BSC #76- Stacey’s Lie

Well Sadako, I saw you were especially excited about this recap, so I dedicate this particular blog posting to you!!! I am going to do the chapter by chapter thing again- I am finding that  it works quite well for BSC recaps. If anyone doesn’t like it let me know, but I find it is keeping things rather organized soooo… here it goes!! Enjoy Sadako and others!

Chapter 1: Stacey is on the phone with Daddy McGill. Stacey was supposed to see him next weekend for a visit to NYC, but Stacey’s dad has called asking if they can change plans because he has a big work conference next weekend he cannot miss. Stacey’s mom asks what is going on, and Stacey’s mom then complains that work always comes first for Ed McGill.  Stacey says it’s no big deal, and she and Robert were only going to see a movie this weekend. We then hear about Robert, who is Stacey’s steady boyfriend ( they first hook up in ” Stacey and the Cheerleaders” Book 70) and Robert is sooo great because he understands that Stacey spends ocassional weekends in New York. Sooo glad Robert lets Stacey actually do things without him sometimes, and isn’t like some crazy man with an 80’s stache and a wife beater in a Lifetime movie.  We also hear Mrs. McGill bitch about how Stacey’s dad never liked showing emotions.  The next day, Stacey is off to school and puts on an Aztec print shorts dress that sounds heinous.  We then hear that Robert got a summer job ( these 13 year olds tend to get jobs easily- Logan as a bus boy at Box Tree Cafe, Laine Cummings getting a job as a cashier) at Fire Island working on the boat for 2 months. And the job starts next weekend and Stacey will be gone this weekend! Stacey is already complety bummin’ because she will be without Robert for the whole summer!

Chapter #2-  Stacey is in NYC visiting her dad.  Stacey got her dad an expensive chess set for Father’s Day.  Daddy McGill then says he is going to work from his home for a couple of hours, and while he’s working Stacey can buy herself something pretty and summery to wear to the Lion’s Lair restaurant- dude is Stacey his daughter or mistress? ” Buy yourself a pretty dress for our date at LION’S LAIR!!” Gosh the name of that restaurant sounds like it’d be a place where scrubby 20 year olds take the girls they are cheating on their girlfriends with in an episode of Cheaters. God Cheaters is a GREAT show- that could be a whole blog- how much I love Cheaters- but only with Joey Greco as host not the other asswipe. OK I digress.  At dinner, Stacey mentions Robert and Stacey’s dad is all ” I am not ready to lose my girl to some guy named Robert!” God Mr. McGill stop being Woody Freakin Allen!  Then Ed tells Stacey that he is taking two weeks off and he wants to take Stacey on a vacation ANYWHERE she wants to go- she just names the place, and they will go.  Stacey is thinking over it, and at first she thinks of going to Europe, but figures she can go to Europe on a honeymoon with Robert someday- WTF Stacey is THIRTEEN and thinking of honeymoons??? Then she thinks of asking to visit Cali to go see Dawn but then Stacey instantly nixes that idea to go to- DAVIS PARK WHICH IS IN FIRE ISLAND!! Yup- Stacey wants to go to some dinky island to basically spend time with her squeeze.

Chapter 3:  BSC meeting. Stacey asks Claud if she wants to go to Fire Island with Stacey and her father as Mr. McGill said Stacey could ask Claudia to come.  Claudia readily agrees to go. Naturally, Stacey doesn’t tell Claudia that Robert will also be at Fire Island.  We also hear that Mallory and Jessi will be camp counselors at the community center for the summer and get real paychecks- how would ELEVEN YEAR OLDS GET PAYCHECKS???? Unless maybe they deliver the newspaper!! UGH UGH UGH shit when I was 28 years old I got fired from a job-and I had work experience and a Master’s degree- and crap it was harder for me to find a job than it seems to be for these damn kids!  Stacey then asks Kristy, Mary Anne, Mal, Kristy, Shannon, and Jessi if they want to go to Fire Island for 4th of July weekend to see Stace and Claudia  and Shannon, Mary Anne and Kristy agree to go and Mal and Jessi decline as they will probably have to work that weekend.  BTW Shannon is at the meeting as she is the alternate officer while Dawn is living in Cali for six months- and God a Dawn free book is sooo great!

Chapter 4-  Claudia and Stacey are on their way to Fire Island. Claudia says it must have been hard for Stace to say good bye to  Robert for the summer. Yeah sure…  While on the ferry to Davis Park on Fire Island Stacey keeps trying to distract Claud and her dad so they won’t see Robert in case he is on the ferry. They finally get to Fire Island and Mr. McGill introduces Stacey and Claud to his good friend Stu Majors. ( he becomes somewhat important later). Then- Claudia and Stacey run into Robert!

Chapter 5: Jessi and Mal’s job at the community center starts.  Haley Braddock and Vanessa Pike are best friends who are so happy to be day camping together- until each sees the other in their bathing suits- they are wearing the SAME BATHING SUIT- white and red with some shitty and fug red collar around the neck- it’s ruffly. Again sounds like a FUG bathing suit. But then Vanessa and Haley are all upset with other which seems odd at age 9 because when I was nine and my cousin was 7 , we loved wearing matching clothes. Individuality becomes more of a thing at, like, 12 or 13 usually.  But moving on because no one really cares about this subplot….

Chapter 6:  So Claud asks Stacey why she didn’t say that Robert would be at Fire Island.  Stacey says she didn’t tell Claud that Robert was coming because Stacey really wanted Claudia to come, and Stacey figured Claudia wouldn’t come if she knew Robert would be there. So Claudia softens, especially after Stacey says Robert will be working every day anyway so Stacey and Claud will have mucho time to spend together.  Stacey then says she won’t lie to Claudia ever again.  She also says to Claud not to tell Mr. McG that Robert is there on vacation and Claudia says Stacey shouldn’t lie to her dad, and Stacey is all ” you can’t talk you hide Nancy Drew books and candy all over your room!”  We then hear about how Stacey wakes up mad early every day to walk Robert to the ferry and it’s so great and romantic.  Stacey also mentions that Stacey’s pop seems to spend LOTS of time with Stu Majors at his home. When I was 16 and reading this book, ( yep kids I will tell ya now- Stacey’s Lie is the last BSC book I ever read as a child, and I was SIXTEEN and a junior in high school-yep yep- well I read SVH books until I was almost 18 soooo….but yeah) I was so hoping that Mr. McGill and Mr. Majors were gettin’ it on! Anyone else?  We also hear about Claudia making these awesome sand castles and taking pictures of them before the waves would splash them away.  One night Claud, Stacey and Robert go to a pizza shop and Stacey and Robert take a romantic walk as Claudia reads a book indoors, but then when Stacey comes back Claud is stuck outside because the shop closed so early. Stacey is soo glad that Claudia is giving Stacey some space so she can be alone with Robert. UGH

Chapter 7-  Claudia sees a parade being advertised and says she definitely wants to be in it. Claudia says she is getting bored on the island and getting involved in the parade would give her something to do. Stace is all ” oh Claudia you’re bored? ” Well Stacey HELLO DEAR but you seem to love leaving Claudia alone so you can be with Robert all the time, and Claudia points that out.  Stacey then says she and Claudia can spend the night alone tonight. Then when Stacey, Robert and Claud meet for lunch, while Claudia is at a one hour photo shop, Robert says he doesn’t have to work tonight and Stacey is all ” oh no I told Claud we can do something alone tonight” and Stacey almost makes it sound as if hanging out with Claudia would be sooo shitty in comparison to hanging out with her precious Robert. Honestly why did Stacey even invite Claud on this trip??  Stacey then says she will meet Robert on the last ferry after having dinner with Claudia.  Claudia then comes back and says she found costumes for everyone to wear in the parade- a dragon, a princess, a lady in waiting,  a prince and a court jester and Claudia says she will make a sandcastle and the gals can all wear these costumes.  At dinner, the girls happen to see Robert so of course Stacey asks him to join them for pizza.  After dinner Claudia says she is basically tired of always hanging out with Stacey AND Robert and it makes her feel like a fifth wheel. Stacey PROMISES Claud that they will have dinner at a nice restaurant, the Casino, the next day all by themselves.

Chapter 8- Robert tells Stace on Thursday that he doesn’t have to work that night and this guy he works with named Mitch says Rob and Stace can go on his boat together for  a lovely evening ride. Stacey says she promised Claudia they’d have a special dinner alone tonight and Robert is all ” just eat with her tomorrow.” Mr. Sensitive he is.  Then Stacey decides that she can eat dinner with Claudia at 6 pm and by 8:30 ( as Robert and Stacey aren’t going boating until sunset) Stacey should be ready to join Robert on the boat.  So I guess Stacey has to find a way to ditch Claudia after dinner and rush her through dinner, right? Well…  Stacey first insists she and Claud must go to eat right at 6 pm because otherwise the restaurant will be WAY too crowded if they go after 6 pm.  Claudia is then deciding what to wear and Stacey is all miffed because she feels Claudia is taking too long to pick an outfit so they don’t get to the restaurant until 6:15.  Then Stace is all pissed because Claudia gets an appetizer and doesn’t decide on what to eat right away. Stacey is SUCH A CUNTBAG!!!  Then Stacey gets mad because Claud the junk food addict wants dessert and then the waitress doesn’t bring change until 8:25 pm.  Stacey is all ” come on Claud let’s go” all huffy at this point and then as they leave- it’s ROBERT- he figured that he’d come to meet Stacey as it seemed she was running late.  So Stacey tells Claudia ” well I figured we’d be done eating early so I told Robert I’d meet him after.” Claudia realizes that’s why Stacey kept rushing her at dinnertime, and Claudia is upset saying she thought Stace wanted to actually spend time with Claudia alone tonight but obviously she was wrong. Poor Claudia.

Chapter 9:  Mary Anne is sitting for Haley and Matt Braddock. Mary Anne learns of the Vanessa/ Haley feud whilst she is sitting. Haley wants to put signs all over the neighborhood warning other kids about Vanessa, but Mary Anne doesn’t let her, But Mary Anne lets Haley put the flyers on the Pike fence- WHAT???? In return, Vanessa is sending letters to Haley through Pow the dog with letters saying Haley smells bad and what not.  This is so fucking stupid. Nine year olds would really do this shit over matching bathing suits?? HATED THIS PLOT EVEN WHEN WAS A KID ( OK a sixteen year old kid)

Chapter 10:  As Stacey and Robert are taking a walk after missing the sunset sail ( Stacey was trying to convince Claud to talk to her and by the time Stace gave up the boat had left) they see another couple walking hand in hand- and the couple is Mr. McGill and a mysterious dark haired woman!!  Stacey mentions that the woman is named Samantha and she has a great figure. Then Stacey’s dad asks for Samantha and Robert to leave the two of them ( Stace and Dad) alone for a bit as obviously they have to discuss how both of them arranged to meet their loves on this island, and neither one knew about the other’s love being there.  Stacey yells at her dad for having Samantha over there even though Stacey lied about why she wanted to go to Fire Island, and Stacey also duped Claudia into going.  Then Stacey is all ” I am not talking to you, Dad!!” UGH

Chapter 11:  When Stacey walks Rob to the fairy, Robert says that Samantha seems really nice. Stacey doesn’t want to talk about her dad having a girlfriend.  Mary Anne, Shannon and Kristy are due to arrive on the next ferry for the weekend.  When they arrive, Claudia makes it known to the gals what Stacey pulled and Stacey is all upset that she didn’t get the chance to tell Shannon, Mary Anne and Kristy her side of the story. Yeah Stacey your side SUCKS- you lied to both Claud and your dad about why you wanted to go to Fire Island, you pretty much ditched Claudia to always be with your stinkin’ boyfriend, you yelled at your dad for being with his girlfriend on the trip even though YOU only wanted to go to Davis Park to be with Robert- need I go on?

Chapter 12:  Parade Day. the girls are all whiny over having to march in a parade and wear costumes. Mary Anne feels they are too old for that- but Mary Anne you aren’t too old to constantly play Let’s All Come In with Karen Brewer all the time? You aren’t too old to obsess over 8 year old’s love lives?  Stacey is all pissy because Claudia is having Stacey be  the dragon in the parade and it’s some ugly felt costume. But dragons are pretty bitchin not really sure what the issue is.  At the parade, Stacey is all peeved because her dad is marching in the parade with Samantha and she is Lady Liberty and he is Uncle Sam.  Then, as a photographer is going to take a picture of the girls, Claudia’s sandcastle crumbles and Claud is all frustrated and upset. Kristy remarks that she’s never seen Claud like this.  Kristy is also ” oh poor Claudia” and Stacey is all ” no poor ME POOR ME!” FUCK YOU STACEY- and yeah for Kristy for pointing out that Claud being upset with  Stacey is Stacey’s own doing!  Then on Monday morning, Stacey sees that Shannon, Mary Anne and Kristy are packed and ready to leave the island.  Shannon remarks that they all feel really uncomfy  being around Stace and Claud while they are squabbling.  And Claudia announces that she is leaving with the others, and Stacey is all ” Why” and Claudia shoots her a LOOK like ” Hello do you have to ask??”

Chapter 13:  More camp crap and Haley and Vanessa nonsense. There is a big relay race and Haley and Vanessa make up in time for a three legged race because neither one wants to lose and both are so competitive. Never saw Vanessa as being at all competitive until I read this book. So yeah Haley and Vanessa are friends again and the world heaves a collective sigh of relief- not because we are so happy that Haley and Vanessa are friends again, but because this subplot was crap and that is why I barely covered it.

