Friends Forever #9: Kristy and the Kidnapper

 

Thoughts before reading:

This series has been a real let down for me, and this sounds like another mediocre entry. 

The basics:

Kristy and Abby have just gotten into debating (a perfect hobby for them!), and they are going to a conference in DC for 4 days. Shortly after arriving, Kristy sees Terry Hoyt, who briefly lived in Stoneybrook. He's going by the name David Hawthorne, and insists he's not who Kristy thinks he is. (Terry Hoyt was only in Mystery #10 previously, where he dated Stacey and she learned about his family.)

The girls are rooming together with a girl named Melissa (the annoying girl from #97 who latched onto Claudia). Melissa's dating a boy named Lucas, who she met at summer camp. As luck would have it, Lucas is friends with David Hawthorne. Due to this, Kristy sees David frequently but it quickly becomes clear that he's avoiding her for some reason. 

For her first debate, Kristy is (predictably) on a team with David. Their topic is pro: cats are better pets than dogs. Her team ends up winning. 

Since Stacey briefly dated "David" when he was in Stoneybrook, Kristy calls her to ask about him. Stacey sounds strange during the call, and doesn't provide much information, but Kristy doesn't think much of it. 

Later that night, she decides to meet up with her team to practice. On the way, she runs into David. He tells her she needs to leave immediately because he's being followed, so of course she does the opposite and stays with him. Sure enough, a man in dark glasses turns up behind them repeatedly, no matter which direction they go. He ends up cornering them and trying to grab David, while saying his father is going to pay. Kristy finally runs for help, but when they return, David and the man are both nowhere to be found. Everyone runs outside, just in time to see the man trying to push David into a car. The man pushes David down when he sees them coming and flees alone. 

David tells Kristy not to tell the police about what the man said, about making his father pay. He then admits to her that he was in fact Terry Hoyt, and that his dad is in the Secret Service. 

After this incident, Mr. Hawthorne has two SS agents follow Kristy and David everywhere they go. He also has them look through photos to identify the kidnapper. They find a match with a man named Lance Dibdin, a computer hacker, caught by Mr. Hawthorne, and later freed on a technicality. 

Kristy and Abby both make it to the finals in their debates. (They also bicker this entire book, just because they're assigned opposite ends of the debate topic.) 

During one day of the trip, Kristy takes a smaller group trip to a museum. When she returns to the hotel, she finds out David went missing two hours before. Not much later, however, she spots him in the lobby. Turns out, he just gave his agent the slip because he was tired of being followed. After this, his father sticks around to personally watch him. 

At the debate finals, Kristy and Abby end up actually assigned to debate against each other. Predictably, they end up fighting much more than debating. After, Kristy spots Lance Dibdin in the audience. Chaos quickly follows, but Dibdin is caught and arrested. 

Kristy's debate team wins first place. Mr. Hawthorne takes her and Abby to the white house, where he apparently works now. 

Timeline:

Sometime in the spring, March or April.

Misc. thoughts:

*Why does this book even exist? We already know about Terry Hoyt and his father's job from Stacey's POV, and now we have to go through it again just because Kristy doesn't know? Then add to that this terribly ridiculous kidnapping revenge scheme, and this book reads like one of the absolute worst of the mystery books. 

*Lucas and Melissa drive Kristy insane the whole trip by being lovey-dovey, as well as with their constant PDA. 

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.

*Kristy and Abby were both so annoying and immature in here, that it only made this terrible plot even worse. They're too old to fight just because they're assigned opposite sides of a topic, especially since Kristy was assigned to a position she doesn't even believe in! She likes dogs much better than cats in reality. More unlikeable, ridiculous behavior. 

*I hate to say it, but this entire series seems like a blatant cash grab to me by this point. They clearly had no ideas for it whatsoever, so the only reason to even try it would have been for the money. 

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

0 stars. I absolutely HATED this book. It was so boring, painfully dumb, there was zero plot, recycled storylines that weren't interesting the first time... this whole thing was a bad flashback to the mystery series, which I had happily left behind. 

Friends Forever #5: Kristy Power!

 

Thoughts before reading:

I hope this is better than it sounds.

The basics:

Kristy's English teacher is on maternity leave, and she has a new, young teacher who insists the kids call him Ted. They're studying biographies, and he gives out two assignments: biography and fiction reading. They first have to read a book from a list, then write about what it meant to them. Then they have to write a biography of a classmate. Ted assigns the partners for the biography at random, and Kristy and Cary are both horrified to discover they're partners. They try to tell Ted that there's no way they can work together, but he just seems amused. 

Cary and Kristy have no choice but to agree to a truce. Kristy still has a hard time finding out info on Cary though, since he gives her mainly sarcastic answers to her questions. Even when she goes to his house, his little brothers aren't much help. She finds herself looking around his room for inspiration, and snoops by reading a notebook that's open on his desk. It turns out to be a journal, and the page mentions him having been kicked out of his old school. Kristy feels guilty for reading it and doesn't mention anything about it. 

Meanwhile, Ted's fallen into trouble for the book list he handed out, because it contains banned books and was never approved by the administration. Some of the parents accuse him of "corrupting the morality" of their kids. He gets suspended, even though most of the students, parents, and other teachers don't agree with that decision. (Elizabeth and Watson are among those who contact the school to help him.) 

