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 8th grader conversation. I remember myself in 8th
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 8th 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!!
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