#38 Kisty's Mystery Admirer

Finally, not an MA book!  This one also appears to be an Ann M original manuscript, so woo-hoo for that! 

The only thing I'd like to mention about the cover is Shannon's "school uniform."  Purple and red?  Really?  

We start in Kristy’s mind, a scary place to be.  She’s trying to coach her Krusher player Jackie Rodowski through his at bat – it appears that they might actually beat the Bashers.  Jackie connects for a home run and the Krushers win!  Bart asks Kristy to walk home and they start talking about sports, which leads into flirting a bit.  They talk about the BSC, who’s dating whom, Bart mentions he’s in a band….feels like a high school senior conversation rather than an 8^th grader conversation.  I remember myself in 8^th grade.  No one was dating anyone – we had just realized that the opposite sex existed outside of cootieville and were just trying to figure out how to have a conversation without spitting through our braces.

Kristy arrives home and the next two chapters are irrelevant since at this point in the series, they’re pretty cemented into their personality traits and there’s not much new to tell. 

We transition to the meeting and then Kristy arrives home to find that Shannon has called four times. Common Sense Moment: We just hear about how Shannon is an alternate member of the BSC, so we know she knows when the meetings are.  Why would she call four times if she knows Kristy’s not home?  Anyway, the big news is that there’s a love letter in Shannon’s box for Kristy.  She brings it over after dinner and they hide out in Kristy’s room.  The letter’s pretty simple:”Dear Kristy, I think you are beautiful.  And you’re the nicest girl I know.  I would like to steady with you.  I wish I could tell you this in person.  Love, Your Mystery Admirer.”

Shannon thinks it’s from Bart; Kristy thinks it’s from Sam.  She calls Bart and they talk about some stuff, but he doesn’t say anything about the note and she doesn’t either.  

There’s a Stacey sitting chapter and it’s really about the additional letters Kristy’s getting.  They’re pretty schmaltzy, especially from an 8^th grade boy.  By the end of the chapter, the Krushers and Bashers are on for a “World Series” game and Kristy has asked Bart to the Halloween Hop.

The next day at lunch Krsity whips out the letters and shows them off to her friends.  Cokie and Grace are watching from another table.  So, is it any surprise that Kristy gets another note that’s a little weird and twisted that afternoon?  I mean, this is now the second Halloween where Cokie and Grace have pulled a little prank.  I figured this out the first time through the book!  Mommy Moment: As a mother, I would hope that my child would tell me the minute something like this got out of hand, especially in this day and age with all the internet stalkers and pedophiles roaming around.

We have another sitting chapter where Jessi and Mal sit for the Pikes.  The Pikes decide to put on a haunted house; Vanessa calls the other Krusher cheerleaders over and they decide to dress up as the three stooges for the Krusher World Series.

At the next BSC meeting, Krsity reveals that she has gotten a few more notes that are rally weird and creepy.  Now everyone thinks they are from Sam, but Kristy’s not convinced.  The last note said he was “coming to get” her.  She’s worried someone might want to kidnap her because of Watson’s money.  She goes home and pretty much barricades herself in her room.  She debates whether or not to tell her Mom and Watson, but decides they would think she was crazy.  Mommy Moment: Again, tell the parents!  Even if it’s a kid playing a sick prank, parents need to know these things!!

Kristy tells Shannon about her lunatic theory and Shannon thinks she’s nuts.  She throws out the idea that Bart is trying to psyche Kristy out before the big world series they’re having.  Kristy gloms onto that idea and when Bart and the Bashers show up for their game, she’s hopping mad.  Buddy Barrett whacks a ball foul, which hits Shannon in the head.  She’s ok, but she and the other sitters are ignoring Bart.  Later that evening, he calls Kristy, but she hangs up on him.

MA sits for the Barretts, finding out that Buddy has a little crush on Shannon.  They go to Krusher’s practice and find out that Kristy has gotten another note, this time with fingernail clippings inside of it.  Mommy Moment: Enough is enough.  Tell an adult!  (Of course, Cokie and Grace are counting on Kristy NOT telling.)

Bart shows up at practice again, confused because Kristy again blows him off.  He calls that night, and she again blows him off.  So it’s no surprise (or maybe it is) when he shows up at her door the next day wanting to know what’s going on.  Turns out he did write the first few letters, but not the weird ones and he’s a little pissed that Kristy thought he’d do that.  They try to figure out who’s behind it, but no ideas.  Shannon comes over to try to help, but they still have no idea.  Now Kristy is really convinced that someone is after her…and it’s not Bart!  Mommy Moment: Now I’m really flipping out as a mom.  If my kid let it get this far without telling me, I’d really be upset.  My oldest stepson is bordering tween age – please tell me he won’t be this dumb!!

It’s the day of the World Series and everyone is freaking out at the Brewer/Thomas household.  They manage to get it together and head to the field.  Lo and behold, who should be in the stands but Cokie and Grace.  Kristy asks why she’s there, and suddenly, in a war of words, Cokie implicates herself in the note sending.  Kristy demands to know why and Cokie says it’s because they were made to look like fools in front of Logan.  Kristy waving the notes all over at school gave her the idea.  Kristy lets her go and heads back to the game.