Chapter 14:  Robert tells Stacey he’s really uncomfy with how Stacey lied to both Claud and her own dad, and if Stacey has no issues with lying to Mr. Mc G or Claudia, how long until Stacey starts lying to him?  Stacey says she would never lie to Robert, but Robert says he does not really buy that.  Stacey is all mad at Robert now thinking that she did all of this lying for him and he’s sooo ungrateful. God, Stacey is soo self centered- how can she think she’s sooo right if Mr. McGill, Claud and now Rob are all pissed at her behavior? GET IT THROUGH YOUR DAMN THICK HEAD STACEY- YOU ARE A CUNTBAG!  Stacey goes to a little shop and sees that Claudia’s photos of sandcastles are on sale!  Stacey gets all teary because Claudia never told her she sold pictures that she took of her sandcastles to this gallery.  When Stacey gets home, her pops apologizes to her for not telling Stace about Samantha- and yeah it was sorta shitty of Mr. McGill not to tell his daughter about his new woman.   Mr. McG also asks Stacey if she and Rob would like to go to dinner with Samantha and him tonight. So Stacey calls Robert and they make up. Robert says he doesn’t want to break up he was just a little upset because thought Stacey was perfect, and he saw a side of her that wasn’t perfect and so it upset him. CHEESY!!!!  Rob also agrees to have dinner with Stacey, her papi, and Samantha. Stacey then gets on the phone to call Claudia…

Chapter 15-  Stacey is back from Fire Island, and tells her mom she wants to go straight to Claud’s to make up to her.  Stacey also tells Claud she made 60 bucks from the photos she sold and Claud is jazzed.  Claudia says she can buy tons of Nancy Drews, art supplies and candy with her money and Stacey says ” that’s all you need to be happy” and Claudia says ” No I also need my best friend” awwwwwww…. too bad Stace doesn’t deserve a best bud as awesome as Claudia!  When Stacey gets home, she tells her mom about her dad having a girlfriend and Stacey’s mom isn’t that happy but she says that hey they are divorced now and she will get used to it.  At the end, there is another BSC meeting and Mallory says that Vanessa and Haley are so sweet to each other now that it’s sickening and Kristy is glad that the club will soon be back to regular business- because the darn club and Kristy’s Krushers is all Kristy thinks about, seriously. Then the last sentence in the book reads- ” I hope Claudia and I stay friends forever- and that’s no lie!!” But oooooh it so the fuck IS Stacey as we will soon see in Book 83- Stacey vs the BSC!!!!

A couple of notifications for you all- first of all as I believe I have told you previously, the main reason my sister and I started this blog is to snark on YA books that aren’t really discussed in other blogs- we saw that tons of folks write on the BSC and Sweet Valley High books and those blogs are all TERRIFIC, but we wanted to have a blog focusing on lesser known and/or reviewed YA novels and what not.  So seriously, I am REALLY going to attempt to write a lot more on YA novels that aren’t SVH or BSC books- I will certainly still post about quite a few of those books, but in terms of Jess and Liz Wakefield I will focus more on Sweet Valley Twins , Kids and SV University as opposed to High books, as fewer bloggers write on Kids, Twins or SVU books. In terms of the Baby Sitters Club I will still write on them but I did recently get a lot of BSC Little Sister books so more of those WILL be snarked on- hardly anyone writes on BSC Little Sister (possibly because those books are soooo hard to read b/c they are so crappy!!). But really expect to read a lot more postings on Sleepover Friends, the Totally Hot Series, Elizabeth Gail, Fabulous Five, and stuff like that. Just to warn ya all! Also, my sis hasn’t posted on here in forever but she is reading ” Jealous Lies” from SVH and she says she MAY post a blog on it soooo- look for it as it may be coming!!!

Secondly, OMG I saw Def Leppard, Poison and Cheap Trick in concert on Tuesday! Holy fucking shit besides BSC books, Funny Bones ( those snacky cakes), and ” Beverly Hills Teens” I FUCKING LOVED Def Leppard at age 10, and I wanted to marry Joe Elliott! The concert will be featured on Live and Loud on Vh1 next week so watch if you can- YEAH DEF LEP AND POISON!!! Cheap Trick didn’t play  ” The Flame” which is, like, the awesomest song ever, and therefore Cheap Trick is now dead to me.

Thirdly- OMG I ADORE the show ” Wife Swap” and I am sorta thinking I may do a couple of Wife Swap recaps but I am not sure yet- would anyone read any Wife Swap blogs???? Or contribute to one? Let me know!!

Well next time ( sometime next week I hope) I will be recapping Gymnasts #8- Captain of the Team- my favorite Gymnasts book as a kid because I loved Darlene so much. After that- here are some great books I will be working on recapping for the rest of the summer-

Sweet Valley High #50- Out of Reach

Baby Sitters Club #83- Stacey vs the BSC

Girl Talk #35- Katie and Sabrina’s Big Competition

BSC Little Sister #6- Karen’s Little Sister ( incidentally Emily Michelle looks ADORABLE on the cover)

SVH #37- Rumors ( featuring my fetching young hottie Susan Stewart

BSC Super Special #1- BABY SITTERS ON BOARD ( favorite BSC super special besides Baby Sitters Remember- which I will also recap @ some point)

Sweet Valley Kids #31- Elizabeth and Jessica Run Away

Sweet Valley Twins #18- Center of Attention

And the start of a series of ” Very Special Episode’ YA novels-  BSC #32- Kristy and the Secret of Susan

So see still PLENTY of BSC and SVH to come but I really hope all of you enjoy the Gymnast, SV Kids, and Girl Talk recaps coming up too!! Stay tuned!

Girl Talk #8- Stealing The Show

Hope everyone had a happy 4th!!

First- the cover. Sabrina is wearing a poodle skirt and a blonde wig during her play tryouts. Behind the curtain are Katie on the top ( looks sorta cute in a Wakefield twin meets a farmer’s daughter sort of way), Randy who is sorta fug but has a cute smile, and then Allison who looks mad Caucasian on this cover and I don’t get why.

Sabrina is really excited because it’s the day they announce what the middle school play will be! As Sabrina sees the sign up sheet for tryouts, she sees the play is Grease- the Musical!  Seriously, guys, this was really the first time I heard about Grease is reading this book- and I was 13 already- don’t know why I hadn’t heard of Grease before!  Sabrina says she definitely wants to try out for Sandy. Annoying Stacy the Great hears Sabrina say that and say that there’s no way Sabrina could be Sandy because Sandy has long blonde hair and Sabrina has red hair, and Sabrina can’t sing!  Eva Malone, one of Stacy’s cronies, is trying out to be Rizzo. Sabrina writes with a flourish that she is trying out for the role of Sandy.  Katie then asks Sabrina if she can sing and Sabrina thinks that she can always learn to sing.  After school, Sabrina asks Katie if she wants to go over Sabrina’s and watch Grease- Sabs plans to rent the video after school.  Randy and Allison say they will try to come over after school to watch Grease as well, though Randy says Grease is not really her thing. Sabrina asks the others if they will try out and Katie says no because  she really has to concentrate on her schoolwork, and Allison is too shy to be in a play and Randy- well it’s not her thing. Randy and Allison say they will try to see if they can help out with lighting for the play.  Katie then says maybe she can also help out backstage a little.  In band class, the major hottie Cameron Booth talks to Sabrina! He has blonde hair and is just dreamy. He  asks Sabrina if she’s trying out for Grease and she says yes. Cameron is going to go for the part of Danny.  Sabrina thinks that if Cameron gets the part of Danny, she MUST play Sandy to act alongside Cameron- it’d be soo romantic!

Sabrina rushes Katie, Al and Randy to Main Street Video after school.  As they look around for the video, Sabrina notices Stacy, Laurel, Eva and BZ coming up to the video store!  Stacy is frantically trying to locate Grease before Stacy and her crew can get their hands on it, but then Sabrina sees Stacy with the video jacket and Stacy is all proud of herself, flipping her hair around as she says ” Doesn’t Olivia Newton-John have the nicest long blonde hair??”  Sabs is bummed, but then she sees Katie with a white big and asks her what that video is. Katie says that Stacy only had the video cover- you have to bring the video cover to the counter, and they get the video for you- so Katie got the only copy of Grease not Stacy!

At home, Sabrina insists she has to take notes while the movie is playing because all good actresses take notes on the roles they will play.  Sabrina is frantically trying to write down every line in the movie and keeps having to rewind the movie to get every line Sandy says- if I were her friends I’d be more than slightly annoyed with that crap.  We also learn that Sabrina’s mom, upon hearing that Sabrina was going to try for Grease, bought Sabrina the Grease soundtrack! Sabrina now thinks she can  practice singing to the soundtrack all the time to really get perfect!

Sabrina starts to practice singing to the soundtrack, and both Mark, Sabs’ 13 year old bro, and Sabrina’s twin Sam both complain that Sabrina sucks at singing.  Sabrina decides not to practice singing if Mark and Sam are around. Sabrina reads the lines she copied from the movie until dinner.   After dinner, Sabrina goes to the attic and finds a great outfit to audition for the play- a blonde wig, a sweater with buttons down the back, a poodle skirt ( I wish poodle skirts were cool today I love them and saddle shoes- which I also love!  Then Katie calls Sabrina and says that her older sis Emily had to learn the hand jive and the Lindy when Em did Grease and Sabs freaks because she doesn’t know those dances. Katie tells Sabrina that she’s sure they will learn how to do them during rehearsals, but Sabrina says she wants to have a head start over everyone. Katie suggests asking Sabrina’s parents to teach Sabs the dances.  Sabrina’s parents teach her some of the dances and Sabrina practices and is getting the hang of some of them. Sabrina is more and more confident that she will get the role of Sandy when she auditions tomorrow!

At auditions, Sabrina is told to read the part of Frenchy for Dr. Rossi. Sabs says that she signed up to be Sandy, but Dr. Rossi says he is having students read different parts to test their acting ability. Stacy gets to be Sandy during the reading of the parts.  Stacy reads the scene in a flat voice and doesn’t have much acting ability. Sabs chews gum and talks in a squeaky voice like Frenchy does in the movie, figuring that if Dr Rossi sees how well she plays Frenchy, he’s certain to give her the part of Sandy.  Then the guys try out- Cameron reads for Danny’s part, and Sabrina’s bro Sam reads for the part of Sonny!! Sabrina is suprised as Sam was teasing Sabrina about trying out. Sabs sees that Sam’s best friends Nick and Jason are also trying out.  Then it comes time for singing and Stacy has a great singing voice! Sabrina tries her best to sing, but she knows she’s not as good a singer as Stacy!  Sabs is now convinced she won’t get Sandy’s role because she can’t sing. Randy says that Sabrina did a much better acting job than Stacy so maybe Sabrina still has a great chance. The girls all agree to stop by Fitzie’s- yeah!

Sabrina sees Cameron and Stacy walk into Fitzie’s together and thinks they are such a great couple with their matching blonde and they are the perfect Danny and Sandy. umm but Danny Zuko- ummm totally a brunette dude NOT blonde- hello! Then Sabrina is all ” I wish I had blonde hair!!!”  Sabrina then gets a GREAT idea and doesn’t even tell Allison, Katie or Randy. She runs to the drugstore after having her sundae at Fitzie’s, and goes straight to the hair dye section.  So Sabrina buys a box of blonde hair dye, dyes her hair and… it turns BRIGHT ORANGE!!!!!  Sabs keeps washing and washing her hair but the orange dye won’t come out! Sabs is frantic- so she calls Katie to ask what to do. Katie says she will call Randy because she thinks Randy would know what to do.  Randy says she thinks she can fix Sabrina’s hair, and Katie, Al and Ran are going over to Sabrina’s to figure out what to do about Sabrina’s Bozo the clown hair.

Randy gets a bottle of deep burgandy hair dye and a deep conditioner and does manage to get Sabrina’s hair back to its original red.  The next day Sabrina is going to meet the gals at the mall,and  Sabrina decides to just dress in a sophisticated manner so that she’s sure to get the role of Sandy. She puts on her training bra and stuffs it with blue tissues and she also wears a white turtleneck and her best blue jeans.  It is pouring rain by the time Sabs’s bro Luke drops Sabrina off at the mall and Sabrina arrives at the mall soaking wet- and Katie, Ran and Allison totally laugh because they could see that Sabs stuffed her bra with tissues!  Sabrina runs into the bathroom, and she hears Stacy coming in so Sabs runs into a closet- and can’t get herself out! She bangs on a door and CAMERON opens it!  Sabrina runs out all embarassed and decides that she’s not going to try to change her look at all- she will try to get the part with her own looks and utter FIERCENESS because Sabs is mad fierce and we all know it! God I love Sabrina- any curly haired popular girl was always awesome as all FUCK in my book!

Well, Sabs did NOT get the part of Sandy- she will be Frenchy. And Cameron Booth is Danny, and Stacy Hanson is Sandy!! BOOOO Stacy sucks ass- but yeah Sandy is the kind of part to where being  a good singer and a bad actress would sure serve ya well!  Cameron asks Sabs what role she got and Sabrina says Frenchy and Cameron says Sabrina will be a great Frenchy.  Katie also congratulates Sabs saying that Frenchy is a great part but then Katie remembers that Stacy will brag all over the place about playing Sandy.  By the way, Stacy’s girl Eva will be Rizzo ( why didn’t Randy try out? now THAT’S a Rizzo!!!!,) Sam’s buddy Nick will be Kenicke, Jason will play Doody (why did the writers of Grease choose the name DOODY for a character??) and Sam will be Sonny!!  In homeroom, Ms. Staats announces that next month to celebrate the opening of Grease, the school will host a sock hop dance- yeah! I loved seeing the sock hops on the Patty Duke show! The kids are asked to dress in 50’s clothes. Randy sounds jazzed but Sabrina can’t really bring herself to be excited about a dance because she didn’t get the role of Sandy.  Randy, Katie and Allison say that they should be on the entertainment committee and Sabrina is kinda eh about the whole thing.  At lunch, the other gals convince Sabrina that Frenchy is a great part and requires a good actress and almost anyone could play Sandy ( I see their point Sandy is boring, Frenchy is more fun and quirky and Sabs like- tho I am a Rizzo fan myself). Sabrina finally gets excited about playing Frenchy!

