Graduation Day

(*I swear I didn't plan it this way, but in the book, the SMS graduation is on.....JUNE 23RD. Exactly 10 years ago today!!!*)

So...the big day is (finally...after 14 years) fast approaching: the BSC members and former members are getting ready to leave SMS for good and move on to high school. They're all busy with end-of-school stuff, including writing letters to themselves that will be sent back to them in four years, when high school graduation is on the horizon. Each BSC member has different thoughts, etc, about all the big changes that are happening. Here are the details:

Kristy, who's usually so brave about everything, is scared about the whole leaving middle school and going to high school thing. She doesn't like that her family is going to change, with Charlie leaving for school and she REALLY doesn't like that the BSC is going to change. She's determined to keep the BSC as busy as possible with big projects over the summer so they won't be able to slow down once school starts again, and she starts by creating a time capsule for the neighborhood. All the BSC members and former members, plus quite a few of the kids, add stuff to it. It's buried in Mary Anne's yard, and it's supposed to be opened in seven years, when the BSC oldest charges are getting ready to head to college.

Mary Anne, who's usually NOT brave, is really excited about moving on to high school. She does feel like she has some unfinished business, though, and that business is Logan. Mary Anne knew at the time that she made the right decision to break up with him, but she doesn't like that there's so much tension between them, and that they don't even really talk anymore. She's even having second thoughts about the breakup. She decides she needs to talk to them, and they eventually DO meet and clear the air. There's no romantic reunion or anything, but they leave their meeting on better terms.

Stacey is nervous about having both of her parents, plus Samantha, at graduation. She's convinced that they're going to fight (perhaps physically), and she's anticipating major embarrassment. She gets a notice in the mail one day, though, that makes her forget those issues. It's from the SMS library, asking her to return the copy of Ribsy that she borrowed, or she won't be able to graduate. Stacey freaks out; she doesn't remember checking that book out, and thinks it must have been back in 7th grade. She doesn't think the book survived two moves, so she's sure she won't be graduating with her friends. Stacey worries about this for a few days, and then realizes that she doesn't have to return the exact same copy of Ribsy that she checked out all that time ago; she just buys a new copy and hands that in instead. Also, no one in her family dukes it out at graduation.

Claudia, as usual, is worried about her grades. She needs to pass her finals in order to move on to high school, but she's awfully worried that she won't be able to make that happen in math. Stacey tutors her, and she ends up getting a C+. Unfortunately, she fails her science final. Since she'd also gotten a bad grade on an important project earlier in the year, she's definitely failed the class. It looks like she won't be graduating after all, but once again, summer school comes to the rescue (she'll be given her diploma if she passes science over the summer).

After graduation, Claudia has a party for all of the present and former BSC members in her bedroom. They talk a lot about their futures, and they make a pact to meet up for a reunion exactly 12 years from that day....and Kristy starts to feel a little bit better about the inevitable changes that are going to happen to all of them, and their friendships.....

Rating: 4

Thoughts and Things

• Good lord....when I finished this book last night, I felt like someone had died or something! Can't believe I'm really done, except for The Summer Before....
• Man, I SO sympathized with Kristy in this book. I've totally been the one that wasn't read to move on or to have things change, and I've definitely had to deal with the aftermath of something that I'd put my whole life into ending. The letter she wrote to herself nearly broke my little heart!
• Charlie's letter to himself gets its own chapter, and it's pretty good. It explains a lot about who he is, and WHY he is the way he is....
• Stacey really redeemed herself in this one, after being a witch for most of the FF series. In her letter to herself, she recognizes that their friendships are going to change, and that Ethan probably won't still hold the same place in her life that he does at that time. She's also the only BSC member to pick up on how Kristy's feeling about the end of the 8th grade, and the likely end of the BSC. Good going, Stacey....you reminded me why I liked you in the first place!
• Would any middle school hold a student back for failing ONE class? In my middle school, you could fail everything and still move on to high school.
• Is it really that common for middle schools to have full on graduations, complete with caps, gowns, a ceremony, and a valedictorian?
• After the last book, I think we had decided that another school year happened between that one and this one, but I'm not so sure. Mary Anne states that her house had only been finished for a few months, and that the Logan split hadn't happened that long ago, either. I think the only reason that there was some summer in the last few FF books prior to this one was that they probably didn't know the series would end so soon. Otherwise, I think FF would have happened over one school year.