When Cary comes over to interview Kristy's family, her brothers tell him a bunch of embarrassing stories about her. She gets flustered and blurts out that she knows he got kicked out of his past school. To her surprise, Cary's hurt. Seeing this, she decides he isn't so bad after all, and she now feels really guilty. 

Kristy tells her English classmates that they need to step up and help Ted. Everyone agrees that they need to defend freedom of speech, and they plan to attend his school board meeting. She goes with her parents, and there's a lot of other students with their families as well. Many people speak up on his behalf, including Mrs. Kishi and Kristy. It's decided that Ted can return to teaching, pending a final decision. 

It later comes out that what Kristy read at Cary's house was a novel he's writing. Now she's the one who's angry, because Cary has tricked her yet again. He tells her (rightly) that she still had no right to read his notebook. 

Ted ends up getting his job back. 

Kristy throws a Christmas party, with her parents permission, and it becomes something of a BSC reunion too, because Jessi, Mal, Abby, and Shannon all come. She also finally makes up with Cary.

Timeline:

It's December.

Misc. thoughts:

*Nannie loves MTV? That's a new detail. I have no idea what shows they had on during this time, but that's pretty funny.

*I actually like the books about school projects usually, because I liked being assigned creative projects in school. This one was pretty boring though. The series has done censorship and banned books a few times already, so it was a weird plot choice. Did we really need another one, especially with so few books left?

*I wish we got to read the whole book list though, because I was really curious.

*Other assigned partners include Alan and Cokie, Claudia and Jeremy, Logan and Rachel. 

*Cary has posters of Salvador Dali and Esher in his room.

*Cary has to take the bus home with Kristy, which he normally doesn't do... but in Mystery #36, he lived right by her. It's also said specifically that she has to ride her bike to his house.

*It's interesting that Mrs. Kishi is against censorship and spoke up for Ted, since she censors what her own daughter reads. 

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.

*Stacey and Claudia are still arguing about Jeremy, and being really obnoxious.

Books mentioned:

*A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

*The Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger

*A Life of Discovery, by Russell Freedman

*The Outsiders, by S. E. Hinton

*The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck

*A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein 

*To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

*Homecoming, by Cynthia Voight

My rating:

2.5 stars. Nothing new here. 

Friends Forever #1: Kristy's Big News

 

Thoughts before reading:

I don't know much of anything about the rest of this series, so we'll see. This one sounds promising at least. 

The basics:

Kristy's enjoying a family dinner when her father, Patrick, shocks everyone by calling. He has some big news: he's getting married again, and wants Kristy, Sam, and Charlie to come to his wedding. Charlie promptly hangs up, while Sam and Kristy reluctantly agree. Patrick's unbothered, saying he knew they wouldn't let him down, and he's sending them plane tickets ASAP. He doesn't even mention or invite poor David Michael. Charlie's (understandably) furious, and tells the others he won't go and can't believe they are. David Michael, of course, hears all this and keeps begging to go. It falls on Elizabeth to tell him he can't, and to try and explain. She also decides that if Charlie doesn't go, Sam and Kristy also can't. This gets Kristy upset, because she really wants to go, and thinks this will be an important turning point with Patrick. She explains to Charlie why it's important to her, and he agrees to go, for her and Sam's sake. 

It's not long before the tickets to California, where Patrick's still living, arrive, and the three are on their way to Sausalito. They arrive there to find things very different from what they expected. Their father is now a chef, has a big fancy house, and seems to be together now, although he offers them no apologies or explanations for the past. In fact, it's quite the opposite... he's easily angered by Charlie's open hostility towards him, still fails to even mention David Michael, and is clearly still a very selfish person. They do all like Zoey, his fiancé, who proves to be very warm and kind.

Patrick asks Sam and Charlie to be his best men, which Charlie angrily declines, much to Patrick's annoyance. He also refuses to go tux shopping, so Sam and Patrick go together, and end up picking out ugly yellow-orange suits. (I can't even picture what this would look like exactly, haha.) When Zoey, Charlie, and Kristy all agree that the suits are hideous, Patrick gets angry again. All this makes Kristy remember how easily angered her dad always was when he didn't get his way, or even when she didn't understand something right away. 

The next day, everyone goes together to get new tuxes. Patrick sulks and acts bored the whole time, like a put out little kid. Zoey finally snaps him out of it, to Kristy's relief. She's unsettled to realize she likes Zoey better than her own father. (Which begs the question, why is this nice woman marrying this loser?) Another day, Patrick wants the kids to go spend time with Zoey while he goes windsurfing, and isn't thrilled when she suggests he take them to Angel Island instead. (Why spend time with the kids you abandoned, after all?)

Kristy also learns that her and her brothers are Patrick's only family attending the wedding. His parents died before she was even born, and his younger brother declined to come because of a fight they had awhile back. Zoey also mentions that her and Patrick want kids, which leaves Kristy feeling sick and angry. 

Patrick ends up losing his temper with Charlie completely after an innocent comment (Charlie calls his tie a noose) and asks him if he could just "behave like a good son". Charlie responds that he never behaved like a good father, and Patrick has the nerve to then say they never gave him the chance because they didn't stay in touch! He even blames Elizabeth for how things have ended up, and calls Charlie spoiled. Kristy jumps in to defend Charlie, citing all he's done for the family. 