During rehearsals, Stacy has a hard time learning the dances and keeps getting all frustrated. On the first day, Sabs suggests to Sam that maybe sometime during the rehearsals, to practice lines, Sam could have Nick, Jason and Cameron over to rehearse and Sam thinks it’s a great idea. Sabrina also says it’s hard playing Stacy’s best buddy.  After two weeks, Sabs has Allison, Katie and Ran over to help her go through lines. And Sam has invited Cameron, Nick and Jason over! Sabs is mad nervous after she sees Cameron in her kitchen!  They have a great rehearsal party where they go through all the songs and lines in the play, and everyone does a great job.  BTW Katie read for Sandy, Allison read for Jan, Patty Simcock, and Marty and Randy read for Rizzo.  Sabrina says everyone had a great deal of fun!!

That Monday is the first day where everyone is expected to have memorized the script. Stacy has not and tries to convince Dr. Rossi to let her use her script,  but Dr. R says heck no and Stacy keeps messing up, but everyone else does great.  Dr. Rossi has Eva and Stacy stay back after rehearsal and she overhears him telling Eva and Stacy to practice more to catch up with everyone else in the cast. HEE HEE

The next day, Dr. Rossi says that Lisa Ryan, who was to play Marty, can no longer be in the play because she has to have her tonsils out so they need a new Marty. Sabs suggests Katie!! Katie is all ” WHAT??” but she agrees to read Marty’s part for rehearsal that day and she’s great. Katie decides she will play Marty after all.  Randy also announces that they found a great DJ for the dance.

The week before the play, Katie and Sabs raid Mrs. Wells’ closet to see what clothing from the 50’s they can find for the play and the dance.  They pick out dresses for the dance and the dance scene in the play, then run to the T shirt shop to get their Pink Ladies jackets. When they get there, Stacy is all ” I wish my jacket were satin after all I am the lead” and apparently she ALWAYS says ” I am the lead.” So Katie asks Stacy how memorizing her lines is going, and that leaves Stacy speechless- hee hee Stacy Hanson sucks!  After getting their jackets, they go to Randy’s house and Randy suggests that all the girls go to the Opportunity Shop, a vintage clothing store, to get more clothes for the play and dance. Allison goes too, and Randy finds Capri pants to wear for the dance, Allison finds an avocado colored sweater and a purple skirt, and Sabs finds this great pink scarf for only 50 cents!  When Sabs get home, her parents announce that they will be chaperones for the Sock Hop! Sabs is all ” ewww how embarassing” but Katie assures Sabrina it will be fine as they are not parents to get in the way and everyone thinks Mr. and Mrs. Wells are way cool.

It’s the night of the play and Sabrina does a FAB job as Frenchy!!  Sabs even gets a standing ovation- and Stacy does not!  Stacy is so pissed that Sabs gets more applause than she does,  that she dumps the flowers Dr. Rossi gives her in the trash after- what a sore fuckin loser baby- God I hate Stacy.  At the dance, Mr. and Mrs. Wells are cool, Cameron acts Sabs to dance, and Cameron, Jason, Sam and Nick do the whole ” let’s drop our pants and spell out Grease on our boxers” thing like in the movie!  AND- Cameron gives Sabs a kiss on the cheek!! Stacy is fuming, and Sabs is beyond excited- she may have not been the lead in the play, but she got the leading man- because Sabs is that friggin cool,bitches! Sabrina was sooo my favorite Girl Talker when I was a kid- then I liked Allison because she and I both read a lot, then Randy, and then Katie- I found Katie to be the most boring though I did love that book ” Peer Pressure” ( see my recap on it!) about Katie and Laurel’s friendship.

I will TRY to recap ” Stacey’s Lie” BSC #76 this week but I can’t guarantee it I have a somewhat busy week ahead with work and Tuesday I am seeing Def Leppard in concert! But I will try.  And after I recap ” Stacey’s Lie” , coming up will be- Gymnasts #8 Captain of the Team, SVH #50 ” Out of Reach”, BSC #83, ” Stacey vs the BSC”  and Girl Talk #35- Katie and Sabrina’s Big Competition!!’ I am hoping to get a few more ” summery” recaps done by the end of summer, specifically BSC Super Special ” Baby Sitters on Board” and BSC Super Special ” California Girls” if I can!!

Gymnasts #9- Crush on the Coach

As you can see, I have had a lot of downtime lately- and well I read MANY books ( during the day) during our 48 hour power outage, so expect me to be busier than usual!!

Lauren’s mom has decided to run for City Council.  Lauren and Cindi are on their way to gymnastics practice, and Lauren tells us readers that she loves her coach, Patrick, because he thinks that Lauren is funny and has ” explosive power.” Lauren is glad that Cindi talked Lauren into returning to gymnastics classes after a haitus.  Lauren’s mom’s slogan, BTW is ” Baca’s the Best, It’s Time for a Change!!”  Lauren’s mom then says that her campaign manager, Sixto, wants Lauren to be in Mrs. Baca’s TV commercial because Sixto thinks it looks good that Lauren goes to the Denver Public Schools- and Lauren gets straight A’s to boot.  Then when Lauren gets to practice, Patrick says he thinks it’s great that Lauren’s ma is running, and he plans to vote for her.

Now it’s Chapter 2. Lauren then tells us readers that Lauren’s parents weren’t too jazzed when Lauren decided to return to gymnastics because they feel it distracts her from her studies.  Lauren then manages to perform some tricky move on the uneven bars.  Lauren is happy that she’s getting to be almost as good as Cindi, who is apparently amazing to watch on the uneven bars.  Lauren then tells Patrick that Cindi is so good on the bars, and she will never be as good as Cindi. Patrick tells Lauren that she’s made more improvement than any kid he has ever coached, and that she’s a joy to work with.

Lauren is telling her friends after practice how proud she is of herself for tackling a hard move and doing an awesome release from the bars.  Then Ashley and Jodi start talking about Mrs. Baca running for city council, and Cindi and Darlene join in on the convo and don’t seem to want to discuss anything but Lauren’s mom’s campaign.  Darlene senses Lauren is not too comfortable with all this talk of Mrs. Baca running for city council, and Darlene says it sucks having a famous parent. Annoying pain Becky Dyson says that Lauren’s mom running for ” dinky” city council would never compare to Darlene’s dad playing for the Denver Broncos.  Darlene says maybe Lauren’s mom will be in the White House someday and Becky scoffs.  Becky then says Lauren would hire Patrick to be her personal “first coach” and Lauren says she likes that idea, and Becky says it’s because Lauren has a tremendous crush on Patrick.  Lauren denies it, but Cindi is all ” yes you do Lauren.”  Lauren is major blushing at this point.  Then Cindi asks Lauren if Lauren wants to hang out at her house along with Darlene and Jodi after practice and Lauren says she can’t because she has to hear Mrs. Baca speak at some rally.  Lauren says it’s a drag because almost every evening Lauren has to hear her mom speak at some rally or other, and it’s cutting into Lauren’s social life.

Lauren mentions being hungry to her mom. Lauren’s mom says they are going out for pizza after the big teacher’s rally.  Lauren is bored as hell at the rally. She daydreams about being Becky in gymnastics, and Patrick praising her.  Lauren’s mom is running against some dude who’s been on the city council for years and only cares about spending money on himself and not on any services the townspeople may need. He wears $600 suits and crocodile shoes.  Lauren and her dad have to hand out brochures after the rally, which Lauren doesn’t really enjoy.  Patrick is at the rally! He tells Lauren to tell Mrs. Baca he loved her speech on education, and he then asks for a pamphlet. Lauren is all “blushy” again.  Patrick then asks Lauren if she hungry and does she want to grab a slice of pizza with him?? Odd question from a gymnastics coach, isn’t it? Asking one of your students if they want to go out for pizza? Lauren says no because she’s getting pizza with her parents, but Lauren thinks to herself that she’d rather have pizza with Patrick than her parents. She then wonders why Patrick cared more about Lauren being hungry than her parents did.

Lauren and her mom argue because Mrs. Baca asks how Lauren liked the speech and Lauren keeps saying Patrick liked it, and Mrs. Baca says she wanted Lauren’s opinion and not Patrick’s, and must every sentence Lauren says start with the name Patrick? Lauren counters that all Mrs. B wants to talk about is her stupid rally and campaign ( well Lauren didn’t call it stupid, but I imagine an 11 year old saying that).  Lauren’s mom then says she knows Lauren is tired, but she and Lauren’s papi warned Lauren that the rally would be time consuming for all three members of the Baca clan, and then Lauren’s mom says that since Lauren is so tired from gymnastics, school and the campaign, Mrs. B feels Lauren should drop gymnastics for awhile. OK- shitty! This isn’t the 11 year old kid’s campaign it’s Lauren’s mom.  And it’s for the lame City Council, it’s not as if Mrs. Baca is running for Prez!  Lauren is so pissed over what her mom suggested she doesn’t even want pizza. Lauren then goes upstairs to cry in her room, and Lauren then tells Mrs. Baca when she goes upstairs that gymnastics and she does NOT want to quit!  Lauren’s mom then says that gymnastics shouldn’t be Lauren’s whole life- umm yeah Mrs. Baca the friggin campaign should??? Lauren says Mrs. B doesn’t even care about Lauren’s best day ever of gymnastics, and if Lauren quits for a bit she will fall behind and she won’t be in the same group as Cindi as Cin will advance and Lauren will be ” stuck in the baby group” as she puts it.  Lauren tries to calm down and says that she knows she can be a good campaigner for her mom and do gymnastics and Lauren’s mom said she and Mr. B just want what is best for Lauren.

Lauren is tired the next day at practice. As Lauren is watching Patrick demonstrate a move, Lauren is holding his clipboard and Ashley says it looks like Lauren is in love with Patrick because she’s looking at him adoringly and holding his clipboard.  Lauren gets pissy at the girls and Cindi says she’s just teasing and remember something called a joke? Patrick tells the girls to stop talking and pay attention.  Lauren tries the move Patrick showed and she can’t really do it, so Lauren feels crappy. Darlene does the move perfectly and in fluid motion. Lauren then messes up another routine they just learned because per Patrick she is ” trying too hard.”  Patrick then tells Lauren not to worry she has plenty of time to learn the move and Lauren is all ” who knows if I have time” and Darlene goes ” what” and Lauren tells her ” oh nothing.”

After practice Becky is all bitchy. She calls Lauren scatterbrained and says if Lauren’s ma is half as scatterbrained as Lauren, Becky would never vote for her. Becky is such the cunt. And them’s fightin’ words- Becky talking about Lauren’s ma? NOT ALLOWED!  Becky then says all politicians are sleazy and Lauren says to take it back because her mom is not sleazy! Patrick asks what the ruckus is about, and Cindi says Becky called Mrs B sleazy and Patrick tells Becky to apologize.  Then Jodi tells Becky ” Baca is the best, Becky is a beast” and starts cheering ” Baca is the best” and the rest of the Pinecones start chanting ” Pinecones for Baca!!”  Jodi says the Pinecones should get shirts made up that say ” Pinecones for Baca” and Darlene  thinks it’s a good idea as well.  Jodi asks  Lauren what she thinks, and Lauren thinks to herself that she doesn’t really feel like wearing a shirt at meets or gymnastics or whatever advertising her mom’s campaign as she wants the campaign and gymnastics seperate.  Lauren says ” oh I bet Sixto would love that idea” and Jodi says ” oh really” and Jodi suggests going to campaign headquarters to see if Sixto would pay for the shirts to be made. Lauren grudgingly agrees to this plan and takes the Pinecones to campaign headquarters to pitch Jodi’s idea.

Sixto gets all excited when he hears Lauren and her friends are gymnastics and after they show off some moves. He wants all of the Pinecones to be in a commercial showing Mrs. B’s concern for child welfare. Lauren doesn’t really want to go along but she does if it will help her mom’s campaign and so it’s official- Lauren’s gymnastics and the campaign are intertwined.

Lauren tells her friends she’s now sort of glad they are doing a commercial ( a couple of weeks have gone by) because Lauren’s mom hasn’t told her to quit gymnastics ever sincethat day where the pinecones went to headquarters. Then Lauren gets to Evergreen Academy, and Lauren sees Ashley- and Becky- wearing Julia Baca ( Julia being Lauren’s ma of course) tshirts and cameras filming Becky and her friends. Lauren is fuming because Becky the cunt isn’t even a Pinecone!  The shirts say ” Jumping for Julia” instead of “Pinecones for Baca” which is what the shirts were supposed to say.  Sixto then notices Patrick when he sees all the cameras and wonders what is going on. Sixto says he just wants a few shots of  the girls practicing and Patrick says he’s happy to help Julia Baca, but Sixto just can’t rush into and interrupt a practice and he wants advanced notice. He also says he wants Lauren’s opinion as to whether or not she’s OK with this.  Lauren is really upset that her mom’s campaign is now completely interfering with gymnastics and she screams that she doesn’t want Becky in the commercial, only Pinecones! After Lauren’s rant, Patrick tells her to go to the parent lounge and get a cup of water to cool down. 

Patrick and Lauren talk in the lounge.  Patrick says he did tell Sixto to come back another day as he cannot interrupt practice without warning.   Patrick does also tell Lauren she has to apologize for yelling at Sixto and ranting and raving. Lauren starts saying how she showed that she’s not the perfect candidate’s daughter because she went off today on Sixto,  even though she gets straight A’s and follows her parents rules. Patrick tells Lauren that even though she may not be the perfect candidate’s daughter, if he had a daughter, he’d want one just like Lauren- fiesty and smart.  Lauren is all happy to hear that.

The Pinecones are trying to do a pyramid with Lauren on top as she’s so little and Mrs B’s daughter of course- for the campaign. The girls crash land.  They are planning to shoot the campaign commercial featuring the pyramid tomorrow and Lauren is all nervous.

