reunite them. It seems to work at first... Stacey tells Claudia she's missed her and wants to be friends again... if Claudia avoids Jeremy. Claudia realizes things between them can't be like they were before, and she's ruined her new friendship with Erica over something that's gone. Her and Stacey part again on a sour note, with nothing resolved.

Claudia later apologizes sincerely to Erica, and they make up. 

Jeremy transfers into Claudia's English class, so she'll be seeing even more of him.

Timeline:

It's November.

Misc. thoughts:

*It was nice to see Claudia and Mary Anne hanging out in here. The friendships get way more attention in these books, which I love. It was also nice, once again, to see a BSC member making new, outside friends. 

*Mentions of Mallory: she sends the BSC a letter, and she has a crush on a boy from her writing workshop. It must be in town or something, because we were clearly told Riverbend is girls only. 

*The BSC girls are scrambling to fill a job, and so they end up asking Erica for help. It seemed weird to me that they didn't ask Abby. Wouldn't she want to sit once in awhile, for some spending money? In the last book, they were bugging Logan about taking jobs still.

*We also read about a sitting job in here for the first time in the FF books, when Claudia and Erica sit for the Pikes. So, we went four books without a single one that wasn't skipped over. What a change!

*Jordan Pike has a crush on Erica.

*Janine teases Claudia for wearing her hair in braids, which seems really out of character. Since when would she notice, let alone care?

*Claudia's English class is reading Wuthering Heights? That seems too hard for 8th graders to me. It's not like Claudia's in an advanced or honors class.

*Claudia makes Lynn outfits, which is pretty adorable.

*The BSC members don't sit together at lunch every day anymore, and now it's no big deal.

*After one conversation with Jeremy, Claudia thinks he likes her again, even though he mainly just asks about Stacey. It's really sad. I feel bad for her, because it's pretty pathetic. 

*We learn how Peaches and Russ met: she had a screaming fight in college with her best friend, over a boy they both liked. It was in the campus library, where Russ was a student librarian. Peaches was crying, and he took her out for coffee. 

*Claudia's building a scene of the first Thanksgiving table for a centerpiece, which actually sounds really neat. 

*Stacey and Rachel are still hanging out. 

*None of the old BSC-verse mall stores are mentioned, except Critters. This book instead mentions stores like Old Navy and Macy's. It was really weird.

*Erica's adopted, and has been wanting to find her birth parents lately. Claudia mentions how she thought she was adopted for a few weeks (back in #33). 

*Claudia struggles with origami, the only artistic thing I think we've ever heard is hard for her.

*Claudia says she eats whenever she's stressed. So do lots of us, but we don't get to stay magically thin while we do it. 

*There's another Rugrats reference in here.

*When Claudia and Erica first sit for the Pikes, it's mentioned that if only the job was one day later, Mal would be home to sit with Claud. Towards the end of the book, at least a week later, Claudia and Erica sit for the Pikes again, and Mallory's not mentioned at all. 

*Claudia mentions spending multiple Thanksgivings with Stacey, but that's not strictly possible. There should have just been one, in 7th grade. 

*Logan serves Claudia and Erica at the Rosebud, but in the last book it said he didn't work there anymore. 

*It's mentioned that Mal, Jessi, Kristy, Abby, Mary Anne, and Claudia all hang out, but we don't get to read about it. 

*Claire doesn't say "silly-billy-goo-goo" in these books. 

*Ghostwritten by Laura Dower... a new one, and it shows. Lots of errors in here.

*I'm so sad that these books are ruining Stacey for me. I kind of wish I wasn't reading them, but then I would never complete the whole BSC series, technically speaking.

*I did like that the concept of rebound friends was mentioned. That's a pretty common preteen, pre-dating problem, at the age where your friends are the center of your world. 

Books mentioned:

*Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte

*A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

My rating:

2 stars. No real plot at all. Yawn. 