All this goes down right before the rehearsal dinner, which Patrick ends up leaving for alone. The three kids talk things over, and Sam points out that Patrick will never live up to their expectations. They all agree it's best to just not have any. Kristy thinks that it's this moment and realization when she finally gives up on the idea of Patrick as her dad. They decide to go to the rehearsal, for Zoey. 

Later that night, Kristy talks to Zoey and tells her about how their father just walked out on them. To her surprise, Zoey already knows. (To my surprise too! She really wants to make more kids with this guy??) She also says Patrick has grown up a lot since then, but will probably always be a bit of a kid, and she thinks he's learned from his mistake. (I don't! If he has then why is he blaming the kids and Elizabeth for it?) 

Charlie still declines to be a best man, but Sam goes ahead and does it, and Charlie even makes a brief toast at the reception. Kristy dances with Patrick, and he thanks her for coming. 

Back in Stoneybrook when everything's over, Kristy tells her mom all about the trip. Elizabeth isn't angry, and wishes Patrick and Zoey well, sincerely. This makes Kristy realize her mom loves her life and is truly happy. (Not to mention, Elizabeth is the much bigger person.) 

Later, Kristy talks things over with the BSC (by which I now only mean Stacey, Claudia, and Mary Anne... how weird is that??). She admits that although she loves her father, she doesn't like him. They sympathize and agree he's the one missing out on life, since if anything gets hard he just leaves. 

Timeline:

It's August. 

Misc. thoughts:

*No chapter 2 recap! No babysitting chapters! No side plots! This book is about Kristy alone, and we don't have any idea what's going on with the others back in Stoneybrook, or what babysitting jobs they have. It was really nice.

*Another nice change in this series already? The adults are actually around, and they watch their own kids! There's also parenting! Crazy, right? For instance, in a BSC series book, it would be Kristy explaining things to David Michael and trying to fix everything. Watson and Elizabeth would probably be off at an estate sale the whole time. I love that instead the adults are actually around now, and the 13 year old's are back to being kids. 

*I really, really hate Patrick. Poor David Michael. I really wish the fact that he just completely forgot about him had been addressed more. 

*Patrick apparently couldn't even pick Sam, Charlie, and Kristy up from the airport. He leaves them a car and directions to his house instead. 

*Charlie's anger and hostility is completely justified in my opinion, and I think Patrick really gets off easy. 

*I would love to read this story from Elizabeth's POV. I wonder what she was thinking this whole time, and what her and Watson had to say about it, away from the kids.

*Kristy says she wants to wear a tuxedo someday, like Princess Diana. 

*All I could think about while reading this was, thank god these kids have Watson. Also, I'd love to read a scene where Watson tells Patrick what he thinks of him...

*I already said it, but I have to again... the biggest mystery of this book is why Zoey wants to marry Patrick. She must be really lonely? Yet she seems perfectly nice and sweet... I'm sure she could do way better.

*Watson's paying for Charlie's college tuition. Aww. That's a real man and father for you.

*I liked seeing more of Charlie in here, as he's one of my favorite characters. It was also nice, and so overdue, to see how Patrick leaving has affected each of them, likely for the rest of their lives. Charlie's angry, which is 100% realistic, since he remembers the most, and as the oldest, sacrificed the most. As a result, he's grown up to be easy going and reliable, the real man that his father never will be. Sam's (heartbreakingly!) trying to get his dad's attention any way he can, and I'm sure this is why he comes off as such a goof. It will probably affect his relationships too, as his dad leaving him has clearly made him insecure and in need of extra attention/validation. Kristy's conflicted on how to feel, hence the bossiness... she takes control of everything she can control. 

*It was also interesting to see what kind of person Patrick is. Lends insight into what happened back when he walked out.

*I can't believe Patrick even wants to have more kids. He's clearly completely delusional... I really don't see him doing any better the second time around. He hasn't changed at all, if he's blaming his actions on his ex-wife, or on his kids for not keeping in touch... after he abandoned them and moved across the country?? It's infuriating how he can't own up to his mistakes or apologize, even after all this time.

*Kristy thinks that Patrick and Sam are similar, taking things lightly, avoiding what's hard or unpleasant. While this is technically true, I don't think it's fair. Sam has a lot more substance, and we've already seen his sweet, serious side. He isn't impatient or quick to anger either. I think he's just eager to please, mainly because of being fatherless. 

*Patrick and Zoey walk down the aisle to "Take me out to the ball game". How lame.

*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker.

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

4 stars. This was sad and infuriating in turns, but this story was long overdue. I'm very interested to see what the FF books do next, as this was a very solid start. I loved how all the formulaic aspects of the BSC series were removed, and replaced by a focus on character development, family relationships, and exploring old dynamics that we've heard little about before. 

#129: Kristy at Bat

 

Thoughts before reading:

The plots about sports/softball are my least favorite, so it's too bad that Kristy's last series book is one of them. Hopefully it'll be better than some of the others.

I like this cover though. Kristy looks really good on it, definitely one of her best ones.

The basics:

Spring break has arrived again, and Watson and Kristy are taking a vacation together to Bill Bain's Baseball Dream Camp. (Basically, a camp where you go and pretend to be a major league ball player.) They'll be attending a special father-daughter session. Bill Bain is Watson's childhood hero, and his favorite ball player since then, so it's extra special for him. 