FF# 12 Claudia and the Disaster Date

Summary

So...it's been awhile since Claudia and Alan Gray went to that dance together, and apparently, they're just now getting around to hanging out again. Claudia isn't really sure what to expect from him; he seems to have changed, but Claud keeps expecting him to get up to his old tricks. That, and the fact that she would really rather not be seen with him makes it hard for Claudia to enjoy spending time with him at all.

In other news, Claudia also has a summer job (along with Erica Blumberg) in the children's room at the library. Right away, Claud notices that the mural outside the room could use a little updating. She mentions it to her mom, who makes it clear to her that her job is in the children's room, not in painting hallways. On day two of work, Alan shows up. He tries to be helpful, but he ends up creating more work for Claudia in the end. She manages to get rid of him in time to have a little talk with Ms. Feld, the children's librarian, about redoing the mural. Ms. Feld is thrilled with the idea, and agrees to look at some samples of Claudia's work. Mrs. Kishi, though, isn't as happy. She doesn't like that Claudia went to Ms. Feld about the mural after she herself said no. Things are frosty between them which doesn't make for a good start to the workday. Neither does the fact that Kristy and Alan both show up at the library at the same time. Kristy doesn't let up on the Alan insults, and Claudia finally confesses at that day's club meeting that she's been seeing him. Kristy has major issues with that; she just doesn't like Alan and can't accept that one of her friends is essentially dating him.

Things are going a little better for Claud at the library. Ms. Feld likes Claudia's ideas for the mural, and plans are in place to start working on it. Then, Alan shows up to walk Claud to her BSC meeting so they can talk. She tries to put him off, but he isn't having it. He calls her out on being embarrassed to have her friends see them together, and asks that they give him a chance. They make plans for the BSC to go out for mini golf with Alan, Cary Retlin, and Pete Black. The big day finally arrives, but first, Claudia has to get through her day of work. She gets to the library to find everything in place for work on the mural, and Ms. Feld eager to have the kids help, too. Claudia isn't so sure about that part of it, and she was right to be apprehensive. The kids make a huge mess, and the mural looks terrible. Mrs. Kishi is furious, and she has to step in and make sure everything gets cleaned up. Once again, she tells Claudia that her job is to help in the children's room, not to paint murals.

The group date that night goes okay. Everyone plays in pairs, and Cary orchestrates it so that Alan and Kristy are a team. She does her best to insult and berate him, but Alan doesn't rise to the challenge. He's polite and calm....not like the normal Alan at all. Claudia doesn't like this super well-mannered Alan any more than she liked the goofy, joke-playing Alan. She knows there's a side of him that's both, and she encourages him to let that side show. To celebrate their new understanding, Claudia has a backyard BBQ for all of her friends, and some of Alan's. That's where they officially become boyfriend and girlfriend. Awwww, isn't that cute? :)

(By the way....Claudia ends up redoing the main part of the mural on her own, and the kids get to be involved by putting a handprint border around it).

Rating: 3

Thoughts and Things

• So....explain something to me. It's July in this book, yet in the next one, we're back in June and it's graduation time. Did another 8th grade happen between the two books, or did SMS go back in time?
• I still don't get the whole Claudia/Alan thing, but Abby and Alan might not make a bad pair....
• I like that Claudia's friendship with Erica didn't go by the wayside when she and Stacey made up.
• Speaking of Erica, she finds out the names of her birth parents in this one. It's actually kind of intense....
• I really think the FF series could have lasted longer if all of the books had been as good as Kristy's Big News.

