Scan barcode
lberestecki's review
emotional
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
finesilkflower's review
2.0
Claudia is still nursing emotional wounds from the Stacey fight in [b:Stacey vs. Claudia|558200|Stacey vs. Claudia (Baby-Sitters Club Friends Forever, #2)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1387722541s/558200.jpg|545378]. Her version of the story is that she saw (and dated) Jeremy first, but Stacey stole him. They avoid each other in school and give each other the silent treatment in BSC meetings.
Cause-of-the-fight Jeremy, now firmly established as Stacey’s boyfriend, suddenly starts going out of his way to talk to Claudia and call her on the phone. Jeremy and Claudia have intense conversations which seem to revolve solely around how much Jeremy now wants to make this friendship work, for unclear reasons. Claudia still has a crush on Jeremy, and gets a thrill out of talking to him. Stacey is not pleased with this turn of events and marks her territory, speaking to Claudia for the first time in weeks just to tell her to stay away from her boyfriend.
When Stacey and Claudia are the only two people available for a Pike job, Stacey suggests calling in Erica Blumberg to go in her place. Claudia and Erica bond while sitting for the Pikes, and Claudia takes her out shopping. Erica bewilders Claudia with her lack of interest in fashion, but she likes shopping for art supplies, and helps Claudia find supplies for her her Thanksgiving centerpiece. Erica is all in on the new friendship, trading painful life stories, going for a BFF photo booth session, etc., but she realizes she is a “rebound” (her words) when Claudia calls her “Stace.” Claudia realizes she misses Stacey more than she let on.
Vanessa Pike contrives to get Claudia and Stacey sitting at the same time, hoping they'll make up. They start to, both confessing that they miss each other, but when Stacey reiterates that everything will be fine as long as Claudia stays away from Jeremy, Claudia is insulted. She realizes that instead of trying to make Erica more like Stacey, she wishes Stacey were more like Erica. She decides to give up on Stacey and decides to patch things up with Erica instead.
We end on a hopeful(?) note with Jeremy getting transferring into Claudia‘s English class, a development which she describes as “very interesting.”
I enjoyed this more in 2016 than when I originally read it in April 2013 (when I gave it one star); I think I was annoyed by the obnoxiousness of the extended “Stacey and Claudia fight over a boy” storyline, but having reconciled myself to the plot development, I actually think it’s kind of clever how fight becomes something bigger than both of them. Both clearly want to reconcile, but they force each other into corners that prevent that from ever happening. Stacey offers terms that hurt Claudia’s pride: demanding that she promise to stay away from Jeremy seems reasonable to Stacey, but Claudia justifiably sees it as a small, mean, mistrustful act.
With that said, I have to agree with my original main criticism of the book:
“This is one of the most vague and first-drafty BSC books I’ve read. Half the words might as well be ‘fill something in here.’ Mary Anne can‘t sit at the Pikes’ because she has ‘that thing with Sharon’ (WHAT THING? I can think of several things she might be doing with Sharon but none of them would be described that way in natural human language). Byron gets upset when Jordan “mutter[s] something under his breath” but we never find out what it is, not even a hint. Jeremy and Claudia’s life-changing conversations are mostly glossed over. We do get details on some things - just the wrong things. Jeremy has cousins in Boulder, Colorado. Who cares? We also get a ton of details about how Erica was adopted and is looking for her birth parents, which doesn’t play into anything, and seems like the author suddenly realizing, ‘Shit, Erica‘s been sitting here listening to Claudia’s Stacey drama, better give her some drama of her own.’ Just sloppy, sloppy work.”
Lingering Questions:
1. So, is Erica Blumberg just an associate now? If not, why not? (And why not sooner?) Clients have called her before when the BSC can’t or won’t sit (like in #101 [b:Kristy's Worst Idea|48917|Kristy's Worst Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #100)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1387712545s/48917.jpg|47855] and #117 [b:Claudia and the Terrible Truth|558169|Claudia and the Terrible Truth (The Baby-Sitters Club, #117)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1387739127s/558169.jpg|545347]), and she seems to be a good sitter and to enjoy it, so why isn’t she already in the BSC?