I really like the idea behind these books, and the things they have fixed, so the intention of this series is appealing to me, but I don't like the execution much at all. So far, except for #1, they've all been really boring, had little or no plot, and ruined characters/friendships for me. 

#128: Claudia and the Little Liar

 

Thoughts before reading:

This is really not Claudia's best cover look, yikes...

The basics:

Claudia has a babysitting job with the Braddocks, and they have a new rule that Haley has to do her weekend homework on Friday nights. She's resistant though, so Claudia's put in the awkward position of enforcing it. She tries to be firm without making a big deal over it, even after catching Haley on the phone instead of working. Claudia does ask to see her finished work though, and so Haley shows her a book report. When her parents get home, Claud tells them that the homework is done and she checked it... only to learn Haley showed her an old assignment to trick her. Haley gets grounded for lying, and she blames Claudia for telling on her. She doesn't let it go either, from there telling all her friends that Claudia got her in trouble, so they'll also be mad at her.

Lately Claudia has also been feeling like something's off in her relationship with Josh. They're such good friends, and so comfortable together, that she's not feeling a spark. All this is on her mind when Josh asks her out to the movies, but she has to decline because it's her dad's birthday. Later that evening, she realizes she has the wrong weekend. Instead of calling Josh to tell him she's now free, she decides to take advantage of a rare free night alone, and ends up getting lost in her new Nancy Drew mystery. While she's reading, Josh calls. He wanted to leave her a message, and is surprised to find her at home. She feels guilty that she didn't tell him about her change in plans, so she fibs and says her dad got sick.

The next week Claudia gets another job with the Braddocks. Once again, Haley won't do her homework, and talks on the phone instead. Claudia makes her get off, and tells her she has to show her the finished work again. Once it's all done, Haley immediately gets back on the phone with Vanessa, and Claudia overhears her telling Vanessa that Claudia's a traitor and a tattletale. 

When Mrs. Braddock returns, Haley reports that she was trying to go over her math with Vanessa, and Claudia kept interrupting. She also says that Claudia told her homework isn't important. Luckily Mrs. B sees through this and apologizes to Claudia, telling her that lately Haley's been a handful and they aren't sure what to do with her. 

Naturally, Kristy promptly starts worrying about the BSC's reputation. Claudia tells Josh about the problem too, but is frustrated because he barely seems to be listening. Later on, he asks her if she thinks things between them are working out. She says yes, but then later wonders if that was honest. She loves him, but doesn't know if she's in love with him. 

Abby overhears Haley telling a bunch of other kids that the babysitters are really spies for their parents. It's not long before the whole BSC starts to have trouble with kids not trusting them, believing that they are spying, and giving them a general hard time. 

During her next sitting job with the Braddocks, Haley tells Claudia that Matt has to make a poster for school, but he doesn't have any paints to use. Claud calls Stacey, who gets her mom to stop by Claudia's house to pick up hers, then bring them over. After this is all done, Haley claims to have told Claudia to call Nicky Pike and get a lizard book for Matt. Claudia's furious, but Haley just says she's crazy, because she never said that. When her parents get home, Haley then tells them Claudia was hanging out with Stacey and forgot to call about Matt's book... and she told Haley to cover for her, or else she'd tell everyone Haley was lying. 

Mrs. B pulls Claudia aside and assures her that she doesn't believe Haley, but they will be using a new sitter for now because Haley's been at her worst when Claudia's around. (Great parenting solution...) Mary Anne takes over the jobs, and predictably has the same problems. She suggests that they try a role play with Haley, to reenact that first sitting job so they can find out what went wrong. (Mary Anne learned this technique in therapy... good continuity!)

Stacey invites Claudia and Josh to NYC with her and Ethan. Claudia confides to her that she never has the desire to kiss Josh. Stacey tells her that it sounds like her romance is turning into a friendship. Realizing she's right, Claudia knows she has to now tell Josh, but she's worried about losing his friendship if she hurts him. 

Luckily Josh ends up asking her to talk first, and brings up the same problem. Relieved, they mutually breakup and plan a friend date. 