Lauren goes to the headquarters to apologize to Sixto, but he’s all ” oh it’s OK your coach already did” and then goes back to trying to plan a strategy to get votes from the elderly.  Lauren’s mom is wondering what Lauren did that she had to apologize.  Lauren explains and Lauren’s mom then says that since her campaign is interfering with Lauren’s gymnastics like this, she’s not sure about the commercial being done with Pinecones. Lauren insists they do the commercial as the other girls are really looking forward to it. Lauren’s mom reluctantly agrees to let the Pinecones  and Lauren be in a commercial for her campaign.

Lauren is happy to see her mom and Patrick shake hands and Patrick tell Mrs. B that she has  a great daughter.  They do the whole commercial and the pyramid still wasn’t great. The Pinecones hope their footage is used, and that Becky doesn’t appear in the commercial.   When Sixto shows the Pinecones and Mrs B the finished product, Lauren is so embarassed as it shows her doing a klutzy move and Becky looking great.  Lauren yells to Sixto that he made the Pinecones look terrible and says he stinks- which yeah I am no fan of this smug Sixto.  Lauren runs away from headquarters to the library, and when it closes she runs to the gym- and Patrick is there. Lauren tells Patrick she feels bad because Lauren made her mom go ahead with the commercial even though Mrs. B really didn’t want the campaign to interfere with the gymnastics.  Patrick tells Lauren he admires her parents for letting her do gymnastics because she loves it, and they agreed to let her continue in gymnastics because they trust her. Lauren is not sure she believes that.  When Lauren goes home, her mom says she told Sixto to change the commercial, because no way is Becky going to star in a commercial for Julia Baca! OK I like Mrs. B a lot more now!

The commercial is re-shot, and the pyramid is AWESOME!!!  And the week after the commercial is done- Julia Baca won the race!!! Everyone cheers at the election party ” Baca is the best!!” and Patrick says ” Both Bacas are the best” and Lauren is all ” that is why I have a crush on my coach.”

OK my major critique of this tale- this book is BARELY about Lauren having  a thing for Patrick other than the girls teasing her once or twice. It’s about Lauren struggling with her mom running for public office, and Lauren being upset over possibly having to quit gymnastics- so Crush on the Coach is a SHIT title as the book is NOT really about that!!! It just really irked me. This is not like ” Stacey’s Big Crush” that BSC book where Stacey writes a lame poem for Wes and confesses her feelings and all. I thought Lauren would pull some fool move like that and she sooo doesn’t!! WTF???????? Am I the only one who is thinking that this book had a  crap title?

By the end of the week/ beginning of next week ( in between the 4th, my four day work week, and doin’ lots o’ laundry) I hope to recap Girl Talk Numero Ocho, ” Stealing the Show” which is a FABULOUS book!!!  In the next few weeks, dear readers, you can also look forward to recaps of  Gymnasts #8- Captain of the Team ( my favorite Gymnasts book as a kid) BSC #76- Stacey’s Lie, Sweet Valley High #50 ” Out of Reach” ( featuring Jade Wu who I LOVED as a kid and then I was upset that we never really hear about Jade again), BSC #83- Stacey vs the BSC – can’t wait to read that one after seeing all the great recaps of this book- especially Claudia’s Room  and the Dibbly Fresh recaps!! and also Katie and Sabrina’s Big Competition which is Girl Talk #35, which I got done with after about 4 or 5 bathroom breaks last week- OK TMI but it’s TRUE!!!

And remember- coming up I will have lots of Sweet Valley Twins, U and Kids Books to recap, some ” Very Special” books from the BSC and SVT series, and Elizabeth Gail books!!!

2, 2, 2 books in one!!

Just because Sweet Valley Kids books happen to be so short, and also because I read 2 Sweet Valley Kids books in a row this weekend ( had no power all weekend because of a TORNADO in my town) I figured I would recap 2 books in one post this week. So here we go:

Sweet Valley Kids#21- Jessica and the Spelling- Bee Surprise: This will be very short and to the point. Jessica shocks herself when she wins the second grade spelling bee. Everyone in her class teases Jessica because Elizabeth is the smarter twin, and everyone thinks it’s a fluke Jessica won. Jessica is now SUPER nervous about being in the district spelling bee. Well- big shock of the year- Jessica wins the spelling bee!!! And Jessica is never smart again. Oh, remember that episode of Full House where Stephanie wins the class spelling bee, and she has to go against a wicked smart Asian boy, and the boy beats her in the 4th grade spelling bee or whatever, and Steph demands a rematch at her house?  I found Stephanie really annoying in that episode, and usually I hearted her. I LOVED Stephanie and DJ when I was a kid- Michelle always sucked ass! Speaking of which, why  hasn’t that gal who recapped eps of Full House updated her blog in, like, forever?? I miss her!!

Sweet Valley Kids #25- Left- Out Elizabeth:

Jessica, Liz and Steven are going skiing with Mr, and Mrs. Wakefield, and Todd and his parents. Yep good ol’ Todd Wilkins. Elizabeth is really looking forward to skiing and playing in the snow with Todd. Then Steven and Todd make buddies with this guy named Mark, a 9 year old who is apparently this great skiier, and Todd and Steven both develop HUGE boy crushes on Mark and wants to always ski with him on harder slopes, and not with Jess and Liz on the bunny slopes.  Elizabeth gets really upset at Todd because he is completely ignoring her, and he doesn’t even help Jessica and Elizabeth enter the snow sculpture contest. By the way, as an aside, why did so many YA series have books involving skiing or ski trips? Baby Sitters Winter Vacation, I think SVH did a couple, The Gymnasts’ Bad Break ( and please look for my posts on ” Bad Break” and ” winter vacation- BSC style” if you haven’t yet read them). But then Steven sprains his knee skiing with Mark because he didn’t stay on the easy trail. And Todd begins to hang out with Liz more after that. And Jessica and Elizabeth win the snow sculpture contest by making twin snow bunnies- how cute awwww Well since they are 7 years old, I guess it is sort  of cute.

I also want to take aside some time to mourn legends we have lost recently- Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. Michael’s death hit me especially hard- I could easily write a whole post ( which I still may do this week) on how MJ impacted my childhood and my life. I am also uber upset over Billy Mays’ death- it’s just too much!!!

Stay tuned- this week I am also going to try to recap The Gymnasts #9- Crush on The Coach!!

Another Recap:

This is just a recap of books I have recapped since my last ( this is what I have done so far) blog.

So since that time, in case you have missed it I have recapped two Gymnasts books now- #2- First Meet, and #6- Bad Break. I did another Sleepover Friends book, numero #20, Lauren in the Middle. I also recapped a Sweet Valley Twins Super Special The Unicorns Go Hawaiian ( and I did not miss Elizabeth, who was hardly in this book, one bit- who would have known?) I also recapped Baby Sitters Club #8 Boy Crazy Stacey aka the best BSC book EVER, Freshman Dorm’s Freshman Obsession, and The Fabulous Five Book 1 Seventh Grade Rumors.

Please also look for our past recaps of Girl Talk Books 1, 3, and 7- all awesome, a bunch of recaps on both the ” Making Out” and ” Girlfriends” series, a hilarious recap done by my sister on the Baby Sitters Club full length movie, and Baby Sitters Club Snowbound, SVU #1 College Girls, and Sweet Valley Twins #1 Best Friends are other past recaps I can recommend if you get bored one day and want to read bunches of my past postings.

Please look for future posts on more Sleepover Friends, Fab Five, and Sweet Valley Twins books for sure, as well Elizabeth Gail books, as well as Sweet Valley High and Baby Sitters Club.  I have no more BSC Little Sister books but I do aim to get more because I figure that this blog focuses on books that not many other blogs focus on, and hardly anyone snarks BSC Little Sis- tales of a former walking highlighter used to do GREAT recaps on those but she hasn’t updated in quite awhile. So I am HOPING to be able to recap more BSC Little Sister books as well, and I have TONS of Sweet Valley Kids I can do, but SVH is not nearly as fun to snark as BSC Little Sis!

Karen B. is a FUG Child!!!

The cover of the book ( BSC Little Sister Numero 4) features Karen, Amanda Delaney, and Hannie Papadakis all sitting with their cats and looking adoringly at their kitty cats. I always thought Boo Boo was so mean so I don’t know why he is letting fugly Karen ( who is sporting a wicked fug red sweater that looks like something Bill Cosby would wear on the Cosby Show) hold him. Hannie’s kitty is lying down as Hannie smiles at him happily- Hannie is sort of cute and shown with red hair- now I thought the Papadakises were Greek- now if they are only half Greek and Mrs. P is Irish, I can see where Hannie may have red hair. But I swear that we even hear in Book 11 of the BSC that Hannie is chubby and has curly black hair. UGH! Amanda Delaney looks like some prissy Kelly Taylor from 90210 type with total Jessica Wakefield or Amy Sutton bitchface- in fact I have decided that Amanda Delaney looks like little Amy Sutton and she sucks. Priscilla her stupid cat who cost 400 bucks also sucks.

Chapter 1:  Karen is mentioning that STUPID Two Two shit- yes Karen you have two stuffed cats,two halves of the same bed, two houses- the little house and the big house, blah blah blah blah and I wanna strangle Karen already- and the illustration on page 3 shows Karen sitting on her bed with this shit eatin grin on her face and her legs all spread in that six year old style because you have no modesty and enjoy showin’ your snatch at that age.  Karen also mentions how Kristy is the best stepsister in the whole world. Karen and Andrew are on their way to the big house- wooo. OK I swear EVERY SINGLE FUCKIN LITTLE SIS BOOK STARTS WITH KAREN LEAVING THE LITTLE HOUSE TO VISIT THE BIG HOUSE! Why??? Can’t Ann M. Martin be at all creative?

Chapter 2:  Karen wakes up at the big house on Saturday morning, Karen mentions about how she broke her wrist ( happens in Book 2 Karen’s Roller Skates which is recapped on this here bloggie look for it!)  There is admittedly a great illustration of Karen’s various pets- Shannon the puppy ( she’s David Michael’s puppy of course that he acquired in Kristy and the Snobs- which I am recapping pretty soon BTW), Boo Boo the cat, and Rocky  who is Seth’s cat and Midgie who is Seth’s dog. I always feel that we are to think that Seth, Karen’s stepdad, is like hella poor because he could only buy a little house for Karen, Andrew and Karen’s mom, but I bet Seth is some sexy, YOUNGER, construction worker or auto mechanic or something- I dunno I can see Mrs. Brewer- Engel being  a cougar can’t you?   And oh Midgie is a mutt but it’s OK Karen says not to worry they love Midgie even though they don’t know what kind of dog he is- OMG why do I feel that this is how Stacey, Kristy, et al talk when describing Jessi Ramsey??? SERIOUSLY!!! ” She’s black but we still like her swear to God!!” Hannie comes to Karen’s big  house to come visit, and she is very excited.

Chapter 3: Hannie got a new kitten!!! She will join Myrtle the Turtle and Noodle the Poodle at Hannie’s house ( HATE the rhyming names) and Hannie’s cat is- PAT!! UGH!  Then Karen thinks about how lucky she is that Andrew and she  are sooo lucky to be Two Twos because Karen and Andrew have more pets than anyone else they know- shut up Karen.  Pat the cat is a fuzzy black kitten and very cute. Karen points out to Hannie that now Karen, Amanda Delaney who lives next door to Hannie,a nd Hannie now all have cats. Hannie doesn’t really care as she’s no fan of Amanda’s. Neither am I. I may detest Amanda even more than I detest Karen. And- Karen is now getting an idea….

Chapter 4:  Karen decides that she, Amanda and Hannie should start a club- a Kittycat Club!!  Karen figures that the girls can learn about how cats grow, what they eat, stuff like that.  But Karen then thinks that’d be boring because they would have to look stuff up in the library- OK when I was 6 and 7 years old I was a total dork so I would have loved that shit- I know when I was 7, I LOVED to read all about frogs, dolphins,a nd turtles a lot- well that and Elizabeth Gail books.  Karen also wants everyone to bring their cats to each club meeting.  Then Karen asks Kristy how she started the Baby Sitters Club and we go to…

Chapter 5:  Karen and Kristy eat a lunch of peanut butter and banana sammitches ( YUMMMMMM) and Kristy talks about how her mommy needed a sitter for David Michael one afternoon when Kristy was 12, and no one from Kristy’s fam could do it, so Kristy was watching poor Mrs. Thomas call all of these sitters and her pizza was getting cold ( remember Kristy being all concerned over that??) and so Kristy thought it was too bad that her mom couldn’t call one number and reach a bunch of sitters- and so her idea was born, she asked Claudia and Mary Anne to join, Claud asked Stacey, and well the rest is history- and now this is inspiring me to recap Kristy’s Great Idea!!)  Kristy also tells Karen how they elected a vice president, secretary etc and Karen decides her club should have officers too.

Chapter 6:  Karen  makes invitations out of papers and crayon for Amanda and Hannie to join the Kittycat Club.  She makes sure to write to bring your cat!

Chapter 7:   Karen is trying to find Boo Boo for the club meeting, and is whining over how Boo Boo is old and cranky. Karen finds him in time for the meeting. Hannie comes over with Pat and Boo Boo swipes at her. Then Amanda comes over with her shitty 400 dollar cat.  The girls sit and close the door to Karen’s room, and then Pat pounces on Priscilla’s pricey tale- HAH HAH Then Boo Boo runs under Karen’s bed and then Hannie and Amanda start to take their cats and leave andthen Karen shouts ” but don’t you want to make a lot of money???” so we go to

Chapter Ocho ( or 8):  Karen decides that she, Hannie and Amanda could start a cat sitting service and watch someone’s cat for a few days while people go away, like how Kristy and her friends sit for kids.  Amanda and Hannie wonder how people would know to call them. Karen says they could advertise by putting flyers in mailboxes like Kristy does. Amanda then asks why they have to bring their cats to every meeting and Karen is all ” oh, because.” Karen sucks.  Kristy tucks Karen in that night ( and in the pic, Kristy looks kinda tomboy, Rachel Leigh Cooke hot, and Karen looks fugly- big shock) and asks how the Kittycat Club is and Karen tells Kristy it’s kick ass.