FF#11 Welcome Home, Mary Anne

Summary

At long last, the Schafers and Spiers are done renovating their barn. Mary Anne is excited to move in, even though she still misses her old house. She's also excited that Dawn and Jeff are coming for the summer, and that they're bringing along a guyes: Sunny Winslow. Mary Anne is looking forward to having Sunny stay with them, but she's a little apprehensive at the same time. Not only is Mary Anne a little jealous of how close Dawn and Sunny are now, but Sunny's mom has just died of cancer, and Mary Anne isn't sure how to act around her. Sharon encourages her to just include Sunny in everything that she and Dawn would be doing anyway.

It doesn't seem like Mary Anne has to worry much about Sunny at first. From the second she steps off the plane, Sunny is running at top speed. She's enthusiastic and energetic, and excited to be visiting Stoneybrook. Mary Anne can tell that she's not quite all right, though, so she vows to be supportive and just follow Sunny's lead. That proves to be a little tough to do; on her first full day in Stoneybrook, Sunny decides that Mary Anne needs a new boyfriend. During their day at the pool, Sunny flirts with this older high school guy on Mary Anne's behalf, and makes a date with him and two of his friends. Mary Anne really isn't comfortable with the idea of going on a date with anyone yet, but she goes along with Sunny's plan anyway. The date is kind of a flop, and Mary Anne knows she needs to tell Sunny she doesn't really want to go out with any of the guys again. Sunny beats her to the punch, though.

With all of Sunny's energy and her eagerness to do everything there is to do in Stoneybrook, she quickly gets tired of the same old routine. That's when she gets her big idea: she, Dawn, and Mary Anne should sneak off to New York City for the day. Both Dawn and Mary Anne are apprehensive about the idea, but Sunny eventually talks them into it. Mary Anne feels totally guilty at first, but she ends up relaxing enough to have a really good time. Then, while the girls are shopping, she happens to look at her watch. They had totally lost track of time, and it's late enough that they need to leave NYC in order to get home before Sharon and Richard. Sunny, though, doesn't want to leave. In fact, she wants to stay late enough to go clubbing that night. Dawn is having none of it. She calls Sunny out on her irresponsible behavior, and draws attention to the fact that she's been getting her own way ever since her mom died. This subdues Sunny, who finally agrees to go home.

None of the three girls are particularly happy with each other by the time they get home. Dawn leaves again right away to get Jeff at the Pikes', and Sunny stomps upstairs and shuts herself in the room she's sharing with Dawn. When Mary Anne heads up there later, she hears Sunny inside crying. Mary Anne knows that Sunny really needed to let go like that, so she just lets her cry. They talk a little about what Sunny's been going through, losing her mom and being away from home. In fact, Sunny's decided that she needs to be with her dad, and that she should go home.

Rating: 3

Thoughts and Things

• The big question...who's Dawn and who's Sunny on the cover? I think Dawn is the one on the left, in the yellow shirt, and Sunny's the one on the right, with the necklace.
• The New York trip was the sole reason that this book got a rating of 3. Not only would I have LOVED to do something that daring when I was a kid, but I also love the way they travel. Walking up and down random streets and NOT sticking to the typical tourist stuff is how I like to see big cities. :)
• Is it just me, or does Sunny give off a bit of a....promiscuous vibe? You know she'll be at all the frat parties during college....
• The new Schafer-Spier house sounds cool, but I can't imagine them turing the barn into a house. I never pictured it being big enough, and I DID picture it as being kind of run-down.
• Even though I don't miss the baby-sitting stuff too much in this book, I'm glad that we've seen a little more of some of the BSC's charges in the last few books.

FF# Stacey's Problem

Summary

Stacey, her mom, and Claudia are having a girls' night at the McGills'. They have fun making their own pizza and playins board games, but Stacey notices that something's wrong with her mom. She seems distracted, and she ends up going to bed early with a headache. The next day, she still seems so out of it that Stacey almost doesn't want to go to New York for the weekend. It's a good thing she does end up going, though, because her dad and Samantha have some big news: they're getting married. Stacey is pretty happy about it; she likes Samantha, and she can tell her dad is really happy.