During the reenactment, Haley's still trying to lie about how things happened. When challenged, she finally admits that the book she was supposed to read was too hard, and she runs out crying. Claudia realizes that what's been bothering her all along was really her school work. She opens up to Haley about being held back, and her own struggles. It comes out that all Haley's lying began when Haley lied to her teacher about why her work wasn't done, and the teacher believed her. As the school trouble deepened, lying made her feel powerful.

Side plot: The BSC and Josh are helping out with a girl's basketball league (made all the more random by the fact that chapter 1 begins with this already happening). Apparently Kristy volunteered them all to help at some point.

Timeline:

It's March.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Suzanne Weyn.

*Claudia's allowed to have Josh in her bedroom when her parents aren't home? Even though Janine's there, I'm still very surprised. Most of the other girls have stricter rules, even Stacey, who has to stay in the kitchen with boys.

*When Haley misses basketball practice because she's grounded, Kristy makes Stacey fill in. None of the girls are pleased, and Stacey mentions that she's been playing basketball longer than most of these girls have been alive. Uh, what? The girls in question are 8-9... was Stacey on some sort of toddler basketball league that we've never heard about before?

*Kristy tries to bench Stacey for talking back, which is actually pretty funny.

*One of the kids in here says you can't trust anyone with a double digit age, haha. Definitely kid logic.

*Annoying as Haley was in here, it's about time a kid and a sitter don't get along. It's something that would actually happen a lot, but never does to the BSC. Also, this is the problem with having sitters close in age to yours kids. In real life, there would be a lot of kids refusing to listen to them and questioning their authority.

*Claudia and Josh don't have sexual tension, basically, but the book refers to it as "romantic feelings". 

*Haley was a weird choice for this plot, since she's always been so well behaved, and in here she's crazy! This 9 year old is literally gaslighting Claudia, and she's not bad at it, either. She's actually a scary good liar, not to mention manipulator. She easily pulls Claudia into several of these no-win situations.

*Mr. Brooke is still a client.

*Claudia's final regular series book, although as a founding BSC member, she returns in Friends Forever. She narrated 28 books total. 

Books mentioned:

*The Great Brain, by John D. Fitzgerald

*The Case of the Artful Crime, by Carolyn Keene

*A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L' Engle

My rating:

2.5 stars. I appreciated the attempt, and even the concept, but this still wasn't very good. It's sad that it's taken until book 128 for something like this to happen...

#123: Claudia's Big Party

 

Thoughts before reading:

A BSC book about an actual realistic teenage issue?! Gasp! They really were out of ideas! 

The basics:

Claudia's been struggling to juggle school, the BSC, her relationship with Josh, and her 7th grade friends. As a result, Josh has been feeling left out. Trying to remedy this, they plan a triple date with Mary Anne, Logan, Stacey, and Ethan. Ethan's never been to Stoneybrook before, so Stacey's nervous about it. Josh is also really nervous, especially about meeting Ethan, who's 15 to his 12. (I don't blame him... that's a decent age difference when you're 12, and they're dating two best friends who are the same age. Talk about pressure...) Despite all this, the date goes pretty well.

Mrs. Kishi has also been invited to attend a library convention in Chicago, and Mr. Kishi's going along so they can visit some of their old friends while there. They ask Claudia and Janine if they'd feel okay about staying home alone from Thursday to Sunday. Both girls agree. Janine has broken up with Jerry recently, and been feeling lonely lately. She's trying really hard to bond with Claudia now, even making them a list of activities to do together while their parents are gone. 

Josh tells Claudia he was too nervous to have much fun on the date, and that he feels like he only exists in part of her life. She explains how torn she feels between the different aspects of her life. Talking this over gives her the idea to have a big party to bring all her friends together for once. Now all she has to do is convince Janine. Claud asks her if it's ok to invite her BSC and 7th grade friends over on Saturday night. Janine agrees that there's no harm in a simple gathering. After all, their parents never said they couldn't have friends over... Claudia's excited about her party, figuring there will be about 10-12 guests, and gets busy planning some icebreaker games. 