In a rather anticlimactic few paragraphs, the Krushers win the World Series game 8-7.  For all the build up to it, the actual description of the game is pretty lackluster, if I may say so.  I guess we’re focusing on Kristy and Bart this book.

Later that day, Shannon and Kristy are hanging out, talking about make-up when Bart calls.  He has lobster costumes they can wear to the Halloween Hop.

The night of the Halloween hop arrives and Kristy’s ready to go.  They pick up Bart and head to the dance.  They have a good time and end up winning a prize for most unusual costume.  At the end of the night, Bart kisses Kristy.  I must have liked this part as a kid, ‘cause it’s circled in blue pen with a lipstick kiss on it.  Wow, was I weird.

After the Hop, the BSC girls plus Shannon are having a sleepover.  They talk about the dance, discover a creepy note that Shannon made while they were all at the dance (why didn’t they just invite her to come along?) and decide to write a note to Cokie.  It’s quite gross.  Then they go to bed.  The end.

Ok, so explain this to me.  First off, if Bart is so into Kristy, and he’s already got a relationship with her, why would he resort to secret letters?  Secondly, it’s not like these girls are discreet about what’s happening in their lives; it really shouldn’t surprise them that other people have picked up on it and are using it against them!!

#35 Stacey and the Mystery of Stoneybrook

Sorry for the long delay, but the end of the school year plus the start of summer fun has really take up a lot of time.  

This book is so….I can’t even.  I can’t really see what the point of it is, other than the BSC girls scaring the snot out of themselves and their charges.

This is an Ellen Miles book, so woo-hoo for ghost-writers!

So, here’s the basic storyline:  Stacey (and her mom) is asked by the Johanssens to take Charlotte for a week while Mr. and Doctor go to Mrs’s hometown to be with his dad during a surgery.  Of course, the McGills take Charlotte.  During this time, she develops tonsillitis and needs to be on penicillin.

At the same time Charlotte is staying with Stacey, there is an old house being torn down in the neighborhood.  Stacey and Char visit and see some weird things.  Then Kristy (while she’s sitting her sibs, of course) discovers a map that shows the house built over an ancient burial ground.  Claudia does a little more digging and discovers the house belonged to a Ronald Hennessey, who is a resident at Stoneybrook Manor (the local nursing home).

Stacey and Charlotte visit the house again and see fire shooting out of the window.  Stacey attempts to put it out with rainwater in a wheelbarrow, but it suddenly disappears.  That night they both have nightmares about the place.

Stacey tells her friends about what happened at the house and the dreams.  Kristy immediately calls an emergency meeting, which never happens that often (only in every book).  At the meeting, they decide to visit Ronald Hennessey.

Kristy, Claud, Stacey and Charlotte are the ones to visit Mr. Hennessey.  They tell him about their experiences and he tells them all kinds of spooky stories about his days living there.  He ends the visit with the words, “Just be careful.”

The house is coming down the next day and they all go to watch.  When it comes down, Stacey notices that it’s burning up with an elderly man in the middle of it!  But….no one else notices.  Stacey runs to the nursing home to see Mr. Hennessey, but finds out he died during the night. 

It turns out that he left her a note saying that he had made up the stories he told them on their visit.  He hopes he didn’t scare her too badly.

Kristy, Charlie and Sam pick Stacey up from the nursing home and explain away all of the weird things that happened, except for the burning when the house came down.  I’d chalk that one up to sleep deprivation, Stacey.

The Johanssens arrive not long after Stacey and Char arrive home and pick up their daughter.  Charlotte calls her later to tell her she misses her and they have a special good-night moment.  Awwwwwwwwww!

Mommy Moments:

• Hooray!  The Johanssens actually call Mrs. McGill before officially leaving their child with her.  Way to communicate!
• Charlotte complains of her throat hurting before the Johanssens leave.  As a mother, I think two things: 1. she’s faking so I don’t leave.  2. she has a history of chronic tonsillitis; she could really have an issue.
• If my child was ill and my father-in-law was recovering nicely, I’d come home ASAP!
• So Stacey and Charlotte are freaking themselves out to the point that they’re not sleeping and can’t really function.  Doesn’t Mrs. McGill notice this at some point?

Common Sense Moments:

• In order to get Charlotte to take her medication, Stacey shows her some of her diabetes equipment and explains how much work it takes to take care of her body.  I don’t know how effective that method would really be.
• In her quest to get to the bottom of the mystery, Stacey effectively freaks Charlotte out, to the point she’s having nightmares about the place.  At one point she even asks herself if she’s getting so caught up in the mystery that she’s forgetting to be a good baby-sitter.  The answer is YES, STACEY!!

Outfits:

• Stacey “I had dressed for my train ride in a white jumpsuit, layered over a blue tank top.  I had on white push down socks with blue hearts on them, a wide patent leather belt and a wild necklace made of all kinds of plastic sea creatures in a rainbow of colors.”
• Stacey “pink polka-dotted short skirt with suspender straps and had worn it with an oversized white t-shirt.  I had on my pink high-top sneakers, folded down to show their striped lining.  I’d also worn these great earrings Claud had given me for my last birthday.  They had all these little pink plastic hearts dangling down from one bigger heart.”