When Stacey gets back to Stoneybrook, she's glad to see that her mom is over the funk she was in before. That is, she's over the funk until Stacey breaks the news about her dad's engagement. Mrs. McGill doesn't say much, but after they get home, Stacey finds her in her room, crying. She explains that she isn't sad because she wanted to get back together with Ed; she definitely DOESN'T want that. She's just overwhelmed at this whole chapter of her life (her marriage) really, truly being over. Stacey really wants to help her mom feel better, so she and Claudia decide that Mrs. McGill would be happier if she were dating. They get a tape from a video dating service, and the whole BSC gathers at Stacey's to try and pick her potential new stepfather. None of the guys seem quite right, so it's back to the drawing board.

As it turns out, Mrs. McGill didn't need any help getting a date; she's got one with a guy she met through work. One again, Stacey doesn't want to go to New York, since she thinks she needs to be there to surpvise her mother's comings and goings from her date. Also once again, Stacey heads to New York anyway. She's having fun getting to know Samantha even better, but she can't get her mind off of her mother's date. She forgets about it briefly, though, when Ed and Samantha take her out for Sunday breakfast at a new place. While they're waiting in line, who should they run into but Laine Cummings! She acts like nothing ever went wrong in their friendship, and even asks if Stacey can sit with her and her friends. Stacey makes sure her dad says no, and the whole weird encounter is over.

After the meal, Stacey finally gets ahold of her mother by phone. Unfortunately, the date did not go well. There was nothing really wrong with the guy; there just wasn't any chemistry. Since Mrs. McGill seems really disappointed, Stacey asks her dad and Samantha if she can just go home. Samantha offers to drive her, to save a little time. Stacey gets home and decides that it's her mission to cheer up her mom. Mrs. McGill insists she doesn't need it, and a couple of days later, she seems like she's back to her old self. She cooks a fancy dinner for Stacey, and tells her that she has some big news: she's decided to go back to her maiden name, and she's seriously thinking of quitting her job to open her own clothing store. Looks like the times, they are a-changin' for the whole McGill family.

There's actually a subplot in this one! Mallory is home from Riverbend, and she feels totally out of place. Her family seems to be functioning just fine without her, and her friends are all still too busy with school to spend time with her. There really isn't much of a resolution to this; everyone just kind of tells Mallory to hang on and give it time.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• When Stacey's mom tells the BSC members about the store, they all offer to work there. Maureen actually tells them that that's not possible because of child labor laws. I can't believe that it took them until the end of the series to make any mention of that kind of thing!!!
• I don't get why Stacey feels like she has to micromanage her mother's life.
• I'm glad that Maureen went back to her maiden name. I'm actually kind of surprised that none of the other divorced women in the series did that.
• The pizza that Claudia, Stacey, and Maureen made at the beginning of the book sounded great....until they put the anchovies on it. Seriously, though....I've always wanted to try making my own pizza.

FF#9 Kristy and the Kidnapper

Summary

Kristy and Abby are part of the new SMS debate team, and they're heading to Washington D.C. for a competition. As soon as they make it to their hotel, Kristy spots someone she knows in the lobby. It's Terry Hoyt...or, at least she thinks it is. Kristy is mystified when he's introduced by one of his friends as David Hawthorne, but this David guy claims never to have HEARD of Stoneybrook, let alone lived there. Later that night, Kristy is sure he's avoiding her. He can't avoid her for long, though; they're put on the same three person debate team.

Kristy, David, and Kai (the other person assigned to their group) actually make a pretty good team. They even win their first debate. There's a dance that night for all the students participating in the debate tournament, but Kristy, Kai, and David all leave early and decide to practice some more. Kristy is just leaving her room to head down to their meeting place in the lobby when she runs into David. He'd relaxed around Kristy while they were preparing for the debate, but now, he's back to being less than friendly. Then, he whispers in her ear that he's being followed. At first, Kristy thinks it's just a kid from one of the other debate teams. Then, she looks back and sees an adult man in dark clothes behind them. When they get to the stairwell, David shoves Kristy into it and tells her to run. He's right behind her, but just as they get to the lobby, the man grabs David. Kristy rushes into the lobby and screams that David is being kidnapped. Security comes running, and the catch up to David and his kidnapper in the parking garage. As soon as the man sees the guards chasing him, he drops David and takes off. David is shaken, but okay.