Once Saturday night rolls around, however, Claudia's shocked to see tons of kids she didn't invite... word has gotten out. Her and Janine are worried about having enough food, but everyone does seem to be mingling together and having fun. (Mal does accidently break a vase though.) The party isn't much fun for Claudia though... thanks to all the extra people, she spends the whole time running around making food, organizing, and keeping an eye on everything. She has no time to actually spend with her guests, or to relax. Things get much worse when Peaches, Russ, and Lynn show up unexpectedly in the midst of all this. Peaches is furious, sending everyone home, then lecturing and grounding both girls.

Once Peaches and Russ leave, Claudia and Janine start cleaning up the trashed house. Janine immediately turns on Claudia and blames her for everything, even though she was into the party idea from the beginning. 

The next day, Stacey stops by with a new vase the BSC pulled together to buy. Soon after their parents return, and the sisters confess everything. 

Claudia gives Josh a candy bouquet and some certificates for "Claudia time" to make up for ignoring him at the party. They hang out after school, and when they run into Kristy and Mary Anne, Claudia realizes that all her friends already fit together pretty well.

Side plot: Bill and Melody Korman are fighting a lot (aka actually acting like normal siblings/kids!). 

Timeline:

No dates or seasons mentioned, but it's probably fall.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Vicki Berger Erwin.

*Mallory's still being teased, and Claudia notices she has dark circles under her eyes. 

*Janine and Jerry's break up was her idea, and after Super Special #15, I'm very glad to hear this. 

*In this book Janine is back to knowing about Claudia's junk food stash, as she usually does.

*Janine calls channel surfing "channel swimming", haha. 

*Spaghetti is one of Claudia's favorite foods.

*I felt really bad for Janine in here. She was trying so hard to spend time with Claudia and relate to her, and Claudia was so clearly not interested. 

*Carolyn Keene is Claudia's favorite author? I'm not surprised, of course, but I wonder if she knows there's actually no such person.

*Stacey's one of the kids at the party who tries to balance a pizza box on their head? I don't think she'd put something like that near her hair...

*Considering how Peaches acted in #78, I'm surprised she didn't just join the party when she came over, instead of busting the girls...

*We never find out Claudia and Janine's punishment.

Books mentioned:

*Ramona Quimby, Age 8, by Beverly Cleary 

My rating:

2.5 stars. Not bad, just really boring. 

#117: Claudia and the Terrible Truth

 

Thoughts before reading:

Well, I know the basic plot of this very infamous book already, and I'm really not excited to read about child abuse. I am, however, curious how this very vanilla and idyllic series is going to tackle this subject matter. I thought by the time I got closer to this one, I would be able to picture it better, but that hasn't been the case. 

The basics:

Baby Lynn is staying with the Kishis while Peaches and Russ take their first vacation since she was born. Claudia's thrilled, and so are all her friends when they arrive for the BSC meeting and she's there. During that meeting, Mrs. Nicholls (introduced briefly in #116) calls for the first time. She needs a sitter for her two boys, 7 year old Joey and 5 year old Nate. Claudia gets the job.

Claudia really looks forward to it, but right off the bat, things are a little odd. The Nicholls house is completely spotless, and both boys are really jumpy. When she takes them next door to play with Stephen Stanton-Cha, they keep running to the window every time they hear a car, worried it's their dad. Eventually Claudia gives up and takes them home, where Joey immediately destroys the note Claudia left saying where they had gone. Even Mrs. Nicholls seems nervous about it when she gets home and Claud mentions that they went out. By the time she leaves, Claudia's feeling pretty uneasy herself. 

