Summary
Dawn is feeling kind of inferior. First, Kristy makes up this formal induction ceremony for Jessi and Mal, when all she got was a pizza toast. Then, Dr. Johanssen calls and specifically requests that Claudia sit for Charlotte. Charlotte only wants her because she misses Stacey, and Claudia is Stacey's best friend, but the other sitters start to feel like they're not good enough or something, because they weren't the ones chosen. When Mrs. Pike calls and asks Dawn to take on the task of getting Claire and Margo Pike ready for the Little Miss Stoneybrook pageant, she jumps at the chance to prove what a great sitter she is.
It's uphill work, to say the least, especially when it comes to planning for the talent competition. Margo eventually decides to peel a banana with her feet and recite "The House that Jack Built" and Claire chooses to sing the Popeye the Sailor man song (not the real one...the one about him living in a garbage can and eating worms). Meanwhile, the other sitters have seized their own chances to prove their mettle. Kristy will be coaching Karen in the pageant, Mary Anne will be coaching Myriah (after all these years, I still had to look her name up in the book to spell it right), and Claudia will be coaching Charlotte Johanssen. Mallory and Jessi think pageants are sexist and stupid, and don't want anything to do with Little Miss Stoneybrook.
The pageant is held on a Saturday in the Stoneybrook High School auditorium. The talents portion goes well, although Claire almost freezes because of stage fright. Myriah tap dances and sings to "The Good Ship Lollipop," and is (of course) wonderful. Could one of the Perkinses be anything less? Karen Brewer sings "The Wheels on the Bus," and Charlotte is supposed to recite a passage from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," but runs offstage in tears instead. The only other contestant I need to mention is Sabrina Bouvier, aka Pageant Head. You know the type: lots of makeup, knows how to work the judges, etc. She sdoes a terrible rendition of "Moon River," which Dawn has apparently never heard of. Wait a second...an old song from an old movie that the BSC isn't into? WOW. Anyway, everyone expects Myriah to win, since she was clearly the best contestant, but she gets first runner-up. The crown goes to Sabrina.
As we've seen in previous books, Jeff Schafer is unhappy in Stoneybrook. He finally gets permission to go and live with his dad, and Dawn has a hard time dealing, even though she and her mom know that it's probably the best thing for Jeff.
Thoughts and Things
- During the question portion of the pageant, Calire is asked what she hopes for most. She replies that she hopes Santa Claus is real. I think that's a pretty creative answer. At least it's different than the world peace tripe that Dawn was trying to coach her into saying.
- The day before the pageant is a Friday, and Dawn works with the Pike girls after school until heading home at 5:30 to see Jeff off. Did she get to miss the club meeting without getting a LOOK from Kristy?
- I got really sick of all the "pageants are sexist" crap. I'm not really a fan of them or anything, but being in one doesn't necessarily mean that girls will grow up thinking that being pretty is all that matters like Mallory seems to think. Plenty of pageants offer scholarships as prizes, and plenty of contestants do charitable work or hold down careers.
- Claire calls Dawn at the end of the book to ask for her help entering a Beautiful Child contest at Bellair's. One of the prizes for said contest is a supply or Turtlewax. What in the heck would a five year old do with freaking Turtlewax???
- I'm not even going to discuss the Sabrina Bouvier Conundrum. It's already been done. :)
This is the only book that I really like Mallory. I'm actually gonna side with her on the pageants are sexist crap. Just because former contestants can get scholarships and go do volunteer work and hold a career doesn't make them not-sexist. I've done all three of those things without ever being officially judged on how I look in a bathing suit. Pagaents are inherently sexist. But if it's your choice to enter one...I'm not gonna argue. But I will judge you in my mind.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Claire's Santa Claus answer is all kinds of adorable. I'm a sucker like that though.
Also, my captcha word is Gogil. Which is how claudia spells Google.
I love this blog! And I am glad you have me ( Fitzie's Soda Shoppe) on the blogroll.
ReplyDeleteI also do have to agree with Nikki. Sorry about that.
Hey, no problem about the different views on pageants. To each his (or her) own. :)
ReplyDeletePageant thoughts aside, I do really like that Mallory actually has an opinion in this book, especially because in the previous book she was all like, "OMG they're so sophisticated and I want to be just like them." Maybe them being terrible to her got that out of her, but it's not that often that Mal and/or Jessi express opinions that run contrary to the senior members.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good point, Caroline. Mallory really does show distinct personality for the first time in the series in this book. Good catch!
ReplyDeleteMe too, Nikki, and Caroline. I liked that Mal and Jessi did their own thing. Most of the time it was like, "Oh and here are some token 11 year olds--they have no personality traits other than liking horses and/or ballet, wanting to be treated more maturely, and feeling insecure about body image issues/race."
ReplyDeletethis is the first time where mallory isn't busy whining and complaining about her looks so that's one thing i liked about this book.
ReplyDeletebut the rest of this book was just flipping horrible. not to mention dawn was a bitch to jeff in this book. i mean gheesh dawn all your brother wanted to do was move back to califorina to be with his family, yet you still act horrible to him.
no wonder why he hates you.
yeah, why would she make a bsc character named sabrina bouvier in later books? like we wouldn't remember? maybe she knew a real person with that name.
ReplyDeleteI can't stand name inconsistencies. Like an eight year old Sabrina Bouvier and a 13 year old Sabrina Bouvier. Or like Elizabeth being called Edie in the first book. Writers should keep a record book like the BSC one for things like this.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't make sense that Mallory is this raging feminist. In every book that's narrorated by her she always complains about her looks and how she feels her life will be better once she changes them. Now all of a sudden (for this one book) she's Little Miss Suffragette? Nah.
ReplyDelete