Both David and Kristy are taken into an office to be questioned by police. Before the officers get there, he asks her not to mention that the kidnapper had said "Your father is going to pay" just as he caught David. Kristy is mystified as to why, so David finally has to come clean about his dad's secret agent work, and his own previous identity as Terry Hoyt. Kristy doesn't say anything about the kidnapper's comments to the cops. David's dad eventually arrives to talk to the two of them. They hadn't managed to catch the kidnapper, so both David and Kristy are going to be assigned Secret Service agents until he's caught.

Meanwhile, the debating is still going on. Kristy, Kai, and David win another round, in spite of the craziness that Kristy and David have been through. That same day, Mr. Hawthorne brings the two of them a bunch of pictures of criminals who could have been the kidnapper. They identify him; it's a guy named Lance Dibdin. David's dad had busted the ring of compuer hackers that Dibdin was a part of, but Dibdin stayed out of jail on a technicality.

Kristy, David, and Kai make it to the final round of debates. In fact, they're debating the team that Abby's on (Abby and Kristy had been super competitive the whole time, arguing over everything). The final debates are being held at the Lincoln Memorial. Just as Kristy and her team are finishing up, she spots someone in the crowd: it's Lance Dibdin. She screams and points at time (she's so scared that it's all she can do), but he continues to make his way toward David. Security (and Mr. Hawthorne), quickly take him down and arrest him. In spite of all the drama, Kristy and her team go on to win the debate finals.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• This one approaches BSC Mystery levels of unrealisticness. I kept expecting Sgt. Johnson to pop out of nowhere and help with the investigation.
• The camaraderie between Kristy, David, and Kai was really fun to read about. So was David's relationship with his dad!
• I'm not surprised that Kristy and Abby are good at debate, but seriously....how many middle schools actually HAVE debate teams? My high school didn't even have one, although they did offer a debate class. Which I took. And hated.
• I just have to reiterate how perfect the girl they got to play Kristy on these covers is. Definitely the best match out of all the FF cover girls!

FF#8 Mary Anne's Revenge

Summary

Mary Anne is now involved in the yearbook. The good news? She likes it. The bad news? Cokie Mason is one of the editors, and the other editor (Rick Chow) just agrees with whatever she says. Cokie seesm to have it in for Mary Anne, even more so than usual. She's always making snide comments in front of the whole group, and Mary Anne can't seem to speak up and defend herself. She's not too happy with her own lack of guts, so she starts speaking up in other ways. Mary Anne's friends and family are a little surprised, to say the least, about her new attitude.

One day, Claudia and Mary Anne arrive at school together and get some big news from Stacey. Someone has started a rumor that Mary Anne begged Logan to take her back, and when he wouldn't, she went nuts by sending him lots of crazy emails and leaving tons of phone messages. It's pretty obvious that Cokie's the one responsible, which is the last straw for Mary Anne. She's determined to get revenge on Cokie, once and for all. She spends some class time making a list of awful things to do to her, and when she shares her list with Kristy at lunch, she sees that Kristy also has a list. The BSC members (and Abby) are all eager to be in on the plan.

That same day, Logan pulls Mary Anne aside for a chat. He's heard the rumor, and since he obviously knows that it's not true, he wants to make sure Mary Anne is okay. He also wants to tell her himself that he and Dorianne Wallingford have kind of started seeing each other. It hasn't really moved past the friendshp stage yet, but Logan wants to get it out in the open anyway. Mary Anne ends up being late for her yearbook meeting because of her talk with Logan, and as soon as she walks in the room, Cokie starts to give her a bad time. Mary Anne really lets her have it, and Cokie is pretty much speechless. She leaves the room, and Mary Anne, Austin, and Abby get to work counting the ballots for the "Most" and "Best" voting (Most Likely to Succeed, Best Artist, etc). When they finish, they notice something odd: Cokie and her friends have bascially swept the voting. There are also ballots missing (Mary Anne can't find hers), and the number of ballots doesn't match the humber that the teachers collected. Mary Anne and Aby lock the ballot boxes up overnight, and they go to Mr. Fiske (faculty advisor) the next morning. He agrees to have another vote....with better security this time.