Shortly after, Mrs. Nicholls calls again and asks Claudia to be their regular sitter, which she agrees to. (I thought this wasn't allowed?) On the next job, Claudia brings her kid kit, which the boys love. They still exhibit weird behaviors though... letting her win at games, getting nervous if any tiny item in the house is out of place, and panicking if they mess anything up. Claudia assumes they must have had some terrible experience with a past babysitter that's made them nervous. That is, until Mr. Nicholls arrives home early and gets upset about the peanut butter being open on the counter. Claudia explains that she did it and he relaxes, explaining he thought it was one of his "dumb slobby sons". 

Whenever she encounters Mr. Nicholls, he's charming and friendly to Claudia, but she notices he's harsh with his wife, even in front of her. She continues to struggle to get Nate and Joey to relax and enjoy anything. They also have a ton of rules, like no talking during meals, and they tell her they aren't allowed to have stuffed animals, which she finds sad.

Claudia starts to become more and more unsettled by the Nicholls family situation as time goes on. She brings it up to the BSC, but they all agree it's not her place to question how someone raises their kids (a good call generally, but since when is this their default?? They interfere in family business ALL the time!). 

Meanwhile, Kristy decides she wants to do something with clients for the St. Patrick's Day parade. Claudia decides to include the Nicholls boys, thinking it will be good for them, but when she shows up to babysit for them one day, Mr. N tells her they can't go to the planning session because they've misbehaved. Instead they have to do chores while she supervises, and they can't watch tv or have a snack. Claudia later asks them why they're being punished, and Joey tells her he touched his dad's briefcase. She's in disbelief, and tries to make them feel better by helping them clean and making things fun. 

When Mr. N gets home that day, he's already in a foul mood, and practically pushes Claudia out the door. She realizes she forgot her jacket though, so she dashes back in. The boys and Mr. N are in the garage, and she already hears him yelling at them. She also hears a sharp noise that sounds like a slap. Not wanting to leave the boys, she creeps in their direction. Both boys are crying, and Mr. N notices her and just calmly offers her a ride home. Stunned, she runs out of the house and goes looking for her BSC friends. 

Immediately, she calls an emergency BSC meeting, and shares the whole story of everything she's witnessed. Everyone agrees that she should tell her mom, and they'll stay for moral support while she does. Once Mrs. Kishi gets home, Claudia invites her up to the meeting and explains again. Mrs. K listens intently and tells the girls how hard it can be to prove child abuse. However, she wants to help in any way she can, first by talking to Mrs. Nicholls and a social worker. (Mrs. N works at the library with her, so they already know each other.)

The next day, Claudia's distracted during school, wondering about her mom's talk with Mrs. N, only to find out when Mrs. K finally gets home from work that it didn't go well. Mrs. N denied everything, and just said her husband was a little strict. Mrs. Kishi says now all she can do is call the Department of Children's Services. 

Mrs. Nicholls calls Kristy and cancels all her BSC appointments. 

Over a week later, Erica Blumberg calls Claudia from the Nicholls house. She knows Claudia used to babysit for them, and wants her help now because she doesn't know what to do. When she arrived, Mr. Nicholls told her the boys were being punished, so to just leave them in their room alone. She later heard them crying, so she went to check on them, only to find Joey with a black eye and Nate covered in bruises. Claudia promises to help, and immediately calls her mom at work. Mrs. Kishi thanks her and says she's going to get the boys out of the house. Claudia decides to ride over there too, and arrives just in time to see her mom pull up with Mrs. Nicholls. Unfortunately, Mr. Nicholls is already there too. Claudia hears a crash from inside the house, then Erica and the boys run out. Mrs. Kishi and Mrs. Nicholls follow, and Mrs. K orders everyone to get into her car. They do, but Mr. N thankfully doesn't come out or try to follow them.

Mrs. Kishi drops Erica off at her house, then drives the rest of them to Stamford, to Mr. Kishi's office, because Mr. Nicholls won't be able to find them there. Mrs. Nicholls thanks everyone, and explains that she still loves her husband, and didn't want things to come down to this. Now that they have, she's decided to stay with her sister in upstate New York for awhile. The Kishis drive back to Stoneybrook, get her car, and stock it up with gas and snacks. 