Chapter 9:  The girls decide to have meetings every other Saturday. They will charge 3 dollars a day for cat sitting so that each girl will get one dollar a day.  Karen then decides that they must elect officers. Karen says she should be President as she thought of the idea ( and I have to agree with Senorita Fuglarita for once) but Hannie and Amanda don’t agree and each vote themselves to be president. So Karen says they should draw names out of a box.  Karen draws herself to be Vice President, and Hannie is secretary and Amanda gets to be president, and Amanda starts crowing over it.  Karen is still sore over not getting to be Prez ( and Hannie isn’t exactly thrilled either)  but shitty Kelly Taylor/Amy Sutton like Amanda says she won’t be in the club unless she’s president. Karen agrees to that but says she gets to run the meetings. Hey didn’t Dick Cheney and George Dubya have that agreement?

Chapter 10: At school, Nancy Dawes, Karen’s other best friend, ( and according to the pic is a giantess of a girl who sort of resembles a little Ellen Riteman from Sweet Valley High, but a giantess one) hears Hannie and Karen discuss the club and asks what it is. Karen rudely tells Nancy the giant ( I mean Karen’s other bestie) that she can’t be in the club because she doesn’t have a cat.  Nancy is upset and says she can’t see where Karen has a club without her best friend. Plus, Karen is pissy because the girls haven’t gotten a cat sitting job yet.

Chapter 11:  Boring- the girls still aren’t getting hired to be cat sitters. And we are so shocked.

Chapter 12:  Nancy comes over to see Karen at the little house ( Nancy is Karen’s little house bestie just so’s ya know) and begs to be in the Kittycat Club and says she can borrow Goosie the stuffed cat so she can be in the club, but bitchy ass Karen refuses saying it has to be a REAL cat.  Nancy gets upset and says the club is stupid anyway because the girls aren’t getting one single job and Karen is all then why do you want to even be in the club then.  Nancy then says ” we are not best friends anymore!!” and Karen says ” forever?” and stupid Nancy goes ” no, just not until Monday”- so why would they be best friends again on Monday? Kids are dumb.

Chapter 13- Their first job!! For reals- this lady named Mrs. Werner called Hannie at home and said that she’d need a cat sitter for a few days while she goes away.  Mrs. Werner wants one of the girls to come over that afternoon and Hannie says Karen will have to because Hannie has a Brownie meeting and Amanda has piano lessons.  Karen goes to visit this old lady’s house and the old lady looks astonished!  The poor old lady thought that the flyer read that the girls were sixteen, seventeen and eighteen and not six, seven, and eight. So Karen tells her what the flyer really said, and Mrs. Werner said she wanted someone a little older than Karen to feed the cat. Wow so someone in Stoneybrook has some brains?? I mean most adults think nothing of having 11 year olds watch 3 and 4 kids!!!

Chapter 14: Yes, Karen, you love going to the big house.  SHUT UP!  That’s about all that happens.

Chapter 15:  Karen has a meeting with Amanda and Hannie and there are two problems- some folks think the  girls are too young to cat sit, and some people need others to watch pets other than cats.  Hannie says she wants to be president- ummm OK. I usually love Hannie, but not so much in this book. Amanda says the meetings are boring. Hannie says again she wants to be Prez and Amanda tells her to shut up.  Then Boo Boo goes to swipe at Priscilla and Kelly/Amy/Amanda is all ewww get your dirty cat away from my beautiful one! Fuck you and 400 dollar Shits-silla, Amanda. So Karen gets pissed at all this and tells both girls to leave.

Chapter 16:  Karen tells Kristy about her issues. Karen is upset that her club isn’t successful like the BSC. Kristy tells Karen there are different kinds of clubs- some for fun, some are like a business, etc.  Kristy says that probably not that many people need cat sitters. Karen is all ” oh but a lot of people need baby sitters?” ( ummm duh Karen doesn’t Watson hire one all the time so he doesn’t have to look at your fugness? Though Andrew is cool as hell) and Kristy says yes. Kristy also says a lot of people just think Karen and her girls are too young to cat sit. Karen asks if Kristy knew this the whole time and Kristy says yes. Karen is all ” why didn’t you tell me” and Kristy says ” well if I said not to start the club would you have anyway” and Karen says yes.

Chapter 17: Karen invites Hannie and Amanda over and tells them she has decided the club is unsuccessful and it will end.  They turn into ” un members” by Karen waving her magic wand. Yes, it is as dumb as it sounds.

Chapter 18:  Karen is thinking if starting another club just for fun would be more fun and she has to discuss this with Nancy, Amanda and Hannie.

Chapter 19: ( GAWD there are too many fuckin chapters in these books) Karen calls Nancy and tells her she’s sorry for not allowing her in the Kittycat Club but she wants her to be in Karen’s new club- the FUN club!!

Chapter 20:  Nancy and Karen had told a bunch of kids about the Fun Club. Eight girls in all come over for the first meeting of the Fun Club and all of the girls play Cinderella.  They also make puppets out of balloons, like papier mache ( Damn I love the SHIT out of papier mache- I hated art class but LOVED papier mache)  and they sing songs and tell jokes and the Fun Club is a great success. And Karen apparently has fug friends except for Hannie who really is too cute, and Amanda who is cute for being a mini Kelly Taylor. 

Next- recapping a couple of Sweet Valley Kids books- Sweet Valley Kids #21 Jessica and the Spelling Bee Surprise and SVK #25 Left Out Elizabeth.  I would love to review those by week’s end but I have a busy weekend coming up so it’s doubtful. After some Sweet Valley Kids reviews, next comes:

Gymnasts #9 Crush on the Coach

Girl Talk #8- Stealing the Show ( and oh I am seeing ” Grease” in December- Taylor Hicks is teen angel- should be interesting)

BSC #76- Stacey’s Lie ( where Stacey acts like a total douchey Mc-Cuntington)

Gymnasts #8- Captain of the Team ( which Darlene narrates and she’s my ho- she’s a MUCH better African American YA character than Jessi Ramsey can EVER hope to be!!!! So take that Jessi!!)

And now it’s time to watch the Jeffersons- because watching George and Weezie and their antics is much more fun than reading any book about Karen Brewer and her antics and fug.

SVU Thriller- The Roommate

Does anyone remember any previous SVU postings I have done in which Isabella Ricci is mentioned? Isabella is the woman that is the protoganist of this tale, and Jessica’s new best friend at Sweet Valley University. Isabella is celebrating her birthday with her boyfriend Danny Wyatt.  Danny announces he has a present for Isabella, and it’s a beautiful ring that used to belong to his great grandmother. Isabella thinks that since Danny gave her a diamond ring, it means he wants to be engaged and Isabella is all excitable about that and shit. But Danny soon bursts her bubble, and says he is not nearly ready to settle down yet, and they are both too young to get married.  Did I mention that Danny has handsome African American features?  Isabella starts to cry because she feels she’s been played for a fool.

Next scene- Isabella and Jessica go to a salon to get free haircuts. Well Jessica says there’s no way in hell she’s going to participate in training night at this salon and get a free haircut, but Isabella says she is totally going to go for it.  We also hear how Jessica has hair like spun gold, and she could never see herself parting with her lovely long, blonde locks.  We also hear how excited Jessica is about meeting a new man named Josh Stone who has the looks of a Greek god and is the sweetest, most awesome man on the whole planet.  And Isabella gets her hair totally chopped off and her hair is now super short.  Isabella thinks she looks rotten, but Jess assures Isabella that she is beautiful enough to carry off a short haircut.  Isabella then tells Jessica about how Danny doesn’t want to marry her- and yeah I do feel that Danny giving Isabella a ring that was in his family and had a diamond in it, and being shocked that Isabella thought that meant he wanted to marry her, is a shit move.  Jessica assures Isabella that Danny really loved her and threw her that fab surprise birthday party and all. Isabella then gets into a fender bender and has to pay tons of money to get her Range Rover fixed. Bad luck is just really following Isabella around.  Isabella is telling Danny about how between having to repair the car, and the dryer and cappuchino maker being broken, and money for rent and all that, she’s in a real financial bind and has no idea what to do. Danny says maybe Tom Watts can get Isabella a job at the TV station, but Isabella says that between her course load and sorority obligations, she has no time to get a job.  Isabella then has a brilliant idea- to defray costs and help her out financially, she will get a roommate!  Danny tells Isabella to make sure to be careful and Isabella tells Danny not to worry as she’s an excellent judge of character!!!

And on to Chapter 2!  Jessica takes Josh to dinner to have Josh meet her twin sis Liz and Liz’s BF Tom Watts.  Elizabeth and Tom are all excited because Josh is an English major who is thinking of becoming a journalist.  Josh gets a boner over possibly being allowed to work at the campus TV station with Liz and Tom- exciting. Now Isabella is interviewing prospective roommates.  The girl with the nose ring and drum set is out.  ( was that gal Randy Zak from Girl Talk in college? ) as is the girl whose parents treat her like she’s about 6 and the parents grill Isabella and tell her she has to make sure little Anita would get to class.  And the third woman starts moving in her shit as soon as she gets to Is’s apartment. Isabella is in despair  because it costs even more to repair her car than she thought, and she still has no roomie! 

The next scene is just Elizabeth saying how great Josh is, and Jessica saying she is wary because she’s had such shit relationships lately- there was her creep ex husband Mike McAllery, and the professor she dated who ended up having a psycho ex wife who killed the prof and then herself. Elizabeth assures Jessica that she’s sure Josh has no skeletons in his closet.  Isabella hears a knock at the door- it’s a girl with mousy brown hair and a shapeless brown dress on.  The girl immediately endears herself to Isabella by mixing the cappuchino maker and making Is a fab cappuchino.  The girl, who says her name is Lisa Fontaine, went to New York University and transferred to SVU recently. Isabella asks Lisa questions about New York,  but Lisa is not engaging in that conversation at all and answers the questions in a very vague manner.  After the cappuchino and very brief conversation, Isabella thinks that while Lisa isn’t the kind of girl Isabella would ever hang with socially, Isabella has great instincts and instantly asks Lisa to move right on in.  When Lisa is moving in, Isabella notices a gorgeous rosewood box that Lisa has and asks Lisa where did Lisa get it and Lisa is all unhinged like and goes ” None of your business!!” But Lisa getting all bent out of shape over Isabella asking about a box isn’t any indication that Lisa is odd or anything…

Next chapter begins with Jessica and Josh having a boring picnic and Jess gets all insecure because she thinks Josh was ogling a hottie on roller blades but he only noticed the girl’s blades and not her body at all!!  Then- Isabella tells Lisa she barely ever uses the elevator because it always breaks down and she usually uses the stairs. I swear they stole this scene right out of Single White Female!  Isabella and Lisa are in the basement doing laundry, and Lisa sees a rat and is all cooing at it. Ummmm OK.  Jessica then asks Isabella how things are with Lisa, and Isabella says Lisa has such stringy brown hair and shapeless dresses, and Jessica is all ” I smell makeover!!”  Then the president of the sorority, Magda, says that Isabella’s new short hair is pretty flattering.  Then the girls all ask Jess when they will all meet Josh and Jess says soon enough.  We get then inside the head of Lisa Fontaine- she feels like a hopeless sack of garbage all the time. she doesn’t get how a girl as beautiful, popular and fantastic as Isabella wants to live with a frump like Lisa.  Isabella made cookies for Lisa and then as they eat cookies, Is asks Lisa if she wants to go shopping with Izzy tomorrow as Lisa hasn’t gotten any of her stuff from New York yet, and Lisa is all wet through her panties over hanging out with Isabella and says sure.

Lisa is all amazed at all of the great clothes at the mall, and Isabella thinks to herself that Lisa must have been to the best stores on Fifth Avenue back in New York and she doesn’t get why Lisa is so awed by the stores in Sweet Valley.  Isabella has Lisa try on a black blazer and matching skirt and when Lisa comes out of the dressing room modeling her outfit Isabella notices how Lisa actually had a cute little body under those sack dresses she used to wear.  Lisa buys a bunch of new clothes and some jewelry and Isabella fixes Lisa’s hair in a French twist.  Lisa then asks Isabella to hang out that night and Isabella declines, saying that she is going on a date with Danny tonight.  Lisa’s ” stony expression” returns when Isabella turns Lisa down.

Jess and Josh are visiting with Liz at the TV station, and Elizabeth is telling Josh all about the workings of the TV station and Josh is quite fascinated.  Elizabeth asks Josh to help with some TV segment and Josh gets yet another boner from getting to help out at the TV station. Now, believe me, all of this boring Elizabeth/Josh interaction becomes important later.  Danny then comes to pick up Isabella for their date, and when Lisa meets him she gets all hot and bothered and looks all horny, apparently. Danny got a present for Isabella- a three week old kitten- and what the FUCK- kittens are supposed to be weaned with their mommies for 8 weeks- 3 weeks old WTF? That angers me!  Lisa suggests they name the kitten Rosie.  Lisa is then left alone talking to the kitty and Lisa thinks of how easy it would be to crush the kitten’s fragile little bones- CREEPY!  Lisa also thinks about how fab it would be have a boyfriend as fine as Danny.

On to Chapter 5- yep it’s only Chapter 5 and I have noticed this post is getting WAY long.  Jessica promises Isabella that the sorority meet her new man. Jessica is hoping to meet Lisa in the meantime.  Lisa is back at the apartment preparing a pesto sandwich for Isabella. The phone rings, the answering machine picks up the call, and it’s Danny asking Izzy if she wants to meet him at the dining hall for lunch. Since Lisa wants to have Isabella all to herself, Lisa erases the answering machine message.  Next scene- Jessica all bitching Liz out claiming Elizabeth is attracted to Josh and that is why she offered him a job at the TV station. Liz says that is ludicrous, and she  doesn’t get why Jess is being so insecure and jealous. 

