This was my first super special as a kid. I read this thing until the binding tore and
the pages started coming out. As an
adult, I can’t help but seeing this as the worst parental fail in history.
Because of the awful nature of parental failing, I’m just
going to summarize the story line and then go into the mommy moments and common
sense moments and Claudia outfits. We
can’t do a snark without the Claudia outfits. :)
And what’s up with Claudia’s awkward arms and Kristy’s
apparently mangled body on the cover??
This is Dawn’s Superspecial.
Claudia and Dawn take sailing lessons and their head sailing instructor
has them have a sailing competition.
They tie, and decide to have a rematch.
Since they’ve been okayed to sail, but not alone, naturally they decide
to take some of their sitting charges with them. Brilliant!
They sail, a storm comes up, they’re blown off course, Dawn's boat breaks up, causing them to bail out and they all end up on an
island. One of the kids (Jamie Newton) gets sick. Food and water is low. There are search
parties and finally they are rescued after two days. Jamie goes to the hospital, but is released
the next day. The girls are lauded as
heros and there are news interviews and newspaper articles galore. What an adventure!
Mommy Moments
- No way in hell would I let my four-year-old go sailing with a thirteen-year-old who had *just been okayed to sail alone.
- No way in hell would I let my four-year-old who appeared to be coming down with a cold go sailing.
- Normally I find the Ramsey parents to be pretty good Stoneybrook parents, but we’re talking two major parental fails here: 1. Leaving an eleven-year-old in charge for the weekend and 2. Letting your eight-year-old go sailing with novice thirteen-year-old sailors.
- Sharon is not only concerned about her kids, but she’s stressing about losing custody of her kids. If I was Jack, I’d definitely have this parental fail on my mind in future custody procedings.
Common Sense Moments
- For all the times MA is described as listening and patient and kind, she flies off the handle and is a real, well, bitch over the littlest things. Not what I’d call a really kind, sensitive and emotional friend. *at the end, she asks if her picture is in the paper. I kind of agree with Dawn when she says, “You weren’t even on the island!”
- Didn’t anyone check the weather before sailing? I know it’s the days before the internet, but with a storm of that severity, I think the meteorologists could have seen that coming the night before.
- At least the girls have enough sense to stay close together during the storm, especially since Dawn’s boat ends up in trouble and they need to bail out.
- Kristy calls an emergency meeting of the BSC because this is a club problem. It just seems wrong. What are they going to do that the coast guard isn’t doing? I guess it's good to get together and comiserate
- Stacey gets mad at her dad because he won’t let her go home, but I see his point – what is she going to do at 8:30pm in rain? The “it took me forever to get these theater tickets” doesn’t give him much credibility. Still, might as well stay with her dad that she never sees and head home in the morning when she can help.
- I hate the stupid questions that reporters ask. The kicker in this book is, “How do you [friend of the missing] feel right now?”
- Claudia’s street smarts really get them through on the island. Not only does she think of a way to collect water, she keeps the kids calm and finds a mirror that they can signal with.
Claudia Outfits
- Tank top and baggy drawstring pants. Over the top, a button-down shirt of her father’s with sleeves rolled up, buttons not buttoned. Wearing big earrings she had made herself.
Just Weird and
Awkward…
- What’s with the awkwardness on page 208/209? Mallory looks like she’s going to eat Claudia and Jessi looks like a replica of the Crazy Horse monument.
No comments:
Post a Comment