Since Cokie still hasn't given up on her rumor-spreading and nastiness, Mary Anne decides she needs to do more in the way of revenge than just telling Cokie off once. Kristy suggests enlisting the help of Cary Retlin, so Mary Anne arranges a meeting with him in the SMS library after school. When she gets there, she finds him with a stack of magazines. Step one in their revenge plan is to fill out tons of those annoying little subscription cards, but not send them right away. The cards are a backup plan, just to have around in case things don't go well. On their way out of the library, who should they run into but Cokie herself? She invites both of the them to a party she's having, and to Cokie's surprise, Mary Anne accepts.

The next day, Mary Anne goes to Kristy's for dinner after the BSC meeting. They totally lose track of time, and Mary Anne gets home way past curfew. Her dad is not happy; they argue, and Mary Anne ends up grounded for two weeks. That poses a problem, because Cokie's party is that weekend. Mary Anne knows she has to be there. If she doesn't show up, Cokie will think she lost her nerve. So, Mary Anne decides to sneak out. She gets out of the house okay, and the party itself is actually pretty decent. The food is good, and lots of Mary Anne's friends are there. Cokie's still up to her old tricks, though. She orchestrates it so the music will stop just as she happens to be making a statement about how desperate Mary Anne still is to get back with Logan, and everyone there hears it. Everyone there also hears it when Mary Anne tells off Cokie yet again, and the whole place claps and cheers. This doesn't make Cokie happy; it's HER party.

Mary Anne is feeling pretty good about herself as she heads home after the party. She stops feeling good, though, when she finds her dad waiting up for her. They fight again, and is escalates to the point that Sharon wakes up and comes downstairs to see what's the matter. She orders them to sit and listen to her, and she points out that Richard and Mary Anne are having so many problems lately because they're both still struggling with the aftermath of the fire. They have a nice family meeting, and Mary Anne's grounding is reduced. She realizes that she doesn't want to be that weak person who never stands up for herself anymore, but she also realizes that she doesn't want to be mean and sarcastic anymore. Time for a happy medium!

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• Cokie's house is made to seem like a mansion, but when Mary Anne was over there working on the Megan Rinehart project in #46, it was just a normal house. Also, Mary Anne makes it seem like she's never been to Cokie's before, when we know she has.
• This is the only book where I can truly say that I enjoy Cary Retlin. It's interesting that Kristy seems to be the one who always suggests that the BSC work with him....
• I loved that Mary Anne got a little rebellious in this one. It makes her seem like a typical teenager. :)
• In order to get some ideas for decorating their new house, Richard and Sharon take Mary Anne on a tour of historical homes in Greenvale. Mary Anne didn't enjoy it (this is when she was in her brief grumpy and sarcastic phase), but I would have been totally into it!
• The description of Mary Anne's nightmare at the beginning of the book was actually kind of scary....

FF#7 Claudia Gets Her Guy

Summary

This book begins on the same day that the last one ends: the day of Mr. Zizmore's goodbye party. Claudia isn't there; she's sitting for the Rodowskys instead. Even though Claud and Stacey are on their way to repairing their friendship, Claudia is still a little mad about the whole Jeremy situation, and doesn't really want to be at a party where she'd have to watch the two of them together. When she gets home from a sitting job that night, she finds a message waiting for her from Mary Anne. Apaprently, she has big news. It's pretty late at that point, so Claudia has to wait until the next day to find out what Mary Anne has to say. The news definitely ends up being big: Jeremy and Stacey broke up the night before.