Lisa and Isabella have lunch together, and Lisa says she can’t start classes yet because the registrar’s office lost her schedule. Hmmmm… Isabella says how she has no brothers or sisters, and Lisa tells a sob story of losing her twin sister at birth.  Isabella then says she always wanted a younger sister, and Isabella feels Lisa understands exactly what she means.  Lisa says she and Isabella can pretend to be sisters, and Izzy thinks that sounds just FABU!

Jessica meets Lisa, and Jessica notices that Lisa is dressed like Isabella and even gestures like her.  Then Josh walks into the coffee shop and GUESS WHAT? Josh and Isabella were HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS!  Jessica tries to reassure herself that Isabella is madly in love with Danny and Isabella and Josh don’t want each other.  Jessica then is all bummed over having to watch her prof’s kids tonight and Lisa says she will be happy to take  the babysitting job for Jessica.  Is then mentions having to pick up her car. When Lisa is home that night, Danny calls.  Lisa says she’s not sure when Isabella is, but a few hours ago Isabella had run into her old boyfriend, and they left the coffee shop together and of course Danny is all oh umm have her call back and of course those seeds of doubt are being planted into Danny’s head…  When Is gets home, Lisa says Danny called and wonders why Isabella hasn’t called him. Izzy is all ” Danny was supposed to call me” and Lisa says she feels Danny is too demanding.  Lisa suggests that Is not call Danny back for 24 hours- that will show him!

Jessica goes to see Josh and is all confrontational and shit accusing him of still wanting Isabella. Josh tells Jessica that he and Isabella are over, and he is all about Jessica.   And they make out.  Isabella is then getting ready to meet Danny at the snack bar.  Isabella can’t find the pullover she wanted to wear, and she goes into Lisa’s room to see if she can find it as she lets Lisa borrow some of her clothes.  Isabella has then seen that Lisa has borrowed TONS of Izzy’s clothes!  Then Isabella notices that her own closet has all duplicates of clothes Lisa borrowed. Isabella is wondering why Lisa would do this… Isabella then asks Danny why would Lisa biy all the same clothes that Izzy does?  Danny pretty much blows Isabella off and says imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Danny then says how Lisa told him about Is running into Joshie and pretty much accuses her of wanting Josh because Lisa says Josh and Isabella were all cozy. Isabella is steamed that Danny would think that. 

Isabella then sees a woman on campus with a haircut just like Isabella’s and similar clothes- and it’s Lisa! Isabella doesn’t get why Lisa is now looking just like her.  Isabella wants to talk to Jess so she goes to Jessica’s dorm room but Liz says Jessica went to meet a girl named Lisa!  Jessica is taking Lisa on a tour of the Theta house.  Magda mentions the Zeta fraternity party that night and Jessica and Magda say Lisa should come. Magda also says she hopes Isabella is going to the dance.  Meanwhile Isabella gets back to her apartment and sees Lisa in Izzy’s silver dress serving Danny coffee!  Lisa asks Is if she likes Lis’s new do and Izzy is all ” it looks like you stuck your head in a Cuisinart!”  and Danny is all pissy that Isabella says that.  Isabella then does feel really bad because Lisa fixed the broken dishwasher.  Is asks Lisa if she wants to go out for a  ” bite to eat” ( what college kid says that?) and Lisa says no because she has to sit for Jess again.  Danny again yells at Is for being rude to Lisa and Isabella tries to say she finds it creepy that Lisa is copying her every move, but Danny won’t bother to listen and poo-poohs everything Is says.  Lisa is actually at the Zeta party and Jessica asks where Isabella is, and Lisa says that Isabella had to go meet someone somewhere and wouldn’t say anything more than that.  Then Lisa asks Jessica where Josh is, and Jess says Josh couldn’t make it to the party.  Lisa is all ” isn’t it funny that Josh and Is both couldn’t make it”" -yep now Lisa is planting seeds of doubt in Jessica’s mind making her think that Josh and Isabella are riding the hobby horse.

Jess screams at Isabella at the sorority house demanding to know where Isabella was last night. Isabella says she was out to dinner with Danny.  It’s time to nominate new pledges to the sorority. Jessica nominates Lisa Fontaine!  Isabella is none too happy and says she wants to talk to Jess about why that is, but Jessica says ” I have to meet MY boyfriend!!” and storms off.  Jess is then ready to bite Josh’s head off about ” being with Isabella” but Josh says how he had a big psych project to do and bought Jessica a gorgeous porcelain box to make it up to her, and Jess and Josh make out again. 

Isabella then calls Danny and says she wants to see him because she is really upset over Jessica nominating Lisa to the sorority and tries to explain that she feels Lisa is trying to ” steal her life” or whatever and Lisa creeps her out but Danny starts screaming at Is again and tells her the world doesn’t revolve around her. Ya know, I ADORE Danny in SVU Book #1 college girls ( and yes ladies and gents I did recap that book) but Danny sucks ass in this book!

Isabella comes back to her place and goes straight to bed and falls asleep crying over Danny. As Is sleeps, Lisa puts on Isabella’s earrings and her favorite French perfume. As Lisa watches Is sleep, she thinks that nothing can ever come between Lisa and her ” sister” and she has to go do something to take Is from Danny and have Isabella all to herself.  So this is where it’s all Single White Female for SURE- Lisa goes to Danny’s room and it’s totally dark in Danny’s room. Danny gets all horny from smelling the French perfume and takes ” Isabella” in his arms and says he is sorry for arguing with her, and ” Isabella” starts making out with Danny passionately and Danny thinks that Izzy has never been so passionate and never kissed him this ” hungrily” because most Sweet Valley girls are frigid.  Then Lisa/ Izzy tries to grab Danny’s crotch and Danny is all ” no we can’t do this not this way” , and then suddenly ” Isabella” disappeared into the night. I wonder if the director of Single White Female ever sued Francine Pascal for totally stealing this part of the plot!!!

Lisa sees Danny at the coffeehouse the next morning, watching Danny wait for Izzy ( he had asked Lis/Is to meet him there as they made out the night before. Lisa thinks to herself that now Danny knows he totally wants Lisa and not Isabella, but Lisa is sadly mistaken as Danny is just sulking over Isabella the whole time.  Lisa tries to tell Danny that he deserves a lot better than Is, and Danny gets all upset saying Lisa doesn’t really know Isabella.  Lisa then thinks ” Danny Wyatt, I will make you forget Isabella Ricci ever existed.”

Lisa sees Josh at the registrar’s office. He tells Lisa that he has to write Jess a letter saying plans changed and he can’t take her to Malibu this weekend, but he’s writing a letter cause he’s a puss… because he doesn’t want to face Jessica’s wrath.  Lisa then tells Josh she can put the letter in Jessica’s mailbox for him.  Then Lisa tells Josh she’s very worried about Isabella lately and she looks horrible and sad all the time. Josh says he has to go over to see Isabella right away…. Isabella is about to leave the coffeshop where she was supposed to meet Danny and he never showed. I can’t even remember reading where Isabella asked Danny to meet her there but no matter. Josh is there and he asks Isabella what’s wrong and she says life is just lousy lately and Josh covers her hand with his and tells Isabella he loves her because she will always be his first love.  Jessica then runs into Lisa who insists on treating Jess to lunch at the coffeehouse- and Lisa also gives Jessica the letter from Josh. Jess is already fuming and then when the gals walk into the coffeehouse Jessica sees Isabella and Josh being all cozy! Oh, shitballs!

Elizabeth is trying to convince Jess that what she saw between Izzy and Josh may have been innocent when Isabella comes over and tries to tell Jess she thinks Lisa is trying to sabotage Jessica. Jessica yells that Isabella is trying to blame everyone but herself for her probs and she’s sick of it! Lisa then tells Danny what she saw at the coffeeshop.  Lisa hugs Danny and Danny says Lisa is a good friend. Then Isabella sees Danny and Lisa in a tight embrace, and Isabella thinks that she’d expect Lisa to betray her but never Danny.  Then Josh tries to make up with Jessica but this time it ends in Jess telling Josh she never wants to see him as long as she lives and not them making out. God this review is getting LONG and I am STILL not done… ugh.

Isabella goes to pack all of Lisa’s shit, put it in boxes, and leave it in the hall and have the locks changed so Lisa never has to return.  Isabella notices a bunch of answering machine tapes in a shoebox. Then Is sees a bunch of letters addressed to a Helen Mueller.  Is then finds pics of two little girls who look exactly alike and then a scary headline- Mueller Twin Found Dead.  Meanwhile Jessica conspires with her arch rival in the sorority, Alison Quinn, to get Alison’s girl Mia along with Lisa in the sorority by forcing Izzy to resign. Meanwhile, Isabella is reading the article about the dead Mueller girl.  The girl’s name was Rosie and she was found dead in any icy river.  Isabella realizes that Lisa is Helen Mueller after seeing the pics, the name and the article and then Isabella falls sharply on her hip.  When Lisa comes home, Rosie scratches her and Lisa is all ” you will pay you little animal”- sick shit. 

Isabella manages to run off and go to the registrar’s office.  Basically neither Lisa nor Helen were ever registered at SVU.  We then get to Lisa cutting her own wrist with a knife, and Lisa loves seeing the blood.  We get some background on how Helen’s parents loved Rosie more than Helen and called Helen a bad girl and Rosie the good, sweet girl and when Helen and Rosie went to play one day Rosie fell in the river and Helen ran off and refused to try to help Rosie and just let her die. 

Isabella runs to Danny’s room and again tries to tell Danny Lisa is a fraud and a psycho and again Danny blows her off.  Is then sees that Rosie the kitten is dead!  Is then tries to go stay at the Theta house and Alison refuses to let her in even though it’s raining like heck and says the sorority can’t allow such a ragamuffin in their house and makes her leave.

Isabella tries to go return to her apartment to see if Lisa is out of there yet.  When Is gets there, Lisa is SURE there and pins Izzy’s hands behind her back and ties them with duct tape and says Isabella can never leave her.   Meanwhile Josh goes to see Jess and tells her about how Lisa kept insisting that Josh go to the coffeehouse to see Isabella and he only had his hand on Izzy’s to comfort her and Jess starts to think Lisa made all that crap up about Josh cheating on Jessica. And Jess and Josh make out again. 

Lisa goes to see Danny and is a dumb little shit who pretty much tells Dannyh everything she did to pull Is and Dan apart- including going to Danny’s room at night and trying to touch his penis. Danny is steamed and tells Lisa her fantasy is over, and runs over to Isabella’s place.  Jessica is also going to the apartment and got on the elevator and it takes Jessica forever to get upstairs.  When Jessica gets up there, Lisa puts a knife to her throat, drops it, and ties Jessica’s hands behind her wrists- and all Jess can say is  this will severely hurt Lisa’s chances of getting into the Theta house! HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!  Isabella manages to run off and go into the elevator, but it’s stuck. Jess is stuck trapped in the apartment. Danny finds out that Helen/Lisa escaped from a mental institution 2 weeks ago and this lady Nancy wants to bring her back.  Lisa goes after Isabella in the basement,  Danny finally gets there but Lisa whacks him with a pipe, and is then trying to choke Isabella and keeps calling her Rosie. When the police arrive, Jessica says that Is, Dan and Lis/HELEN ( like HELL!) are in the basement.  Then Lisa says she ” hears” Rosie in the well and has to help Rosie so she runs and falls into the elevator shaft and dies. Yep all that and stupid Helen falls down the elevator shaft. 

Danny’s in the hospital with a head injury. Danny says he does want to marry Isabella and Is is all ” not now but someday” and they make out and all is now happy in Sweet Valley land and Izzy will never need therapy or even remember this ever happened, I am sure.

Next week I will be recapping Karen’s Kitty Cat Club a Little Sister book!! Oh Karen Brewer how we despise thee! Other upcoming books: Sweet Valley High #50 Out of Reach featuring the Chinese dancer Jade Wu,  Girl Talk #8 Stealing The Show, The Gymnasts #9 Crush on the Coach, and BSC #83- STACEY VS THE BSC!!!

Who Needs Babysitting When There are Boys Around???

And the above title is the reason I was never a babysitter, boys and girls…. well other than for my own sister and cousins. And here goes the recap of Boy Crazy Stacey BSC #8. I will be recapping this book chapter by chapter which is a departure from the usual recaps but then again I have been known to recap books in various fashions soo- let’s begin!

First, though- cover snark. I thought Scott was a total book cover hottie when I was about 12. Now I think he just looks odd with his plastic looking full of hairspray hair. Plus he looks at least 20. Stacey really resembles a young Jenny Lewis on this cover ( first pointed out by Tiff at the Claudia’s Room blog but it’s true!) and Claire- well I believe it’s Claire as it describes a scene in the book- shit, Claire looks like a 50 year old midget!!!

Chapter 1:  Stacey is going to a sleepover at Kristy’s house. She has never been to Kristy’s new house before and is not sure how to behave at a mansion. Stacey chooses what to wear to the mansion carefully- a pink shirt with green and yellow birds splashed all over it ( sounds like a shirt Armand would wear in the movie ” The Birdcage”) and baggy shorts with a green belt looped around the middle. Soooo sophisticated.  Stacey briefly mentions her diabetes.  Stacey then mentions how she and Mary Anne will be spending two weeks together caring for the Pikes in Sea City New Jersey, and Stacey is a little nervous about that as she feels she and Mary Anne don’t have much in common- Stacey fancys herself as being very mature for her age, Mary Anne acts young- Stacey LOVES boys, and Mary Anne has no interest in boys yet.  As for the other sitters- Claud will be in New Hampshire with her family for two weeks, Dawn is going to California to see her dad, and Kristy will be bonding with her new family- Watson, Karen and Andrew of course.  Kristy then demands that Stacey and Mary Anne send postcards every day describing their sitting job at the Pikes and later they will all be entered in the Baby Sitters Club notebook- boy is Kristy a killjoy! 