2. They've all known Erica for years (hers is one of the names that is always in the background in the school scenes, though to my recollection they have never developed her character much before). So why do she and Claudia keep referring to each other as new friends? Is it that obvious that they could not possibly have been friends before, as BSC members Are Only Friends With BSC Members? Did this draft originally contain a new character, but they hastily changed it to someone the BSC trusts in order to avoid the whole elaborate new-sitter screening process?
3. Jeremy: what is your game, friend? Out of the blue, he starts going out of his way to strike up conversations with the lovestruck-to-silence Claudia. He tells her he want to still be friends, but they never really were friends, were they? She went on an unsuccessful date with him, and they can‘t have gotten very close if she was this nervous and shy with him before. It seems like the type of effort you might make to get to know someone in advance of asking them out, but why is he suddenly interested in her when he never was before? Does he feel trapped with possessive Stacey? We get mixed messages about whether he and Claudia are actually good together as friends (Or More); he remember some details she‘s told him, but forgets others; he seems willing to sneak around behind Stacey’s back to see Claudia, but when Claudia brings up the Stacey subject, he’s all, oh, of course, she’s my girlfriend, you and I are just friends. I don’t know, you guys, I don’t think he’s worth it.
4. A question for Claudia: boyfriend-stealing: okay, not okay, or only okay when you (are planning to) do it? (Not that I see Stacey as a boyfriend thief, since Jeremy was never Claudia’s boyfriend to begin with, and since that is not a thing; but Claudia, delusionally, does.)
5. Claudia’s centerpiece sounds like a complete disaster, right?
Slash Watch: Claudia describes her rift with Stacey as a “break-up” and seems more concerned with Stacey than with Jeremy; when she sees them at the movies together, for example, she notes that Stacey looks pretty and is wearing a cute outfit, but doesn’t notice anything about Jeremy at all. Erica is giving me strong vibes here as well; despite constantly reminding Claudia that she’s not interested in clothes & doesn’t wear jewelry, she is totally willing to go look at necklaces in the mall anytime Claudia wants, as long as it means they get to spend time together. Her patience with Claudia going on and on about her ex bespeaks a careful effort not to chase the beautiful girl away before she gets in her pants. Claudia calling her by the wrong name in a moment of passion (shopping) is the last straw, though.
Timing: November, around Thanksgiving.
Revised Timeline: November of third academic year post-grad (age 24 or so). Since it’s irrelevant that Erica is someone they all know from way back, it makes just as much (if not more) sense if Claudia is out in the world trying to turn a new co-worker or acquaintance into Stacey after they (naturally, healthily) grow apart.
Cause-of-the-fight Jeremy, now firmly established as Stacey’s boyfriend, suddenly starts going out of his way to talk to Claudia and call her on the phone. Jeremy and Claudia have intense conversations which seem to revolve solely around how much Jeremy now wants to make this friendship work, for unclear reasons. Claudia still has a crush on Jeremy, and gets a thrill out of talking to him. Stacey is not pleased with this turn of events and marks her territory, speaking to Claudia for the first time in weeks just to tell her to stay away from her boyfriend.
When Stacey and Claudia are the only two people available for a Pike job, Stacey suggests calling in Erica Blumberg to go in her place. Claudia and Erica bond while sitting for the Pikes, and Claudia takes her out shopping. Erica bewilders Claudia with her lack of interest in fashion, but she likes shopping for art supplies, and helps Claudia find supplies for her her Thanksgiving centerpiece. Erica is all in on the new friendship, trading painful life stories, going for a BFF photo booth session, etc., but she realizes she is a “rebound” (her words) when Claudia calls her “Stace.” Claudia realizes she misses Stacey more than she let on.