Right before camp and the end of school, Kristy learns she's been demoted to the second string team (the middle school version of JV, sounds like). She's stunned, until the coach explains that other players had just shown more skill and determination than her. Then she realizes she didn't really try her best during tryouts, because she'd just assumed she would make it. Now that she feels like she's only "second best", Kristy loses all her excitement for Dream Camp. (Pretty ungrateful if you ask me.)

Shortly after Kristy and Watson arrive at the camp, he sees his idol, Bill Bain, in the dining area. After working up his courage, he goes up to him and introduces himself during lunch, only to have Bain say he doesn't like to be bothered at mealtimes, and not very nicely, either. Humiliated, he quickly returns to his own table. After this incident, Watson seems down, and Kristy's not sure how to help.

Spending time with Watson at the camp also makes Kristy think a lot about her dad, which in turn makes her feel guilty. She's still in a slump too, and not playing her best, but she does make an amazing hit one of the days, and she really wishes her dad had seen it. 

Bill Bain continues to be unfriendly, and is rarely around. When he is, he doesn't participate in anything. He even comes to a drill practice and snaps at the instructor. Kristy snaps back at him and tells him that he's let everyone who wanted to meet him down. She expects Watson to be proud of her, but instead he's angry that she was "rude to a legend like Bill Bain". 

On the last day of camp, everyone has a big final game together. Bill Bain shows up to coach, and he apologizes for being rude. Kristy hits a home run, Watson gets a run, and their team ends up winning.

At the final awards dinner, Kristy wins Best Coach.

Side plot: David Michael gets really into trading baseball cards.

Timeline:

It's early April.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.

*As much as this plot didn't interest me at all, it was nice that Kristy's last book was about her taking a trip with Watson. How far we've come since #1!

*The Brewer/Thomas clan has a baseball diamond in their side yard? Those are usually tiny! They must have some serious acreage, lucky kids...

*Abby's president of the BSC for the week that Kristy's gone. I'm surprised they tried this again after it led to the collapse of the BSC before.

*First base is Kristy's favorite position. 

*There's so much talk about Bill Bain in here, which was really boring since he only appears for the first time in this book, and he's a fictional player.

*Is Dream Camp a real thing? I've never heard of it before.

*Claudia appreciates baseball cards only as art objects, to David Michael's dismay, haha. 

*After all her years of playing and coaching, it really doesn't make any sense that Kristy would suddenly think she's a bad player just because of one tryout. Plus all her moping about it in here makes her seem like a bad sport.

*Leave it to Kristy to jump in and tell off Bill Bain, as well as help organize things at camp, make decisions, and call for votes. Hence the win for best coach at the end.

*I felt really bad for Watson after Bill Bain blew him off... he was all excited to meet him, like a little kid, and then he got so embarrassed.

*I liked that we saw more of Watson in here, and a different side of him as well. I just wish that it was in a more interesting plot.

*I wonder how old Watson is? The books never say, and Kristy makes him sound ancient, but then she says he's probably only a few years older than her mom! Her mom's only 37! So, since this is the perspective of a 13 year old, he's probably only like 40, haha. 

*This is Kristy's last regular series book, but of course she returns in Friends Forever. She also narrated 28 books, same as Claudia. 

*The time loop is more painfully obvious than normal in here, as we have a whole storyline about Kristy, an 8th grader, trying out for next year's softball team at SMS. She'd theoretically be in high school. I could be wrong about this, but it's already April, so I don't think it could be for the current school year.

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

2 stars. Another dud of a last book for me. 

#122: Kristy in Charge

 

Thoughts before reading:

This has to be one of the worst covers... those outfits, their facial expressions, the floating basketballs... I'm not sure which is worse. 

The basics:

SMS is participating in a new program called TOT: Teachers of Tomorrow, where students can volunteer to teach classes for three days. (Naturally, Kristy's first thought is to ask if she can be principal.) Anyone who takes a training course can sign up to do this. The BSC girls discuss it, and Kristy, Mallory, Mary Anne, and Stacey decide to take part. Abby, Jessi, and Claudia don't want to. (So much for Mary Anne being so shy...)

Kristy's assigned to teach 7th grade gym, Stacey gets 7th grade math, Mary Anne gets 7th grade social studies, and Mal gets 8th grade English. Everyone but Mal is happy with their classes... she's worried about teaching kids so much older than her, and gets really upset. Kristy promises to help because she and Mary Anne are both in the class she'll be teaching. 

The teacher Kristy's taking over for is Ms. Walden, a really stern teacher that no one likes much. She has a habit of picking on the unathletic kids, and the first thing she tells Kristy is to not expect much from the class. (Sadly, in my experience, this is how most gym teachers are.) Kristy's not only confident she won't have any problems, she thinks that after watching her in action Ms. Walden will learn a better way to deal with the students! She's so confident, in fact, that she hardly listens to any of the instructions, until she finds out she'll have to work with Mr. De Young's student teacher, because the class is co-ed. Naturally, this turns out to be none other than Cary Retlin. 