After they leave, Claudia and her mom sit in their car and cry together. 

At midnight that night, Claudia's woken up by her phone ringing. It's Mr. Nicholls, screaming "give me back my wife!" into the phone. He then starts to cry. Claudia hangs up, then lays in bed wide awake for the rest of the night. 

Erica comes to the next BSC meeting, and the girls discuss the importance of telling adults right away if they ever face something like this again. Mrs. Kishi also comes by to tell them that Mrs. Nicholls got a restraining order against her husband, and Mr. N has admitted to his "problem" and agreed to get counseling. 

Claudia decides to buy each boy a stuffed animal. 

Timeline:

It's March. This begins on the first day of the month.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles. 

*Lynn is now 6 months old, and apparently the only character who still ages.

*Is there going to be a BSC event for every little holiday now? In a few books, the side plot will probably be about arbor day...

*Claudia and all the kids in Stoneybrook have such idyllic lives, it's hard for her to even comprehend that kids could be afraid of a parent. Lucky her.

*Since when is Pow old? That's never been mentioned before.

*I really like Mrs. Kishi, and the way she handled this situation. She seems like such a good mom. I also loved that the girls involved a parent for once, instead of trying to do something on their own. 

*Kristy did a report on child abuse in social studies? That is hard to picture, as it's never been even hinted at in the series before.

*The sections about the St. Patrick's Day parade and planning are painfully out of place in here. I wish they'd just had baby Lynn staying over be the side plot.

*It doesn't make any sense that abusive parents would hire all these random babysitters. If they both had to work and needed childcare, I'd expect them to have the boys at daycare or an after school program instead, where they wouldn't be one-on-one with anyone else. 

*This book wasn't an enjoyable read, by any means, but it was nice to see more of the Kishi family, and have someone's parents be around and involved. 

Books mentioned:

*Encyclopedia Brown, by Donald J. Sobol

*The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown

*Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes

My rating:

No rating. Based on enjoyment, it would be a zero, because this was really hard to read, and it hit a little too close to home. However, the actual story doesn't deserve that rating. It was better in many ways than I expected. I appreciate what this book was trying to do, and it was much darker and more realistic than I thought it would be. I can't imagine kids reading and enjoying this, but maybe it's helped someone. It is nice to think that maybe some future babysitters learned something from this story at least. 

#113: Claudia Makes Up Her Mind

 

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. 

Mystery #32: Claudia and the Mystery in the Painting

 

Thoughts before reading:

Only four more mysteries to go after this one!

The basics:

Claudia's at the library, doing some research on Grandmother Madden, a famous artist who used to live in Stoneybrook, because she just got a job babysitting for her great-grandson. His mom, Rebecca Madden, has recently inherited her grandma's house and is prepping it for sale. (There sure are a lot of famous people in and around Stoneybrook...) Claud's mom steps in to help her, and together they learn that Grandmother Madden died six years ago, she taught art in Stoneybrook, her folk art style was roasted by art critics until folk art came back into vogue. She then sold a painting for six figures. Her work featured incredible detail, down to cobwebs and pet's whiskers. After she died, there was a five year battle over her will. Her last show was a disaster, and she destroyed all her late paintings. When word got out, her older works doubled in value. 

On her first sitting job with Jimmy, who's 7, Claudia finds him to be really quiet and sulky. Claudia gets him to show her the art studio, which is full of paintings by GM's students. Claudia finds one she loves, of a Japanese woman wearing a kimono. She's smiling like she has a secret, and reminds Claudia of Mimi. 

While she's looking around, Jimmy's busy pretending to paint. Claudia asks him about it, and he says he's not very good at art, and his dad gets mad at his mom whenever she talks about wanting to paint. (He sounds lovely...) She wonders what he means by this exactly, but they're distracted by someone outside on the porch. It's an Asian-American man who says he works for the company helping Ms. Madden with the estate sale, but when Claudia goes to tell her, he leaves. (She's working on the house while Claudia's sitting.) Ms. Madden reassures her it was probably Mr. Ogura, who's helping her price items. 

