Thursday, December 3, 2009

#57 Dawn Saves the Planet


Summary

Dawn is super excited when her science class starts studying ecology. She's always had a passion for the environment, and now is her big chance to show it. Each student is going to do a project on how they can help save the planet, and Dawn is chomping at the bit to get started. After a sitting job at the Barretts and seeing how into all things ecology they are, Dawn gets an idea. If the Barretts are so enthusiastic about the environment, other kids probably will be, too. Why not teach a class on things kids can do to help the earth? She realizes pretty quickly that she'll need help, so she recruits Stacey. Stacey has the same teacher as Dawn (she's in a different class, though) and likes Dawn's idea. They get approval from their teacher to work together, and get to work right away.

Their first step is to call potential students and see if they'll be interested. Good thing their first call is to Kristy, because Kristy's able to point out the fact that they'd settled practically NO details regarding when/where/how. They take a little time and figure those things out before making any more calls. When all that's done, they have thirteen students for their class. Things go well at first; both Stacey and Dawn are good teachers, and the kids are into it. Soon, though, things take an ugly, ugly turn. Dawn becomes a total Environment Nazi. She scolds Claudia for eating candy that comes individually wrapped and for throwing away an aluminum can. She points her finger at Mary Anne for only using one side of the paper in the club record book, and is annoyed when the rest of the club members don't seem to be quite as...ummm...enthusiastic as she is. Dawn doesn't just limit her her crusading to the BSC; oh, no. She complains about the Styrofoam used in school lunches (as containers, not food), and yells at poor Erica Blumberg for daring to throw away a can. Bascially, she manages to piss off all of SMS.

While all this is going on, Dawn gets another brilliant idea. The only recycling center is in downtown Stoneybrook, and it's not always convenient for kids to get there by themselves. So, she decides that SMS should be the town's new recycling center, and comes up with a proposal to make that happen. Mrs. Gonzalez (her science teacher) likes the idea, as does Mr. Kingbridge. They put the idea, and the nomination of chairperson for the project, to a schoolwide vote. The students overwhelmingly approve the idea of SMS hosting a recycling center, but when the chairperson is announced, Dawn is really surprised to hear that it's Mrs. Gonzalez, not her. What went wrong?

After school that day, Dawn overhears Cokie and Grace talking about her. Apparently, hardly anyone voted for her to be chairperson because they're all sick of her pushy attitude when it comes to recycling issues. That's kind of eye-opening for Dawn; she honestly had no idea people were so irritated by her behavior. When Opening Day for the new recycling center comes, Dawn doesn't even want to go. She does, though, but is pretty dismayed when all the credit for the idea goes to Mrs. Gonzalez. Even Mary Anne, who's been just as annoyed with Dawn as everyone else, is surprised that Dawn gets no acknowledgement at all. After all, the whole thing was Dawn's idea.

Even after Dawn's comeuppance at the hands of Cokie and Grace, and even after getting ignored at the opening of the recycling center, she's still acting like Little Miss Bossy. She and Stacey are capping off their class by holding a Green Fair, so their students can demonstrate what they've learned and sell things like bird feeders and buttons to raise money for an organization to be named later. Dawn tells (not asks, but TELLS) the other members of the BSC that she expects them to help promote the event, and to help run it when it happens. Too bad Dawn didn't think to check in advance, because not everyone is available to do her bidding. The other girls kind of blow up at her; Stacey has been frustrated for weeks because Dawn has totally taken over the class, and has had the nerve to accuse Stacey of not doing her share of the work. Kristy calls Dawn's behavior "obnoxious," and Claudia points out how bossy she's been. Dawn had no idea that her friends were so upset with her (in spite of the fact that all of SMS feels the same way), and she apologizes. Mrs. Gonzales even offers her the chance to co-chair the recycling program...after the students vote on it. Dawn figures she's sunk, since no one wanted her before. but Mrs. Gonzalez points out that she's changed, and things will probably be different this time. Oh, she also gives Dawn and Stacey and A on their project.

Rating: 0 (I really hate this book)

Thoughts and Things
  • I finally understand why this one is so universally hated...it was tough to get through, and I kind of wish I had that hour of my life back!
  • I kind of agree with Dawn that writing on only one side of the paper is wasteful. I don't agree with the way she scolded Mary Anne about it, though. If Dawn had pointed her finger at me and my club record book the way she did to Mary Anne, I would have pointed a different finger right back at her...
  • The Dawn/Stacey pairing was nice.
  • Having Styrofoam figure so prominently in this book was weird...I hardly ever see it anymore.
  • I totally remember the days before everyone had recycling pick-up at home....am I really that old???
  • If there's anyone out there who actually LIKES this book, leave me a comment; I'd like to hear from you. I promise that no one will make fun of you; all opinions are welcome. :) I'm just curious since I've yet to meet any fan (or former fan) who has anything good to say about this one.

14 comments:

  1. I liked it in a "I love to hate Dawn" kind of way. She's so easy to snark in this one, and I do enjoy reading it in a "HA HA" way. Not so much in, "Dawn rocks way." But then so much of the BSC I like because of snarkitude.