Abby warns Kristy to make a lesson plan like she was told to do, but Kristy shrugs her off, insisting that you don't really need one for gym. She walks into her first teaching session feeling completely prepared, but right off the bat she has to deal with Cary mimicking her. They tell the gym teachers that they don't want to work together, but they tell them it's taught jointly and that's that. Kristy's also planned a dance style warm up routine that she thought would be more fun for the girls, but Cary's still mocking her, so the kids don't take her seriously, many of them refusing to try it. He even gets most of the class doing a conga line instead. Then during the soccer game, he picks up the ball and just runs around with it. Kristy's fuming by the end of the period.

When she tells Abby about what happened, she tells Kristy not to take it so seriously. She was really set on wanting to show Ms. Walden how she could improve the class though, so she's furious that Cary ruined it. 

Later that day, Mal also has her first teaching session with Kristy's English class. She's so nervous that she keeps dropping the papers and blushing, so right away the kids don't take her seriously. When Mal writes a limerick on the board, her hands are visibly shaking, and she ends up breaking the chalk. Cokie and Grace keep calling her "Spaz Girl", and several other kids keep cracking jokes at her expense to make the class laugh. Mrs. Simon, the regular teacher, intervenes several times. Mal soldiers on until the end of class, but looks ready to cry at any moment. A few kids try to help her by asking thoughtful questions, only to be undermined by other kids asking mocking ones. To top all this off, someone starts circulating a limerick about Mal around the room.

The next day at school, Ms. Walden calls a meeting with Kristy, and advises her to make a combined lesson plan with Cary. Determined to be a success, Kristy works on a lesson plan, makes lists, and designs a whole new workout routine. She doesn't go over any of it with Cary though, knowing he'll just make snide comments. 

During her second gym class, the kids are listening better and actually participating. Even Cary's not being too bad, but Kristy's being her extra bossy self and blowing her whistle at the kids a lot. The kids refuse to get into the teams Kristy assigned them, and Cary undermines her by letting them pick. Kristy ends up coaching one team, and Cary the other... so predictably, she gets really competitive. The kids even end up literally fighting by the end. 

Kristy and Cary are sent to the principal, where Cary admits they got the kids too worked up, and they took cues from him and Kristy arguing constantly. Mr. Kingbridge yells at them that several students were hurt, and they might not even have the TOT program next year now. 

Mortified after being scolded, Kristy slips into English late. Mallory's teaching an Emily Dickinson poem, and the class is still heckling her. Kristy tries to help, but Mrs. Simon has to intervene, and ends up assigning the class a ten page paper on Emily Dickinson as punishment for their behavior. Of course this makes them even less fond of Mal, who ends up leaving in tears. Kristy later tells her that she's too nice to the kids, and she needs to come in and take control.

That afternoon, Kristy, Mary Anne, and Mal hang out and work on their new lesson plans together. Kristy decides to teach cooperation by having a pass-a-thon... a big game where the kids have to pass the ball to each other. (I'm extremely surprised Kristy and Cary are allowed to teach their final day after causing a big brawl, but that's Stoneybrook for you...)

The pass-a-thon is a success, and Ms. Walden is so pleased with their improvement that she tells them they can coach the kids for their big soccer game at the end of the unit. 

Unfortunately, Mal's last class doesn't go nearly as well. It's pretty chaotic still, the kids won't listen to her at all, and Ms. Simon has to step in and punish them again. Mal ends the class with a moving poetry reading, but the damage is done. Mal still feels terrible even after it's over, and the whole school is now calling her Spaz Girl.

Side plot: Vanessa Pike starts teaching poetry to her siblings.

Timeline:

No particular season is indicated, but since school is back in session it's probably September. 

Misc. thoughts:

*Seems like Abby and Kristy have been hanging out a lot, much more than Kristy and Mary Anne do. They don't even seem very close anymore.

*This book says Andrew's 5, but we're always told he's 4 usually, and I don't think he ever ages past that.

*Anna and Shannon have become good friends.

*Mallory's been reading a lot of Emily Dickinson lately, which is why she decides to teach her to her class.

*Kristy wants to use lesson plans for the BSC, haha... I can't say I'm surprised. 

*I didn't realize going into this book that it's the beginning of Mal having trouble at SMS and ultimately leaving, but that's clearly the case. Honestly though, the teasing isn't that bad... everyone goes through a time where they get picked on in school. You can't just run away from your problems. Don't get me wrong, I know being teased day after day is the worst, especially at this age, but just leaving school isn't going to teach her anything about overcoming her problems. 

*Claudia can't tell when Claire, a FIVE year old, spells "house" wrong. Wouldn't she have rudimentary spelling skills down just from reading all her Nancy Drews? Reading is the best way to learn spelling, and she does read... her academic problems seem like they've gotten more and more exaggerated as the series goes on.

*The situation in here with Mal really is ultimately the school's fault though. Why would you ever assign a 6th grader to teach 8th grade? Do they really think that's going to go well? Not to mention she's two years behind them... she doesn't know the subject matter, and obviously the kids are going to know that and take advantage. If they do the program every year, it should be 8th grade only, or at least 6th graders can only teach 6th grade classes. 

*Anna, Logan, Cokie, and Alan are all teaching classes also.

*It really annoys me how we're always told how shy Mary Anne is, but then she does all sorts of things a really shy person would never do, like signing up for this program. She's actually pretty outgoing. It seems like she just uses her shy label to avoid things she doesn't like or doesn't want to do.

*The English class Mal was teaching has both Alan Gray and Cokie in it! This girl never stood a chance...