During the brief time they were talking, Jimmy's gone missing. Claudia finds him crying outside in his treehouse, because he thought the visitor was going to be his dad. Claudia comforts him and takes him back inside. His mom says she's taking him to NYC the next day so he can see his dad. She also hires more of the BSC to help with some things around the house. Claudia wants to ask her about the painting of the Japanese woman too, but when they return to the studio, it's gone. Nothing else seems to be missing, so Ms. Madden reassures Claud that she likely just forgot where she put it. 

The next day, when the girls show up at the Madden house, the same man is there. He assures them that he is Mr. Ogura, so they let him in, but then he gets a phone call and immediately leaves again. Not long after, a woman who looks very similar to Ms. M shows up asking about the estate sale. Luckily she pulls up with Jimmy right after, but the woman leaves without talking to her. 

Everyone gets to work helping organize the house. Mary Anne finds a hollow book with the scathing review of GM's NYC show inside, and the catalog that lists all her works. Ms. M wistfully tells the girls how hard she worked on her paintings, and how many of them fit together to form larger paintings. 

The next day, when Claudia arrives for work, there's another man there: youngish, blond, and grumpy. He gruffly tells her that he's Rebecca's husband, and he'll be sorting through the paintings, so she should work elsewhere. As she's leaving the room, Claudia finds a list of paintings on the floor. Someone has crossed some off the list, and checked others. She searches for the catalog to compare them, but is unable to find it anywhere. 

While she's looking, Jimmy and Mal come in with a cat they found at the treehouse, and it has an injured paw. Jimmy's the most excited Claudia's ever seen him too. The cat's wearing a collar with the name Goldie on it. Ms. M walks in and gasps with shock when she sees it... apparently GM had a cat named Goldie. 

Meanwhile, Abby's (very reluctantly) taken a job helping set up a children's room at the Stoneybrook museum. (She was the only BSC member free.) It's called the Kaleidoscope Room, and Abby's job is to bring a few kids by and try out different activities with them. It's a disaster, though: the director, Mrs. O'Neal, is stuffy and doesn't want the kids to make any mess, even while doing art... which of course they do.

Claudia visits the museum to take a turn helping, and explains to the director that kids need freedom to explore and create, so they can discover art is fun. (All true, and Claudia handles this very maturely.) Claud also chats with her about GM. Mrs. O'Neal turns out to be a big fan, and tells Claudia that there's a golden cat hidden in each picture, and that each of her paintings is 10x10, and fits together with 3 others to form a bigger picture. There's one GM painting in the Stoneybrook museum, so Claud goes to see it, and finds Mr. Ogura and the woman who looks like Rebecca already there. They're measuring it, then quickly depart after. 

At the next BSC meeting, the other girls tell Claudia that they also saw Mr. Ogura snooping around at the house, and a delivery man came by with packages for Ms. M that looked like paintings. 

Her next day at the Maddens', Claudia finds the missing painting in an empty trash can. Jimmy starts crying and says that he accidently knocked it over that first day, causing the painting to chip, so he hid it. Claudia assures him that it's not a big deal. He also tells her about a hidden cabinet with more paintings inside, and shows it to her. They explore it together, and Claudia finds one she thinks could be a GM. She pulls it out to show Ms. M, but bumps into Mr. Ogura on the way. He (literally) grabs the painting away from her, then takes off while she's distracted. 

Claudia heads back to the library to compare the list she found to a book about GM's work. She notices the paintings with check marks are all in museums, and the ones with lines are all owned by individuals, privately. Mr. Ogura is also noted to own one. 

Next, she decides to check out the company Mr. O works for. When she arrives, they are her if she wants "Old Mr. O or young". Puzzled, she says young, but he isn't in. She does run into Jimmy's dad, Mr. Cook, who isn't very happy to see her. He's carrying the painting Mr. O took off with. Claudia decides to wait outside, since this is all so strange, but she doesn't see anything else while there.