Chapter 2-  Mary Anne and Stacey go the Pike home for Mrs. Pike to tell them all about Sea City, and the kids, and things like that.  For one thing, the Pike kids cannot go swimming or even wading before 9 am or after 5 pm because lifeguards are only on duty from 9-5 and the kids are not to swim without lifeguards on duty.  Stacey then tells Mrs. Pike about her diabetes and how she has to give herself injections, but she knows how to care for herself quite well. Mrs. Pike says she will be sure that there is food Stacey can eat in the house.  As the girls leave, Mary Anne tells Stacey she cannot wait to go on the trip because it’s her first time at the Jersey Shore, her first trip away from her dad, and she got her first bikini!  Stacey’s mom is still all nervous about Stacey going to Sea City, but Stacey assures Ma McGill that things will be fine. God, hardly anything happens in the first two chapters!

Chapter 3:  TIME FOR SEA CITY! Stacey gets into one car ( a station wagon) with Claire, Margo, Nicky, Mallory and Mr. Pike. Mary Anne is going in the other car with Vanessa, the triplets Adam, Byron and Jordan, and Mrs. Pike.  There is a bucket that has a sign saying the Pike Barf Bucket on it because Margo gets carsick, airsick, seasick, you name it, very easily so they are always prepared.  We also learn that Claire is calling her mother ” Moozie” and her father ” Daggles” and sadly when I read this book to my sister when she was about 4 or 5, she did this too for awhile- but back then I found it cute.  This is also really the book where Claire starts ALWAYS saying silly billy goo goo. GRRR.  Claire and Margo eventually start coloring in coloring books, and Mallory begins to read the Secret Garden. Then Mrs. Pike’s car passes Mr Pike’s and Nicky sees the triplets made a sign that says Barfmobile as they laugh and point. How did Mary Anne or Mrs. Pike allow that one?  So Nicky makes a sign that says Vomit Comet and asks Mr. Pike if they can pass the other Pike car so he can hold his sign up! And Mr. Pike is all ” not yet, son!” Me Lord!  Then Nicky starts singing ” jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg”- I never remember Nicky being this annoying! Mal tells him she hates that song so he tries to sing other equally annoying songs, but Mr. Pike puts a stop to that.  They all stop at Howard Johnson’s for an ice cream break and Stacey finds a sugar free popsicle to munch on.  And then- Sea City! I always remember how the kids see the ad with the three dimensional cow, and the ” suntan girl” which is the old Coppertone ad with the little girl with the dog pulling on her swimsuit to show her tan line. 

Chapter 4: Sea City arrival. Stacey describes the house as being large, rambling and looking like a huge gingerbread house, sort of. Funny how Watson is referred to as being so rich, but the Pikes can afford a huge rental house on the Jersey shore,  and Mrs. Pike can actually stay home to raise the eight kids but they never say the Pikes are rich.  Mary Anne then suggests that she and Stacey take the kids out to the town and the kids can show Mary Anne and Stacey the town and the cool sights.  They pass a store called Candy Heaven and each kid gets a jawbreaker. They pass Burger Garden which Claire calls ” Gurber Garden” and the tables outside all look like mushrooms. Oh God I SOOOO wished I could eat at Burger Garden when I was an eight year old reading this book!!  Heck, I wanna eat there NOW- I am such the 8 year old even at age 31 believe me!  They also pass the mini golf course and Stacey says she wants to play sometime.  The kids then frolic around the beach for a bit after their tour, and Stacey then notices a blonde hunk who is about 17 or 18 walking off with the other lifeguards.  The blonde hunk then winks at Stacey, and Stacey then tells Mary Anne she thinks she’s in love.  Oh boy!

Chapter 5:  Claire and Margo wake up Mary Anne and Stace at the ass crack of dawn to go swimming.  Mr. Pike is making breakfast and asks Stacey what she can eat. Stacey tells Mr. Pike she can have bacon, some toast, and plain scrambled eggs. Then Stacey feels she is making extra work for Mr. Pike and begins to feel apprehensive.  After breakfast, Mary Anne and Stacey show each other their bikinis. We get Stacey’s speil- as told to us readers- about how Mary Anne’s bathing suit is nice and all- blue and white striped- but not nearly as revealing as Stacey’s yellow bikini with bows on the sides,a nd Stacey fills out her suit quite nicely whereas Mary Anne is not exactly filling out her bikini. God, Stacey can be a real bitch, and we first see that in this tale.  And by the way when Mary Anne sees Stacey all filling out her sexy yellow bikini, her eyes almost bug out of her head… ummm what?  Then Stacey notices a boy of about 14 ( who Stacey is not in love with) carrying a bunch of stuff and with kids who don’t resemble him so Stacey tells Mary Anne she bets he’s a guy mother’s helper. Then the girls notice Adam and Jordan splashing and frolicking in the water and Byron is all hanging back and not really playing with his brothers.  Stacey is soon distracted by other things- she sees THE HUNK!  Stacey then is watching her hunk a lot more than she is watching after the children.  Stacey sees how some ” lifeguard groupies” who are about 12 and 13 get to do such cool things for the boy lifeguards like bring them sandwiches and pick up things that fall off the lifeguard stand. What a priviledge!  As Mary Anne is trying to solve a squabble between the triplets ( A and J are pissy that B won’t go in the water) the lifeguard says ” Hi, cutie” to Stacey so of course Stacey melts.  Then Claire goes crying to Stacey because her foot is bleeding from cutting it on a shell.  The hottie lifeguard cleans Claire’s wound and puts a Band Aid on it and both Claire and Stacey look at Scott adoringly.  Stacey talks to Scott a little more and finds out he lives in Princeton, NJ, is 18 years old and will start college in September. Stacey then writes- after learning the lifeguard’s name which is Scott Foley- Stacey + Scott=LUV

Chapter 6:  Stacey and Mary Anne take the Pike kids to Burger Garden while Mr. and Mrs. Pike go to a more fancy restaurant for dinner.  The waitstaff all dress as animals and the waitress for the Pikes is dressed as a mouse.  The family have to grab a few tables by the Enchanted Tree because each table is fairly small. Nicky wants to sit with the triplets but they don’t want him too because they feel Nicky is a baby.  So finally the triplets sit alone, Nicky sits with Stacey, Mallory and Vanessa, and Mary Anne eats with Margo and Claire.  It turns out the Enchanted Tree has candy bars on it and if you get a gold wrapper you win Burger Garden food.  So each kid gets a candy bar and Nicky got a gold wrapper!  The kids, Stacey and Mal then go to Ice Cream Palace for dessert. Mary Anne says her skin feels stiff and she feels funny- turns out Mary Anne has a NASTY sideburn from not wearing sunscreen and wanting to tan right away at the beach!!  This is always another part I remembered from the book- Mary Anne having the bad sunburn and then wearing tons of sunblock, a hat and a caftan and sitting under the umbrella all the time afterward.  When everyone gets home, Claire gives Mary Anne butter to put on her sunburn- kinda funny!

Chapter 7:  Scott tells Stacey to go fetch him a soda as he winks a lot and calls her princess. Stacey rushes to get Scott a soda and is more in love than ever because Scott is giving her attention.  Stacey is pretty much either trying to get Byron to go in the water or catering to Scott the rest of the day and Mary Anne seems a little pissy because Stacey is not really helping Mary Anne with the kids and all but Stacey pretty much thinks to herself that it’s not her problem.  Because Stacey isn’t getting paid to watch the Pikes- umm oh yeah she IS and should be BABY SITTING and not fetching sodas for Scott!  After 5, Mary Anne has to take everything back the house and get the kids back as Stacey says she must talk to Scott.  Scott tells Stacey she’s been his lifesaver and gives her his whistle. TRUE LOVE- OK when I was little I was convinced Scott wanted Stacey after he did that- hey I was 8 or 9 years old what did I know?

Chapter 8-  A misty, cloudy day in Sea City- certainly not beach weather. Mr. and Mrs. Pike want to go to Smithtown, which sort of sounds like Sturbridge Village in that it’s some historical town, but none of the kids want to go.  Stacey and Mary Anne take the kids mini golfing. Claire takes about 1500 tries on each hole, thereby pissing off the other patrons at Fred’s Putt Putt Course. Why couldn’t they limit the number of times Claire would have a turn at getting the ball in the hole?  Nicky got a hole in one and the triplets are awed.  After the game everyone rolls their ball into a chute, and Claire’s ball ends up winning a free game at the putt putt course! Claire wants to play again, and Stacey says they can save that for the next rainy day.

Chapter 9:  The famous chapter where Karen and Andrew wash Watson’s car with Brillo pads and scrub all the paint off. Kristy writes this in a postcard to Mary Anne. A big ” who cares” chapter.

Chapter 10: More flirting with Scott, and Stacey is still ignoring the kiddos and leaving Mary Anne with all the responsibility.  Stacey fetches Scott more sodas. All of the sodas come from the Pike fridge- I hope Stacey pays Mr. and Mrs. Pike back for all that soda Scott drank!  That night, Mr. and Mrs. Pike are going to spend the evening with the kids and Mary Anne and Stacey get to hang out alone in Sea City for five hours. Stacey wears a dope pink sundress with a white jacket for the ocassion. Mary Anne and Stacey go to the boardwalk and buy some souvenirs and ride the Ferris wheel. Stacey is hoping she sees Scott and Mary Anne groans. Well- Stacey sees Scott all right- kissing a gorgeous brunette on the boardwalk!  And this is after Stacey buys this expensive box of chocolates to give to Scott. Stacey dumps the chocolates and runs off crying.

Chapter 11:  Mary Anne and Stacey have a squabble. Mary Anne says Stacey stuck her with all the responsibility of watching the kids and Stacey says nonsense because apparently that guy mother’s helper, Alex, was hanging around Mary Anne a lot and Stacey calls him a nerd and Mary Anne says he’s really nice and not a nerd!  So Stacey decides to stay inside for the day being all upset over Scott, and Stacey and Byron hang together and go over to  a bay  that’s a smaller body of water as Byron tells Stacey big waves scare him. It’s when we learn Byron is sweeter and more sensitive than the other triplets.

Chapter 12: The beginning of the next week. Yes Stacey begins and ends her first crush in a week- such is the life of 12 and 13 year olds!  Alex and the kids he sits for are playing with the Pike kids, and Stacey then sees Alex’s cousin Toby who is wearing cool wrap-around shades and looks to be about 14. Stacey declares him to be very cute.  Toby and Stacey chat and we learn Toby loves computers and Spanish class.  Toby then tells a corny joke and Stacey is in LUV again.

Chapter 13:  It’s now the last night in Sea City, and Mary Anne and Stacey get another night off- which they will be spending with Alex and Toby!  Toby and Stacey play games together on the boardwalk as Mary Anne and Alex do whatever. Stacey and Toby then ride the tunnel of love, and Toby gives Stacey her very first kiss!!

Chapter 14:  Last day of Sea City time.  There’s a chore bucket that determines which Pike kid does each chore to clean up the house and get ready to leave.  Stacey and Mary Anne say final goodbyes to Toby and Alex, and Mary Anne cries over saying goodbye to Alex.  Stacey says a dumb final goodbye to Scott- LAME And oh we find out Mary Anne and Alex also went in the Tunnel of Love.

Chapter 15:  Last chapter of course.  After Stacey and Mary Anne are at their respective homes, Stacey calls Mary Anne to apologize but wimpy Mary Anne says SHE’S sorry for understanding Stacey’s crush! UGH! Mary Anne then says she realizes boys are not alien creatures, and Mary Anne and Alex exchanged engraved rings!  Stacey tells Mary Anne she’s glad they got to know each other better. Then Stacey calls Claudia, and we learn Claudia has discovered a love for pottery while she was on her trip, and Stacey tells Claud about her first kiss.

Wow I LOVED this book as a kid it was MY FAVORITE BSC book- besides Baby Sitters on Board that is!!  My sister, my cousin and my best friends Jenny and Becky loved it too!! A CLASSIC BSC book if you ask me- and yes with some good turning points in the series- the girls actually do start 8th grade after this summer, we learn that Byron is pretty sensitive, Claire starts the silly billy goo goo crap, and Mary Anne has her first ” thing” for a boy. Good times, good, good times. And we also learn Stacey is a moron and a bitch.

Next time- and that will be next week- no more blogs for this week I doubt- I will be snarking HEAVILY on a Sweet Valley University Thriller because those thrillers are such CRAP- they are like Lifetime movies but WORSE! After that recap, I will have a BSC Little Sister Book to snark on and a couple of Sweet Valley Kids books as well. I also plan to recap a couple more Gymnasts books over the next few weeks as well, and during the summer I also do plan to snark on a couple more summer related YA novels such as Malibu Summer ( a Sweet Valley High super special) and BSC Super Special California Girls OR Baby Sitters on Board- one or the other!!!

The Gymnasts #6- Bad Break

Cindi is very excited- her parents said that she and the other gymnasts- Lauren, Jodi and Darlene can all stay at a huge house in Aspen to go skiing for Washington’s Birthday weekend. Cindi’s brothers Jared and Tim will also be there, as will Cindi’s parents.  Cindi is trying to learn how to do a Valdez walkover ( it’s a walkover started from a sitting position) on the balance beam and the Pinecones’ coach, Patrick, says that when all of the Pinecones learn that routine, he will make them all a special pasta dinner.  Then, Ashley ( this whiny 9 year old who’s in the Pinecones and looks up to Becky ” the Bitch” Dyson who is not a Pinecone she’s more advanced in gymnastics) says that no gymnasts should do skiing or they can risk getting hurt. Who is Ashley Jessi Ramsey?? ( read my post on the Baby Sitters Club Winter Vacation for more on that) and that Bela Karolyi that famous Romanian gym coach who I believe coached Nadia Comaneci said that gymnasts shouldn’t ski.  Ashley tries to get Becky on her side, but it doesn’t work. Becky says that she herself is a great skier and she is ALSO skiing in Aspen this weekend!  Cindi, Lauren, Jodi and Darlene all hope that they do not run into Becky on this ski trip.