Vanessa Pike contrives to get Claudia and Stacey sitting at the same time, hoping they'll make up. They start to, both confessing that they miss each other, but when Stacey reiterates that everything will be fine as long as Claudia stays away from Jeremy, Claudia is insulted. She realizes that instead of trying to make Erica more like Stacey, she wishes Stacey were more like Erica. She decides to give up on Stacey and decides to patch things up with Erica instead.
We end on a hopeful(?) note with Jeremy getting transferring into Claudia‘s English class, a development which she describes as “very interesting.”
I enjoyed this more in 2016 than when I originally read it in April 2013 (when I gave it one star); I think I was annoyed by the obnoxiousness of the extended “Stacey and Claudia fight over a boy” storyline, but having reconciled myself to the plot development, I actually think it’s kind of clever how fight becomes something bigger than both of them. Both clearly want to reconcile, but they force each other into corners that prevent that from ever happening. Stacey offers terms that hurt Claudia’s pride: demanding that she promise to stay away from Jeremy seems reasonable to Stacey, but Claudia justifiably sees it as a small, mean, mistrustful act.
With that said, I have to agree with my original main criticism of the book:
“This is one of the most vague and first-drafty BSC books I’ve read. Half the words might as well be ‘fill something in here.’ Mary Anne can‘t sit at the Pikes’ because she has ‘that thing with Sharon’ (WHAT THING? I can think of several things she might be doing with Sharon but none of them would be described that way in natural human language). Byron gets upset when Jordan “mutter[s] something under his breath” but we never find out what it is, not even a hint. Jeremy and Claudia’s life-changing conversations are mostly glossed over. We do get details on some things - just the wrong things. Jeremy has cousins in Boulder, Colorado. Who cares? We also get a ton of details about how Erica was adopted and is looking for her birth parents, which doesn’t play into anything, and seems like the author suddenly realizing, ‘Shit, Erica‘s been sitting here listening to Claudia’s Stacey drama, better give her some drama of her own.’ Just sloppy, sloppy work.”
Lingering Questions:
1. So, is Erica Blumberg just an associate now? If not, why not? (And why not sooner?) Clients have called her before when the BSC can’t or won’t sit (like in #101 [b:Kristy's Worst Idea|48917|Kristy's Worst Idea (The Baby-Sitters Club, #100)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1387712545s/48917.jpg|47855] and #117 [b:Claudia and the Terrible Truth|558169|Claudia and the Terrible Truth (The Baby-Sitters Club, #117)|Ann M. Martin|https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1387739127s/558169.jpg|545347]), and she seems to be a good sitter and to enjoy it, so why isn’t she already in the BSC?
2. They've all known Erica for years (hers is one of the names that is always in the background in the school scenes, though to my recollection they have never developed her character much before). So why do she and Claudia keep referring to each other as new friends? Is it that obvious that they could not possibly have been friends before, as BSC members Are Only Friends With BSC Members? Did this draft originally contain a new character, but they hastily changed it to someone the BSC trusts in order to avoid the whole elaborate new-sitter screening process?
3. Jeremy: what is your game, friend? Out of the blue, he starts going out of his way to strike up conversations with the lovestruck-to-silence Claudia. He tells her he want to still be friends, but they never really were friends, were they? She went on an unsuccessful date with him, and they can‘t have gotten very close if she was this nervous and shy with him before. It seems like the type of effort you might make to get to know someone in advance of asking them out, but why is he suddenly interested in her when he never was before? Does he feel trapped with possessive Stacey? We get mixed messages about whether he and Claudia are actually good together as friends (Or More); he remember some details she‘s told him, but forgets others; he seems willing to sneak around behind Stacey’s back to see Claudia, but when Claudia brings up the Stacey subject, he’s all, oh, of course, she’s my girlfriend, you and I are just friends. I don’t know, you guys, I don’t think he’s worth it.
4. A question for Claudia: boyfriend-stealing: okay, not okay, or only okay when you (are planning to) do it? (Not that I see Stacey as a boyfriend thief, since Jeremy was never Claudia’s boyfriend to begin with, and since that is not a thing; but Claudia, delusionally, does.)