At the official opening for the Kaleidoscope Room, Claudia sees Stacey picking at her chipped nails and complaining... which gives her the idea that the painting Jimmy knocked over might have chipped because something was underneath. (Weird connection, but okay...) GM could have hidden her paintings by letting her students paint over them! 

Early the next day, Claudia heads over to the Madden house to test her theory. No one's home, so she lets herself in. Right as she's starting to study the portrait of the Japanese woman, the Ms. M look alike shows up right behind her. She grabs a stack of paintings and starts raving about how they're hers, finally announcing that she's Suzanne Madden, Rebecca's cousin. Then Mr. Ogura shows up and also tries to take the paintings. Claudia's grabbed by them and quickly stuffed into the storage closet. (I'm surprised that the BSC members ever leave their homes after all the crazies they've dealt with by now.)

Awhile later, Jimmy and his dad get home and let her out. She tells them what happened in a rush, and then they call the police. Suzanne and Mr. Ogura are both caught, and Claudia learns that GM and Mr. Ogura Sr. were friends, and he bought one of her paintings, so Mr. Ogura Jr. knew what they looked like, AND his brother took lessons from GM, so he knew about the painted over canvases too. Claudia's theory was correct. The pair has been working together to steal the paintings, but thankfully they are all recovered.

Rebecca gets accepted to art school.

Also, once the kids are free to make any art they like at the museum, Mrs. O'Neal is amazed by what they can do. She lets the BSC pick pieces to make a Children's Gallery in the museum. 

Timeline:

I guess it's summer again? No one seems to go to school in here, as they're always babysitting or working on the house. 

Misc. thoughts:

*Claudia made her mom tiny book earrings, and the books really open! I'm super jealous...

*It sounds so weird when they say things from the early books weren't very long ago, like Mimi passing away. It's been forever from a reader's POV, and over a decade in real time.

*Haha, when Claudia starts wondering if there are still hidden paintings somewhere, her mom asks if she's been reading Nancy Drew again. I always knew the Kishis must have some idea about her hidden habits.

*Claudia wants to draw a BSC meeting, GM style, with all the little details. This is actually a really cool idea. I would have gone completely crazy for a poster like that as a kid.

*I like that Rebecca Madden was home working during all the babysitting jobs in here. It's so much more realistic a situation with babysitters who are in junior high. 

*This was at least better than the other recent mysteries, if only because there was a lot of information and a lot going on, which made it much easier to get through. Plus, I really liked the idea of Grandmother Madden and her paintings. They sound like the kind of art I would love too... I wish she was real, because her paintings sound amazing.

*Abby brought Jamie Newton, the Arnold twins, and Corrie Addison to the museum that first time, and they were all disappointed that it was her and not Claudia, haha.

*A mystery revolving around paintings and an estate sale seems like a weird choice for the elementary school set to me, but I think I would have still liked this when I was a kid.

*Mary Anne gets the job of sorting books for the sale, and she's getting paid for it! I'd love to do that, even now.

*If a famous artist lived in Stoneybrook, even though it was awhile ago, wouldn't Claudia have known about her and be interested in her work before now? She's taken so many art classes, some of them would definitely have mentioned/taught a famous local artist. Especially taking into account that GM also taught art in the area.

*Margo's creative like her sisters, it's just never been mentioned before for some reason. In here she makes snake princesses out of clay, and has a whole story to go with them. 

*Ghostwritten by Vicki Berger Erwin? A new ghostie! It's pretty late in the game for that, isn't it?

Books mentioned:

*Primitive Artists of the Twentieth Century

*Folk Art 

(Both fictional, but very similar to several real titles.)

My rating:

3 stars. This wasn't bad... it was very readable, and had a full plot, something of a rarity now. However, the "painted over paintings" idea was used before, in Mallory and the Mystery Diary. So was the spooky, randomly appearing cat idea.