*The limerick the class wrote about Mal:

There once was a Spaz Girl

named Mallory

She taught, but not for salary

Her joy was to aim

Deadly chalk and maim

Her students, like ducks in a shooting gallery.

*Despite being a 90s kid, I'd never heard of umbros before this book. Remember these?

Books mentioned:

*"The Jumblies" by Edward Lear

*"I'm nobody! Who are you?" by Emily Dickenson

*"Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost

My rating:

3 stars. This was better and more serious than I expected. Are these books getting better, or am I just already nostalgic for them?

Mystery #36: Kristy and the Cat Burglar

 

Thoughts before reading:

THE LAST ONE!! I won't be sad to see these go, and I won't be reading any of them again! I will definitely revisit other BSC books from time to time, but I can't see myself checking any of these out again, and this is probably the only "last" of this project that won't make me a little sad. 

The basics:

Kristy's babysitting for Karen and David Michael, enjoying a lazy summer day outside together. Karen wants to go see a house in the woods nearby that she thinks is spooky, and Kristy agrees to take them. Just after they arrive at the place, however, there's a loud noise like a shot. Before they can react much, the police are there. Sgt. Johnson is one of them (of course). Kristy's relieved to see him, but he in turn scolds her for being at a crime scene (finally a normal reaction!), and puts the kids in the back of his car. 

While waiting there, they can see and hear most of what's taking place outside. More cops arrive, and a man who says he's the security guard for the property, claiming he had only just stepped away. He checks the vault inside and confirms there's been a burglary... some diamonds are missing. Both he and Sgt. Johnson also received weird phone calls right before the incident. The house is owned by a man named Reinhart Golem, who's hardly ever there. Fenton, the security guard, says he's a loner who made a fortune but no one knows exactly how. 

During this discussion, Kristy notices there's a picture of a red cat on the mailbox and asks about it. Sgt. Johnson says there's a cat burglar in the area who's been robbing the homes of the very rich and then leaving a stenciled silhouette of a red cat behind. 

Before leaving, Kristy also sees Cary Retlin lurking around nearby, and notices a weird tension between Sgt. Johnson and his partner, Officer Hopkins, and Sgt. Winters (who basically shows up on the scene and just takes over). 

The next day, Kristy's called down to the police station for questioning. Sgt. Winters and Officer Hopkins meet her there, and ask a bunch of questions about Sgt. Johnson... that is, until he shows up. Kristy goes over what she saw that day with him again, which wasn't really much of anything. Cary Retlin is also there, being questioned. 

Once they're both finished, Cary convinced Kristy, along with Claudia and Mary Anne, to go with him to look at the house again. They poke around looking for clues, and Kristy ends up finding a bullet casing. Mary Anne discovers a bullet hole on the porch door. There's also a discarded red marker, presumably from the mailbox cat drawing. While snooping, the kids run into Golem. He's oddly not at all angry to find them there. Instead he's friendly and chats with them, so they show him the clues they found. He's impressed, and so are Sgt. Winters and Hopkins when Golem calls them over to see. They then grill Kristy about Sgt. Johnson again, and Kristy tells them she remembers seeing him driving down the road towards the house before the alarm went off. Winters tells her not to discuss the case with Sgt. J anymore. By this point, Cary's in a big hurry to go, and once they do, he tells Kristy that the bullet casing came from the same kind of pistol the police use. Kristy starts to wonder if Sgt. J could be involved somehow. 

Mallory does some research on the cat burglar, and learns that they've been operating on the East Coast for years now, usually pulling a huge heist, then lying low for a long time. 

Golem calls the girls during a BSC meeting to ask for their help with his mystery, and to tell them Sgt. Johnson's fingerprints were on a red marker found on his property. This prompts the girls to get busy looking for clues again. One of the things they find out via some library research is that Sgt. J was involved with Golem before. He investigated him for smuggling, but the case never went anywhere. 

Not long after, Kristy's questioned by Sgt. J again, and she notices he has a set of the same markers found at the scene, in every color but the red one. He also shows up at Claudia's to talk to the girls another time, and starts telling them how he hasn't done anything wrong. (More VERY inappropriate behavior! The adults in this book are all really creepily obsessed with the BSC.) He tells the girls that Winters and Hopkins are trying to frame him for the robbery. (I figured this from the start, but WTF is he doing driving to a teenage girl's house and then breaking down and telling them his problems??) In the midst of this, the chief of police shows up at Claudia's and arrests him. 

After this disturbing turn of events, the BSC starts to wonder if Golem used them to gather "clues" against Sgt. J, and that was why he was so friendly. They decide it must be Winters who's trying to set him up, so Kristy, Mary Anne, Abby, and Cary head over to Golem's to tell him their theory. While there, Cary and Kristy notice a rare blue Tiffany lamp in his house... one that the cat burglar infamously stole from a prince. (Why didn't the police catch this when they were there initially?!) Kristy makes an excuse so they can make a quick getaway, but Golem realizes that they've figured everything out and pushes a button that locks down the house, trapping them inside. The four kids fight back to attempt escape, but thankfully during the struggle the police show up. (The rest of the BSC had gone to Chez Maurice to look for Golem, and learned he ate there the day of the robbery, when he was supposedly in France.) 