Cindi, Lauren, Jodi and Darlene are going to ski on a bunny slope because Cindi is the only one who has really skied before, and Jared is going to join them because he sort of has a crush on Darlene.  Cindi and the girls go on the mountain and notice someone who is skiing really, really badly, and they realize it’s Becky!  Becky tries to say she’s just practicing before going on Ajax Mountain, which is the tough mountain.  Then Cindi and Becky have to go on the same chair lift to the mountain. Becky almost falls afterward, but Cindi holds out her hand to prevent Becky from falling. Then Jodi says ” show us your stuff, Cindi”! and Cindi does want to show off to impress her friends, and Cindi does this super turn but the snow is full of ridges.  Cindi falls headfirst as her pole slips, then slides down the mountain- and Cindi feels and hears her bone snap!!

Cindi screams that her leg hurts and she knows it’s broken. This ski patrol guy with a beard acts like a real douche and tells Cindi that it was only a minor fall and she didn’t break her leg. Jared says that Cindi can take a lot of pain and she’s not one to scream.  Another ski patroller, a woman, goes over and says that if Cindi thinks her leg is broken it probably is. Ann, the ski patrol lady, assures Cindi that her friends and family will meet her at the hospital, and tells Cindi she’s being very brave.

Cindi’s family and friends do all arrive in the hospital and the doctor asks who all those people are and Cindi’s dad says ” We’re the Jocketts” and the doc says ” all of you?” and Cindi finds that funny because she says the girls sure don’t look related- Cindi is a strawberry blonde, Jodi is blonde, Lauren has short dark hair and is half Hispanic, and Darlene is black. Ya know on a related aside I love Darlene- she doesn’t always go on and on about being black like Jessi does ( granted Jessi had a hard time of things when she first arrived in Stoneybrook but still) and Darlene is not this wicked stereotypical character- OK Darlene is rich b/c her dad is a Denver Bronco, but Darlene goes to private school and Jared has a crush on her and all and yes Cindi mentions the girls looking like the United Nations but they don’t all harp on it all the time. Hope I explained myself well there! By the way so you know it is also mentioned that Ti An, the youngest Pinecone, is Vietnamese.  The doctor tells Cindi that her leg will take about two months to heal, and Cindi freaks because she will be out of gymnastics for two months, and the doc acts like it’s some sort of joke when she freaks out. The physical therapist then comes to see Cindi, and talks to Cindi’s parents as if Cindi is not even there! Cindi is pissed.

When Cindi gets back to the Aspen home, Jodi is all apologetic and feels that she caused Cindi to get hurt by telling her to show off and Cindi says it’s not Jodi’s fault.  The girls all want to sign Cindi’s cast but Cindi doesn’t let them because she says her leg hurts.  Cindi is then making jokes all the way home from Aspen and the other girls worry and Cindi snaps at them saying she has the right to make jokes and not just cry over her injury.

The day after Cindi gets home she goes to see her regular doctor, Dr. Heilbrun. Cindi mentions that she likes Dr. Heilbrun because she treats Cindi like a person and not a patient.  The doctor mentions that Cindi can work out with arm weights to keep up her strength.  When Cindi and her mom go home, Patrick comes to visit.  Patrick tells Cindi he’d like her to help him keep records while she recupurates.  Patrick also says he wants to talk to Cindi’s doc about doing a special exercise routine at the gym.

Cindi returns to the gym and Lauren, Darlene, Jodi and Ti An are all excited to see Cindi.  Ti An asks Cindy how she broke her leg and Lauren tells Cindi she doesn’t have to talk about it but Cindi tells Ti An what happened.  Patrick then shows Cindi a stationary bike she can use to pedal on her one good leg, and Cindi finds that pretty easy to do.  Cindi also finally allows everyone to draw pictures on her cast because her leg doesn’t hurt as much now.

Cindi says she has settled into a routine of going to the gym four days a week.  Cindi is trying to get Jodi to get on the beam and Jodi just keeps goofing around. Cindi remarks to herself that it’s the first time she’s noticed that the Pinecones goof off a lot.  Cindi tells Jodi to get moving, and Lauren comments that ever since Patrick gave Cindi a clipboard she’s been acting really bossy.  Cindi tells Jodi again that she has to get to practicing and Jodi is all huffy. Patrick then comes over to see what is going on, and then Jodi gets moving.  Becky then goes over to Cindi and says that when Cindi’s leg heals, her leg will look so gross.  Becky remarks how she only had a cast for three weeks with a broken ankle and her calf was all withered when the cast came off.  Then Becky leaves and Patrick asks Cindi what is the matter and Cindi says that the Pinecones only work when Patrick is around and goof off if it’s only Cindi. Patrick remarks that he recalls Cindi goofing off a lot as well.  After practice, Cindi overhears the girls in the locker room saying Lauren should tell Cindi because she’s her best friend. Cindi doesn’t know what Lauren is supposed to do or say and Cindi assumes Lauren is to tell Cindi that she’s being way too bossy for her own good and Cindi gets upset.

Well two months has gone by and Cindi is getting her cast off.  Lauren pretty much insists on going with Cindi to get her cast off her leg.  Cindi says Lauren will miss gymnastics and Lauren says that’s fine as she wants to go with Cindi.   After Cindi finally gets her cast off ( and Cindi sees how her calf that was broken is much smaller than the other and does look really odd) , Lauren says they have to go back to the gym because Lauren forgot something. Lauren asks Cindi to go into the gym with her but Cindi thinks the girls won’t want to see her because of her bossiness, but then Cindi’s mother says that she needs to give Patrick a check and tells Cindi to give it to Patrick because Cin’s mom has errands to do. So Cindi is forced to enter the gym- and SURPRISE- the girls organized a ” cast off” party for Cindi!  Lauren tells Cindi that soon she will be back to full strength in gymnastics and Cindi can learn the Valdez walkover and they will get Patrick’s pasta dinner! Cindi says she is not 100 percent yet but Patrick is confident Cindi will be soon.

Cindi is preparing to get on the uneven bars, but she gets too scared. Patrick says he is right there to spot, but Cindi just gets too nervous, and runs off into the bathroom crying.  About a week later, Cindi is still not performing up to par, but no one is being pushy or mad, and Cindi feels everyone is pitying her and she’s no fan of it.  Ti An can do the Valdez walkover perfectly, and Jodi has now done it too. It’s only Cindi who hasn’t mastered it yet. Patrick wants Cindi to go for it but she again gets nervous and just can’t do it.  Darlene asks Cindi if she wants to go to Cindi’s house and watch a tape of the Olympics but Cindi says no. Then Becky says that a lot of gymnasts never come back to 100 percent after an accident and Lauren gets pissed.  Then Darlene tells Cindi she’s tearing the Pinecones apart due to her anxiety.  Cindi says she’s sorry but there’s nothing she can do about it.

When Cindi gets home, she asks her bro Tim who is sixteen to drive her to Darlene’s.  Cindi talks to Tim about her fears and how she may quit gymnastics, and Tim tells Cindi not to do anything hasty.  Cindi then goes to Darlene’s and tells the girls that she didn’t want to cry over her broken leg or she’d feel like a coward. Darlene says well we all cried so are all of us cowards?  Then everyone starts crying because Cindi is finally crying over her broken leg and subsequent gymnastics anxieties.  The girls tell Cindi not to talk about quitting, but Cin says she can’t promise that.

Cindi and Patrick have a talk at the gym, sort of a pep talk that Patrick gives Cin about things not always being in our control, and how Cindi was brave throughout her ordeal.  Cindi then says she didn’t want to show her fears and Patrick says all the gymnasts have their fears and Cindi thinks about how  Darlene gives these little hoots when she’s afraid,  Jodi pretends not to be scared but bites her nails, Lauren cracks jokes, Ti An gets really quiet, and Ashley and Becky ate like bullies because they are really scared underneath.  Patrick asks Cindi what she used to do when she was scared before, and Cindi says she would just do it anyway.  And- Cindi gets on the beam and does the Valdez walkover!! WOOOOO! And the Pinecones get their awesome pasta dinner!  At the dinner, Jodi again says how she feels Cindi’s broken leg was her fault and Cindi says no it was not and she got through it and Cindi is only human after all, as all of the Pinecones are. 

I will TRY to recap ” Boy Crazy Stacey” by the end of this week, but more likely it will be the beginning of next week. I have found some Sweet Valley High and Twins books I didn’t think I had and I am VERY HAPPY!! So some of those will be recapped soon!  In the next few weeks expect posts on Sweet Valley University’s Thriller ” The Roommate” ( so trashy and awful- well worth the $3.50 I spent on EBay!!), a little sister book called ” Karen’s Kittycat Club”, another Sweet Valley Kids book called ” Left out Elizabeth”, and a Girl Talk book- Girl Talk #8 Stealing the Show- where Bradley Jr High performs ” Grease!!’ Also expect recaps in the next few weeks of ” Kristy and the Secret of Susan”, ” Kristy and the Worst Kid Ever”, and the Sweet Valley Twins book ” Won’t Someone Help Anna?”  I am also hoping to recap Stacey’s Lie BSC #76 and Sweet Valley High #74- The Perfect Girl” soon as well. And I forgot- after I recap ” Left Out Elizabeth” it’s another Gymnasts book called ” Crush on the Coach!” ( which it turns out is no ” Teacher Crush” SVH #57- but more on that when I recap it!!)

Freshman Dorm #24- Freshman Obsession

As most of you reading are probably aware, I used to devour Freshman Dorm books all through 8th grade and through most of my high school years. I never read this book before because by Book #19 I stopped reading the series, mostly because after awhile I don’t think B. Dalton was really selling these books so I could never locate them. So when I finally saw a lot of 10 Freshman Dorm books on EBay I SQUEED and had to get some- I have snarked on some already,but today I am not going to write a long recap b/c Freshman Dorm book recaps can get long and frankly I don’t have all the time in the world. So I will hit the high points-

The main plot pot? Melissa McDormand, the track star whose boyfriend Brooks dumped her at the altar, gets hooked on steroids.  Her track star rival Caitlin gets Melissa into steroids, telling her that being on these ‘roids will give Melissa the edge she wins to win track meets and get herself back on track.  Melissa and Caitlin get their meds from the ‘Roid Dungeon, where bunches of weightlifters work out and get steroids on the down low. Melissa thinks ‘roids are just great as they have helped her build muscle and win more meets.  Melissa starts having constant anger issues, and Melissa keeps having pain in her ankle, but just takes more ‘roids to mask the pain and get her through more races. Eventually Melissa strains her ankle way too much and ends up breaking her ankle. Melissa also meets a weightlifter in a wheelchair named Danny who warns her against using steroids but Melissa doesn’t want to hear it. Eventually when Melissa realizes the damage that steroids caused and how Danny was right ( and Caitlin is kicked off the team for using) Melissa and Danny fall in love and Melissa stops juicin.’

Faith has just started dating a dreamy guy named Becker.  Becker has managed to convince Faith that her old friends are no good and Faith realized they were right and Faith has pretty much cut herself off from KC, Winnie and Lauren. Faith wants to see Melissa run in the meet but it gets Becker all bent out of shape. Becker tells Faith that she’s the only person in his life and all he needs, and if Faith cared about him, she wouldn’t need anyone but Becker. CREEPY MUCH?

Becker gets Faith into the professional theatre program at school by suggesting that Faith write a Wild West version of the Taming of the Shrew- everyone who entered into the program has to come up with an original concept of Taming of the Shrew and Becker suggested the wild west version that everyone loved. Becker keeps reminding Faith that he is the reason she got into the program and she owes it to him to be devoted.  KC then tells Faith that she talked to a girl who used to date Becker who got got this girl into a writing program but it turns out the writing was plagarized and she was kicked out of the program. Faith has reason to worry because it turns out that Becker’s “original concept” wasn’t original at all- a Seattle theatre company did the same thing in 1977!!! So Faith has to go before the theatre committee and just like the time Faith got out of having the alcohol on campus, Faith doesn’t get in trouble because the professors running the theatre program give Faith credit for turning an original concept into something great and improving on it. Nonetheless, Faith dumps Becker because he’s a controlling douche who wants to cut her off from everyone she loves, and Becker finds a new girl named Cheryl to control.

Brooks ends up joining the ROTC because Brooks wants structure and meaning in his life, and to feel like a man. Brooks tries to make things up to Melissa by giving her a quilt that his grandma owned, and Melissa in a roid rage tears up the quilt bit by bit and leaves it all over the dorm floor.  Brooks and Dash go to a men’s empowerment group as well, and it leads Brooks to join the ROTC.

Winnie is pregnant!! Winnie can’t wait to announce the news to her mom  that she will be a grammie! When Winnie’s mom Francine comes to visit, Winnie’s mom is too obsessed over her new nerdy fiance Craig to even spend any time with Winnie and it upsets Winnie a great deal and makes her think of how her mom was never really ” a mom” who’d give advice or bake cookies. Winnie finally tells Francine she’s knocked up,  and Win’s mom is not too thrilled and pretty much tells Winnie she’s ruining her life, and didn’t she hear of birth control? Winnie is all excited thinking that Francine will help Winnie raise the baby ( this is before hearing Francine’s reaction) and Francie is all ” well no I am going to be traveling with Craig and won’t be around much” and Winnie is none too pleased.

That’s pretty much it. Melissa gets on roids, gets pissy and alienates folks, destroys a quilt, gets injured, stops the roids and gets with a hunky man in a wheelchair. 

I am going to do my best to recap a Gymnasts book this week.  After that here comes BOY CRAZY STACEY!!!! That will DEFINITELY be a full recap, as will the Gymnast book!!