5. Claudia’s centerpiece sounds like a complete disaster, right?
Slash Watch: Claudia describes her rift with Stacey as a “break-up” and seems more concerned with Stacey than with Jeremy; when she sees them at the movies together, for example, she notes that Stacey looks pretty and is wearing a cute outfit, but doesn’t notice anything about Jeremy at all. Erica is giving me strong vibes here as well; despite constantly reminding Claudia that she’s not interested in clothes & doesn’t wear jewelry, she is totally willing to go look at necklaces in the mall anytime Claudia wants, as long as it means they get to spend time together. Her patience with Claudia going on and on about her ex bespeaks a careful effort not to chase the beautiful girl away before she gets in her pants. Claudia calling her by the wrong name in a moment of passion (shopping) is the last straw, though.
Timing: November, around Thanksgiving.
Revised Timeline: November of third academic year post-grad (age 24 or so). Since it’s irrelevant that Erica is someone they all know from way back, it makes just as much (if not more) sense if Claudia is out in the world trying to turn a new co-worker or acquaintance into Stacey after they (naturally, healthily) grow apart.
sammah's review
3.0
These continue to delight me, even in the funk that I am very deeply in right now. More drama! Junior high boys unable to make choices just like in real life! Friendships on the rocks, new friends, backstabbing!
This is truly like 8th grade! They even reference the Simpson's! THAT IS UNHEARD OF.
This is truly like 8th grade! They even reference the Simpson's! THAT IS UNHEARD OF.
ssshira's review
2.0
in this book by ghostwriter [a:Laura Dower|47139|Laura Dower|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1279142671p2/47139.jpg] (I had to look this name up, because I’ve never heard it before...turns out this is the only BSC book by this ghostwriter), claudia and stacey are still not speaking to one another. stacey is dating jeremy, who continues to be friendly with claudia, much to stacey’s chagrin. claud and stacey are the only two people available to sit for the pikes, so stacey pretends she can’t, and claud gets erica blumberg (who is a recurring minor character throughout the series, perhaps most notably known as winner of the best excuse for not doing homework award--her mom composted her homework--in [b:Kristy and the Missing Child|371058|Kristy and the Missing Child (Baby-Sitters Club Mystery, #4)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387736944l/371058._SX50_.jpg|361025]) to babysit with her. she’s actually quite good at babysitting; she is fluent in igpay atinlay, and the triplets think she’s cool from the start. she and claud start to hang out a lot, and claud clearly sees her as a replacement for stacey, at one point trying to give her a makeover to make her look more like stacey...which is...yeah. look at lowlights. this book is also the start of the erica trying to find her birth parents side plot, which gets addressed more throughout the friends forever claudia-narrated books.
highlights:
-peaches tells a story about her friend molly, with whom she fought over a boy. they were fighting in the school library when the student librarian threatened to throw them out. but then the student librarian ended up going out with peaches for a cup of coffee. and it was russ, her later-husband! aww, what a meet-cute!
-I love erica. she does a homer simpson impression and then makes cheese puns at the cheese shop (have a gouda time, she's brie-ing serious)
-also I love that erica knows pig latin and the triplets are so impressed with her because of that.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-claud wonders why jeremy likes stacey instead of her. she thinks, "maybe jeremy likes blondes better. or maybe he wants someone who's good at math." it doesn't even occur to her that he might only date white girls. considering claudia actually went out with a guy once who said to her, “I’m into everything Asian,” (see [b:Claudia and the Perfect Boy|1383130|Claudia and the Perfect Boy (The Baby-Sitters Club, #71)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387703624l/1383130._SY75_.jpg|511517]), I doubt she wouldn’t think of this as a possibility.
-stacey tells claud that she "knows what you're doing" regarding talking to jeremy and that claud needs to remember he is stacey's boyfriend. hoo boy. stacey really sucks in the friends forever series.