Golem is promptly arrested, and Sgt. Johnson's name is cleared. Golem was indeed the cat burglar all along, and he was trying to frame Sgt. J as revenge for the time he investigated him. He planted the clues for the BSC to find, then used them to set up their own friend. 

From all this, the BSC (finally!!) realizes how dangerous all of this was, and they decide this will be their last mystery. 

Side plot: Charlotte's obsessed with Harriet the Spy and now wants to be a spy herself. 

Timeline:

It's still summer, likely late August.

Misc. thoughts:

*This book has the worst side plot of all time! This whole Harriet the Spy thing is so overused... making it a different character does not make it something new. Mallory used to do this all the time, and a few other kids have since.

*The Mancusis have a new parrot, Annabelle. 

*Mary Anne's handling the mystery notebook in here, but usually Mal does it. I'm not sure if it's an error or not though?

*Golem's interest in the BSC was so creepy in here! I know he was just using them, theoretically, but he even tried to take Kristy and Mary Anne out to a fancy dinner at one point. Wtf?

*Cary's dad used to be a cop, and is now a locksmith. 

*Kristy is questioned by the police countless times in here, and she never has a parent present, despite her being only 13... I'm not even sure if they know about it.

*Claudia hides her candy when Janine comes into her room, but it's been established in multiple books that Janine knows about her junk food. In an early book, she had some of her own stashed away too.

*Sgt. Johnson's behavior towards the BSC is so creepy and out of line in here that even Kristy says he's scaring them with how he's acting when he shows up at Claudia's. I wish we got to see Mrs. Kishi give him a piece of her mind...

*If anyone's interested, his full name is James Johnson.

*Apparently Cary Retlin likes bird watching? Or at least he claims to, but you can never be sure with him.

*At least the BSC members learn that they aren't real detectives and don't actually know what they're doing from this ordeal. It's about time! As silly as this book was, I like that their snooping and playing detective finally came back to haunt them, in the form of someone using it against them. They learn a lesson and decide to stop solving mysteries, a win-win, and a fitting end to the mystery series.

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles.

Books mentioned:

*Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh (for the millionth time...)

My rating:

2 stars. I can't believe they made 36 of these. 

Now it's just a straight shot to the end, 122-131... I expected to be excited to be this close, and back to just reading the regular series without countless interruptions, but I'm kind of sad! 

#118: Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer

 

Thoughts before reading:

We're right back to the usual light-hearted fare... this plot sounds so random, like the AMM just decided she wanted to promote the guide dog foundation one day by having a whole book written about it. 

The basics:

Kristy wakes up on a pleasant spring Saturday to find Watson looking over info on guide dogs. He explains that he and Elizabeth are thinking about getting one to train. One of his coworkers has a daughter who lost her sight, so the company wants to sponsor a dog, and Watson wants to get more personally involved by becoming a "puppy walker". That's the person who raises the future guide dog from 8 weeks to 14 months old. The dog then returns to the foundation and enters the formal guide dog training.

After passing their interview, Kristy's family gets a puppy named Scout, and they all start learning how to train her. 

Kristy tells the BSC the news, and they all start thinking about Deb Cooper, the girl who inspired the project. She's 12, goes to school with Shannon, and lost her eyesight due to glaucoma. Of course, now that it's relevant to the plot, the Cooper family starts to need babysitters too. Mary Anne gets a job sitting for Deb's little brothers: 8 year old Mark, and 4 year old Jed. Kristy also gets a job staying with Deb while her parents are out. She's very angry about losing her vision, and refuses to see anyone or do anything. 

Various BSC members try to help Deb, but she's so bitter, angry, and rude to everyone that they don't make much progress. There's even an incident while Kristy's sitting where she tries to go to the video store alone and ends up lost and disoriented in the middle of the street. 

By the end of this book, Deb's working with an orientation/movement coach, and she's hoping for a guide dog of her own when she turns 16. (That's the youngest they assign them apparently.)

Timeline:

Begins on the first Saturday of April.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Nola Thacker.

*There's some good continuity in here about Watson's health and lifestyle changes.

*Watson and Nannie are thinking about starting a water garden, which I guess is like a small pond?

*Raising and bonding with a dog for an entire year, then giving it up, sounds terrible. I think it's very admirable, but I don't think I could do it. I get really emotional about animals.

*My dog had glaucoma, and it was the effing worst. I don't have any sympathy for Deb though, because she's got way too much for herself. 

*Mary Anne babysits for Ben Hobart in here? I need to give up trying to make sense of the ages in these books, but I like logical things, so it's really hard for me...

*This book really has no plot whatsoever, it's just teaching the reader all about guide dogs, blindness, the importance of the dogs, and how to train them. It's basically a much less effective version of Jessi's Secret Language. Since Matt is a thousand times more likeable than Deb, however, this doesn't have nearly the impact or sweetness of that story. 

*As the series wears on and the writers run out of ideas, the books are getting shorter. This was only 114 pages, and the last book was 120. The older books usually came in around 140-160. In books this short, that's a pretty big difference. 

*I REALLY don't think much of the Coopers' parenting. They shouldn't have let Deb act so rudely to them, or other people. It's not doing her any favors at all. They're just teaching her that she has a right to feel sorry for herself, which maybe she does, but that's not going to help in out in life. No matter what, this is her reality now and she doesn't have any choice but to figure it out. Letting her behave any way she wants because they pity her just creates a big problem for Deb. She should also be in therapy, because there's a lot of things she needs to work through. 