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  2. I hated this book. I mean it's kind of fun because it's one that EVERYONE in the BSC fandom can point to and call Dawn really bad names. So much of Dawn's personality in BSC fanfic comes from this book. So in that way, I love it. But if I had to read it again (and I did just buy it at Friends of the Library, for reasons I can't explain...) I'm not sure I could finish it!

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  3. I haven't read this in a long, long time..but I do remember really enjoying it--the FIRST time I read it, when I really young. As I grew older, I kept rereading it--my library didn't stock BSC books very well, this was one of the only ones--and I slowly began to understand the ridiculousness of it. Still, I clearly remember liking of it..

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  4. i wouldn't say i necessarily LIKED this book, but i think i hate it was less than most other BSC readers. dawn was definitely bossy & everything, but i was in total agreement that people shouldn't be throwing aluminum cans in the trash & using just one side of their notebook paper. i honestly found the stuff about the class dawn & stacey teach way more difficult to get through than all of dawn's eco-activism.

    incidentally, i just moved to kansas from boston, massachusetts, & it's kind of blowing my mind how many restaurants serve food in sytrofoam containers. you have to pay for curbside recycling pick up, & even then, they don't take recycle-able glass. you have to bring glass to the recycling center, which on the east edge of town & pretty inaccessible if you don't have a car. it's like living in 1988!

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  5. i actually LIKED( forget like I LOVE) this book but here is why.

    1. dawn inspired me to totally care about the environment( despite her bitchiness)and how i can treat the earth better.
    2. i actaully see dawn as the individual here even if she was a bitch about it.
    3. i loved the way stacey and dawn bonded in this book. i can actually see closeness between the girls
    4. i think dawn is more of an activist than she is an individual, and i see that a lot in the books too.

    so those are my reasons why i like this book

    p.s. we see more of amelia freeman, who would later die in book 93, in this book as well.

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  6. i absolutely HATED dwan in this book. she's my least fav. member(ok now i wanna show the ordeer of club members so i will at the bottom)anyway, and this book totally contributes. she's a wimp when it comes 2 guys, but anything else and she act like a tricked kristy, making me not lik her even MORE, bcuz i lik kristy!


    ok, here's my order(of all members in it most, and before the point where abby joins)

    1.claud (outfits)
    2.stace (sophistication and understanding)
    jessi (happy-go-lucky attitude+niceness to everyone)
    3.kristy (bossiness and loudness, also bcuz i have a friend just like her)
    4.mal (level-headedness and patience)
    5.shannon (i would have put her b4 this but i lik the other ones to much {sorry, shannon}not acting like everyone else in the bsc was a baby, because i kind of compare laine to shannon for no reason)
    6.logan-prior to breakup ( once again, i wanted to put him higher but i liked the others; anyway, he was [hence WAS]nice and dependable, plus, i love southern people! they're so funny and sweet!)
    7.Mary Anne (she simply has no spine.)
    8. dawn!!!! (i kind of already said why)

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  7. (i meant to say tricked OUT kristy)

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  8. Huh. My (small) hometown has never had recycling pickup, as far as I know, and I think they've actually gotten LESS accommodating when it comes to the drop-off (there used to be one downtown, but now I think you have to drive 20 miles, unless that's only to recycle certain things). Our school used styrofoam trays for lunch, and most of the local restaurants used styrofoam containers for take-out. Some had styrofoam cups, too, including one of the sizes at the local ice cream stand (the others were paper). Our school's concession stand also had styrofoam cups.

    I graduated in 2008, by the way. I've moved away since so I can't speak as to how things are now, other than I know they still used styrofoam cups at the concession stand for football games the year before last.

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  9. God I hate Dawn!! She is so freaking annoying and bratty and extreme feminist!! (Ironically the first BSC book I ever read was Dawn and the Impossible Three) I'm from California and trust me no one acts like her!! I'm so glad she moved away!! and I absolutely hated this book cause she was just a goddamn nuisance!!!

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    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous,

      There is NOTHING wrong with being a feminist.
      feminism is about equality between men and women. It isn't about man-hating, or anything like that. We should all be feminists, because feminism fights the patriarchy and sexist ideologies. I am a proud feminist, and I hope that you are too. Ann M Martin herself is a proud feminist. It is the patriarchy that needs to be abolished. It is sexism that needs to be fought.

      Sincerely,
      A proud feminist

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    2. She didn't say there was anything wrong with being a feminist. There's a key work
      d there. EXTREME. And yeah, dawn takes it way too far. Like trying to change the plot of Peter pan and holding up a whole a** production because she wants to talk gender equality. That is a huge problem. She wasn't complaining about her being a feminist at all. Read what she said again and think about how dawn acts. She's not helpful, she's bossy and demanding and turns people off of whatever she is preaching. Therein lies the problem with her extremeness.

      Delete
  10. I am from Texas and my friend is from Tennessee, and Logan is a huge stereotype. I have to deal with people from other places asking me if I ride a horse to school, and now I am "funny and sweet"

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  11. I remember liking this book way back when. I'm a huuuuuuuge fan of Dawn though. And now since I've moved CA-->CT for grad school in environmental science I'm probably even more biased for the subject matter.

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  12. I liked Dawn until book 31, when she tricked Mary Anne into thinking there was a ghost in the secret passage and never told her the truth.

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