-claudia keeps talking to erica about the times she and stacey had together, and it's really creepy, like someone who just ended a romantic relationship and won't shut up about their ex on the first date. finally at one point she actually calls her stace. then she tries to give her a makeover. erica asserts herself, but at the end of the book they’re still friends, and it’s like...really? erica, if I were you, I’d run screaming.
-jeremy continues to be the worst. he is DEFINITELY flirty with claudia, and it’s like...you had your shot with her. he clearly just wants to destroy claud and stacey’s friendship and is a monstrous chaos agent.
claud outfit:
-"I pulled on my favorite red woolen sweater, the one my grandmother Mimi had knitted for me a few years ago, before she died. It looked great when I matched it up with my navy blue skirt, the one with the embroidered flowers along the bottom. Then I slipped on my favorite platform loafers...I decided at last to wear one braid on each side."
-"...my new hairdo (little ponytails all over my head - I saw it in a magazine) and my oversized angora sweater, which I'd purchased with Mom at a tag sale in the neighborhood. It was blue and furry and I loved it. Mom said ti was from the fifties."
-"Jeremy pointed to my plaid shirt. I was wearing it with brown bell-bottom pants and maroon sneakers."
jeremy outfit:
-"He had on a black denim jacket, painter's pants, and Doc Martens."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-oreos on the shelf in her closet
-cookies in her closet (possibly the same oreos mentioned above, but this time it's not specified that they're oreos)
highlights:
-peaches tells a story about her friend molly, with whom she fought over a boy. they were fighting in the school library when the student librarian threatened to throw them out. but then the student librarian ended up going out with peaches for a cup of coffee. and it was russ, her later-husband! aww, what a meet-cute!
-I love erica. she does a homer simpson impression and then makes cheese puns at the cheese shop (have a gouda time, she's brie-ing serious)
-also I love that erica knows pig latin and the triplets are so impressed with her because of that.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-claud wonders why jeremy likes stacey instead of her. she thinks, "maybe jeremy likes blondes better. or maybe he wants someone who's good at math." it doesn't even occur to her that he might only date white girls. considering claudia actually went out with a guy once who said to her, “I’m into everything Asian,” (see [b:Claudia and the Perfect Boy|1383130|Claudia and the Perfect Boy (The Baby-Sitters Club, #71)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387703624l/1383130._SY75_.jpg|511517]), I doubt she wouldn’t think of this as a possibility.
-stacey tells claud that she "knows what you're doing" regarding talking to jeremy and that claud needs to remember he is stacey's boyfriend. hoo boy. stacey really sucks in the friends forever series.
-claudia keeps talking to erica about the times she and stacey had together, and it's really creepy, like someone who just ended a romantic relationship and won't shut up about their ex on the first date. finally at one point she actually calls her stace. then she tries to give her a makeover. erica asserts herself, but at the end of the book they’re still friends, and it’s like...really? erica, if I were you, I’d run screaming.
-jeremy continues to be the worst. he is DEFINITELY flirty with claudia, and it’s like...you had your shot with her. he clearly just wants to destroy claud and stacey’s friendship and is a monstrous chaos agent.
claud outfit:
-"I pulled on my favorite red woolen sweater, the one my grandmother Mimi had knitted for me a few years ago, before she died. It looked great when I matched it up with my navy blue skirt, the one with the embroidered flowers along the bottom. Then I slipped on my favorite platform loafers...I decided at last to wear one braid on each side."
-"...my new hairdo (little ponytails all over my head - I saw it in a magazine) and my oversized angora sweater, which I'd purchased with Mom at a tag sale in the neighborhood. It was blue and furry and I loved it. Mom said ti was from the fifties."
-"Jeremy pointed to my plaid shirt. I was wearing it with brown bell-bottom pants and maroon sneakers."
jeremy outfit:
-"He had on a black denim jacket, painter's pants, and Doc Martens."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-oreos on the shelf in her closet
-cookies in her closet (possibly the same oreos mentioned above, but this time it's not specified that they're oreos)