Books mentioned:

*Nate the Great, by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

My rating:

2 stars. I probably would have liked this as a kid, just because of all the dogs in it. Now, it just read like a PSA about guide dogs. 

#112: Kristy and the Sister War

 

Thoughts before reading:

All I can say, based on the summary for this book, is that they are clearly getting desperate for ideas. This was definitely the time to introduce a big change, something to really shake things up and make the series feel fresh again, but of course, that isn't what they did. It's starting to seem like the next twenty-something books will all just feel like filler.

Also, what the hell is up with Shannon's pants on this cover? This girl is rich, she could certainly afford to find something better to wear than these hideously unflattering and uncomfortable looking pants, yikes.

The basics:

Mrs. Kilbourne calls the BSC needing a regular sitter, because she's joining the dance committee at Shannon's school. She's also now taking classes at Stoneybrook University, working towards a teaching degree. Kristy takes the job, but when it begins, she's surprised to find Tiffany and Maria (Shannon's little sisters, 11 and 8) sullen and mopey. Eventually she pries the reason out of them... they're both angry at Shannon and their parents for being so busy that they never have time for them. This breaks Kristy's heart, and she vows to help find a solution. 

With Kristy's help, the girls make a list of ways they can help Shannon, so that she'll have more free time. This turns into a disaster from the get-go, however, when the girls try to make Shannon's favorite cookies but end up bickering so much they just make a big mess instead. Next time, the girls walk Astrid, and she runs off. Then they mess up Shannon's algebra homework and fumble cleaning her room. Shannon asks them to just leave her alone from now on. 

Now even more hurt, Maria and Tiffany declare war on Shannon and start plotting how to make her life miserable. They start playing mean pranks on her, and Shannon goes on ignoring them. Then Tiffany and Maria start bickering with each other, because both girls have crushes on Jordan Pike.

After a series of increasingly mean pranks, Shannon opens up to Kristy about how overwhelmed she's been with all her activities, and how her sisters are driving her crazy. Kristy listens and helps her to see that the girls just want her attention.

At Kristy's suggestion, Maria and Tiffany write Shannon letters about how they've been feeling. Shannon surprises them by quitting the school play so that she'll have more time, and also by coming to the kid's dance that the BSC is throwing for their charges. Both Kilbourne parents also attend the dance and vow to be better about making family time. 

Side plot: Claudia wants to fix Kristy up with one of Mark's friends (her 7th grade semi-boyfriend). Kristy doesn't really want to, but agrees because Claudia's excited. Beforehand, Claudia takes Kristy to the mall to get a makeover. Even though she doesn't want it, Kristy goes along with this as well. (Kind of out of character of her. Plus, didn't we learn anything from the last book??)

Claudia, Mark, Kristy, and Steve go on a double date together, and Kristy wears makeup, and a new outfit. From the start though, she doesn't like Steve. He doesn't pay much attention to her, is boring, and is obsessed with sports merchandise. She also doesn't like the way Mark treats Claudia... he's late, then doesn't apologize, and doesn't really pay attention to her either. 

Kristy declines to go out with Steve again.

Timeline:

It's early October.

Misc. thoughts:

*Ghostwritten by Ellen Miles

*Kristy spaces out resting in the sun in her yard, and almost misses the BSC meeting! Gasp!

*I like that Tiffany's more like a real 11 year old, but it just bugs me so much how they didn't think any of this through. Why not have had Mal and Jessi be in 7th grade instead? Or just make Tiffany a year younger, since in these books, 10 year old's are kids and 11 year old's are babysitters?

*Plus, at this point in the series, we've had a bunch of 10 year old's trying to be babysitter's helpers, but this book doesn't even pretend Tiffany is an assistant or helper. She's very much a kid... Kristy even tries to get her to play with her kid kit in here! Yet the books just blatantly ignore this huge discrepancy. What if Mal or Jessi had gotten this job instead??

*Mal and Jessi can also handle a bunch of little kids in all types of situations, including emergencies, and even infants... but Tiffany can't make cookies, clean, or walk a dog without a disaster happening?

*When the girls try to make cookies in here, they trash the kitchen, and just leave the mess, because Kristy has to cook dinner at home. Whatever happened to the BSC rule/common sense of leaving a house how you found it? I'm surprised Mrs. Kilbourne wasn't mad at Kristy. It definitely feels like if another BSC member did this, the parent would call Kristy to complain, and Kristy would scold them.

*Kristy refers to Tiffany as a little girl, page 41. 

*This whole story was really annoying, and Kristy really should have stayed out of it. She makes everything worse, but then of course, at the end there's still a magic, last minute resolution. 

*Wouldn't Tiffany have dances in school by now? Plus at this kid's dance event, she'll be the oldest kid, and the same age as some of the chaperones...

*Since when does Kristy hate action movies? Seems like something she'd love.

*Kristy says Tiffany's too young to be interested in dating?? Mal and Jessi both date! I just can't with this book, it makes no sense.

*Shannon's actually really patient with her sisters in here, because their pranks are really mean. I'd have flipped out.

Books mentioned:

None

My rating:

1.5 stars. Boring, and it makes no sense. This should have been another Shannon's story, if it had to exist at all.