Claudia spends that night awake, mulling over what the breakup might mean. She's nervous to see Jeremy at school the next day, but he barely even acknowledges her. Claudia starts to completely overanalyze what that might mean, but she doesn't come to any real conclusions. Luckily, Claud has a new activity to keep her mind off of Jeremy. She and Erica Blumberg have volunteered to help with this program that helps immigrant families learn the skills they need to live in a new country. Claudia's assigned family, the Yashimotos, are Japanese. Claud is pretty nervous about her first day as a "teacher," but she really likes the Yashimotos and the work she's doing with them. By the following day, though, Claudia is right back to obsessing over Jeremy. This is largely due to the fact that posters for the Cupid's Arrow Dance have started to appear all around school. Claudia would, of course, like to go to the dance with Jeremy, but he seems to be avoiding her at that point. So, she finally decides to ask him herself, in a note. She slips it into his locker one morning before class, and then waits nearby to see his reaction as he reads it. Erica and Kristy join her, and (finally) they see Jeremy coming down the hall. Claudia can't bear to look, so the other two give her a play-by-play of what they see happening. He doesn't seem to have seen the note, and when Claudia turns around, she figures out why. The locker that Jeremy is walking away from is NOT the one she put the note into.

Claudia is freaking out, so Kristy enlists Cary Retlin's help later that day to get the locker open. He agrees to help, but it doesn't do any good. Not only is the note already gone, but the locker belongs to none other than Alan Gray. Alan approaches Claudia that afternoon and asks to talk to her about the note. To her surprise, he doesn't pull any of his usual crazy stuff. He's really nice about it, and flattered that she thinks so highly of him. Claudia is dismayed; Alan thought the note was actualy for him! She's even more dismayed when he accepts her invitation to the Cupid's Arrow Dance, but Claud doesn't have the heart to tell him that the note was meant for someone else. At that day's BSC meeting, her friends all have different reactions. Mary Anne suggests they all keep an open mind, Stacey thinks he's actually kind of cute, and Kristy goes ballistic. She thinks Claud is nuts for going to a dance with him. After the meeting, Stacey asks her what she's going to do about Jeremy. Claudia feels awkward talking to Stacey about him, and she tells her so.

The Kishis take the Yashimotos to the Metropolitain Museum of Art that weekend. It's a lot of fun, but the children don't understand that you're not supposed to touch the art. Claudia pulls them aside and explains things to them, which makes her realize how important communication is. She decides to talk to Stacey, first thing Monday morning. They agree to meet before that day's BSC meeting, and as they're walking to Claudia's locker, they see that someone has left a gigantic bouquet of flowers there. It was Alan, of course, and he later surprises Claudia with lunch from Burger King. She tries to make him understand that they're just hanging out as friends, but he doesn't seem to get it. Neither does Jeremy; he's really hurt that Claudia is going to the dance with someone else, and he won't listen when she tries to explain the situation to him.

Claudia's talk with Stacey that afternoon goes a lot better. She and Stacey agree to never let a boy come between them again, and they both feel a little more free to talk about Jeremy. Meanwhile, Alan keeps doing all sorts of nice things for Claudia; he's definitely not the same guy he used to be. At one point, Cary pulls Claudia aside for a chate. He knows the note wasn't meant for Alan, and he warns Claudia not to keep stringing him along if she's not interested. Claudia tells Cary that Alan knows they're just friends, and Cary tells her in return that Alan wants more than that. Claudia promises to be play nice.

The day of the dance arrives, and Alan comes to pick up Claudia. He actually made her a pin in the shape of a heart to wear. Even so, Claudia still looks for Jeremy once they're at the dance. She's excited when he cuts in on her when she's dancing with Alan, but the excitement is short-lived. Claudia realizes that she'd actually rather be dancing with Alan, and that she and Jeremy are meant to be only friends. When the song is over, Claud goes to find Alan.

Rating: 2.5

Thoughts and Things

• Jeremy was ridiculous for being so mad about Claud going to the dance with Jeremy. I mean, he was avoiding her in school. What was she supposed to do, clear her schedule until he decided he was going to be friendly again?
• I totally used to overanalyze everything my crushes said or did, just like Claudia. :)
• I just can't get into the Claudia-Alan pairing, no matter how many times I read these books!
• I like that Stacey and Claudia didn't just jump right back into being best buddies like they used to be. It's actually pretty realistic for there to be some tension between friends after a huge fight, even when it's over.
• These books are so 90's compared to the regular BSC series: the pop culture references, technology, outfits, etc.
• Claudia's work with the Yashimotos actually makes me want to learn Japanese again....