The Summer Before

Prequel time! Sixth grade has just ended for the four original members of the BSC, and the summer ends up being a pretty intense one for all of them. Here's what happens:

Kristy's birthday is in August, and she kind of hopes her dad will acknowledge it in some way. She writes him a letter, hoping that will help, but it comes back to her with "Adressee Unknown" written on it. Kristy's really bummed by this, but she doesn't tell anyone right away what she did. She eventually confesses to Mary Anne, though. In spite of the letter, Kristy still thinks that her dad is going to surprise her by just showing up on the big day. That's why she chooses to have a dinner at home with her family and friends instead of going out somewhere. When her brithday arrives, there's nothing for Kristy from her dad. No present, no visit, no phone call, nothing. Luckily, Mary Anne had figured that something like that would happen, so she planned a surprise for Kristy. The day after her birthday is "Kristy Day," complete with parade, to show Kristy how much she means to everyone in her life.

Claudia is growing up a lot faster than Kristy and Mary Anne. They're still into dolls, while she's into art, shopping, and boys. She definitely feels like there's this distance between them, and isn't really sure how to feel or what to do about it. When her brithday rolls around (July), she decides she wants to have a boy-girl pool party at the Goldmans' house next door. Janine was allowed to invite a few friends to the party, too, and Claudia fully expects them to be losers. She was wrong; one of them, Frankie, is awesome. It's luv at first sight for Claudia, but there's one problem: Janine clearly likes him, too, and stops speaking to Claud because of it. Things get even worse between them when Claudia and Frankie start hanging out and talking on the phone all the time. One day, they head to the community pool and run into a bunch of Frankie's friends...primarily girls. They all treat Claudia like a little kid, and it's almost a week after that day before she hears from Frankie again. Even then, he only calls to dump her. Mimi comforts her and points out that she still has her old friends, but...Claudia doesn't, really. She's been so wrapped up in Frankie all summer that she's totally ignored Kristy and Mary Anne. Claudia works things out with them, though....and with Janine.

Mary Anne is working on getting more independence from her dad. He agrees to let her start baby-sitting....but only with another sitter there. It doesn't matter how many kids will be present; Mary Anne is not allowed to sit alone. She's pretty nervous going into her first few sitting jobs, even though someone else is always with her. By the end of the summer, though, her dad feels she's ready to baby-sit by herself (lord, I wish this storyline were more interesting....).

Stacey is still in New York City, getting ready for her move to Stoneybrook. All of her friends (Laine Cummings included) have gone all Mean Girls and turned on her since her diabetes diagnosis. In fact, Stacey's baby-sitting charges are the only ones who seem to care that she's leaving the city. Then, her parents throw her a surprise going-away party and invite all of her former friends....who are just as thrilled to be there as Stacey is to see them. As horrible as they are to Stacey, though, she just wants to know why they won't be friends with her anymore. They don't know about her diabetes, of course, but she just can't understand how they can turn their backs on a friend like they have. By the time moving day arrives, Stacey is ready to leave. Living in the suburbs is a pretty big adjustment for her...until seventh grade starts and she meets the rest of the BSC.

The book ends the same way that Kristy's Great Idea begins (almost word for word), and the BSC comes full circle.

Rating: 3.5

Thoughts and Things

• I really didn't like Frankie, and I can't believe that the Kishi parents let their (barely) twelve year old daughter spend so much time with an almost high school student.
• I like that the book ended with the first few chapters of Kristy's Great Idea. It seemed fitting. :)
• Poor Stacey. :(
• I got this book for my birthday this past April. It had been at least 15 years or more since I'd gotten a BSC book for my birthday, and it was my favorite gift!
• Mary Anne's clothes didn't seem as awful as they were described at the beginning of the series. At one point, she was wearing pedal pushers and a lavendar baby-doll shirt. That actually sounds cute for someone of that age. Where are the little-girl outfits that Richard makes her wear?
• It seemed a little out of character for Kristy to want her dad to be a part of her birthday. She always seemed to accept that he wasn't really a part of their lives, and she didn't seem to want to change that.

So....that's the end. I've really, truly, finally finished reading through the entire BSC series, and it took me less than a year! I've had a few questions about what's next for me, blog-wise. I have some ideas, but I'm going to take a week's "vacation" to recover before I start anything new. Check back then! :)