Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #8, Baby-Sitters at Shadow Lake, seems like a good idea in theory, but in actuality, this book is a bit of a snooze fest. It hurts me to say that because I DO want to like this book. Watson's aunt and uncle want to leave him a cabin that's located by Shadow Lake in western Massachusetts (and there does seem to be an actual Shadow Lake in MA, but I have no idea if it's one and the same) in their will. They suggest that Watson take his family to spend two weeks there and see how he likes it. Watson used to go there all the time when he was a kid, but hasn't been back in ages. He agrees to this arrangement and also gets suckered into taking two of Karen's friends (Hannie and Nancy), two of David Michael's friends (Nicky and Linny), and SIX of Kristy's friends. Good God, Watson, why don't you just put your foot down and tell your family that this is going to be a FAMILY trip. But, yeah, yeah, I know, you need all the BSC girls or otherwise there wouldn't be a book. But maybe Watson (and Elizabeth and Nannie and Sam and Charlie) got a sweet deal because none of them will have to pay any attention to the younger kids. Kristy and her friends have offered to watch the younger kids free of charge. They make a schedule where three BSC members are on baby-sitting duty (one watching the girls, one watching the boys, and one watching Andrew and Emily) and whoever isn't baby-sitting can have a "free day". So at least not everybody has to watch kids all the time. That is a pretty big reason why Watson agrees to let all of Kristy's friends come along.
All in all, there are twenty people going on this trip. (Plus Shannon and Boo-boo. I can understand taking a dog; but seems a bit weird to take a cat). You're probably wondering where all these people are going to sleep (or maybe not if you've already read the book, which you probably have!). There are two big rooms that hold six bunk beds. The girls get one room and the boys get another. Right away the girls (well, okay, it was mainly Mallory) start bitching that the boys will get an entire bunk bed to himself while all the girls will have to share. OMG, STFU, Mallory!! (LOL, that should have been a book title!) First of all, you're here on vacation with your friend's family who were nice enough to invite you (and your brother, Nicky); 2nd of all, who the fuck cares if all the boys get their own bunk bed. You're not even going to spend that much time in this room except for sleeping and getting dressed. There are also two regular size bedroom where the adults will sleep. I noticed poor Nannie doesn't get her own bathroom like the master bedroom. Does that mean she has to use the bathroom that's connected to the girls' room? The only reason I know Nannie on this trip is because she drives one of the three cars that transports everyone to the cabin. Otherwise, we don't really hear from her.
This book sort of reminded me of Baby-Sitters' Summer Vacation because this has a summer camp vibe. There's a cabin, there's a lake, there's activities that you would find at a summer camp, etc. I liked this book better because at least our girls are interacting with each other and we've met all the characters who are on this trip whereas in Summer Vacation, we get summaries about every single person who the girls share a cabin with and why do I give two shits about these characters I will never see again? Also, besides Mal and Jessi, the girls barely interact with each other in that one. So at least this book has that going for it.
However, it seems like AMM (or most likely, the ghost writer) seemed to have trouble of coming up with storylines for all the characters because some of them are stretching for storylines. This is also the first SS since Summer Vacation where we get chapters from other characters besides the core 7.
Alright, so let's discuss each girl:
Kristy is the main narrator of the entire book and all the journal entries we read from everyone at the beginning of each chapter will be going into a scrapbook that Kristy is creating for Watson to give to him at the end of the trip to show him how much they loved the cabin and hope that he will take up his aunt and uncle's offer. Sometimes we will see her write in somebody else's journal entry, almost like they're having a back and forth conversation on paper. It's so weird...is she, like, standing behind the person who is writing an entry and then jumps in and takes the notebook away from them so she can write HER thoughts on THEIR thoughts? It's very odd. And it happens quite a lot. Besides that, her only other plot line is that she learns to drive a small motorboat called the Faith Pierson, so yeah....
Dawn is super fucking annoying in this. And also super fucking dumb. I'm sorry, but it's true. Because it's called Shadow Lake, she thinks there must be some spooky mystery that is tied to the lake. You know what, Dawn? Sometimes a name is just a name. Maybe it's called Shadow Lake because there's lots of shade; IDK!!! She talks to a few locals who tell her they believe a monster lives in the lake, much like the Loch Ness Monster. Um, if there WAS a huge monster swimming in the lake, don't you think there would be some reports of it, or a lot of people missing when they went to Shadow Lake? Duh, use your brain, Dawn. She also refers to the Shadow Lake sea monster as the Loch Ness monster, or Nessie:
[Dawn] shaded her eyes, too, and then said, sounding awed, "Oh, my lord. That's no shadow. That looks just like Nessie."
It was Stacey's turn to act surprised. "Nessie?"
"The Loch Ness Monster. Thats her nickname."
Okay, what the actual fuck??? Does Dawn not know that the Lock Ness monster is its own entity and lives (well, "lives") in Scotland? Did she think Nessie swam across the Atlantic? It seems like the locals think this is a different monster and Dawn is just a dumbass who think this monster and the Loch Ness monster are one and the same. I would expect this stupidity from Claudia, but not from Dawn.
We have many instances where Dawn or someone thinks they see a large dark shadow in the lake and Dawn starts going berserk, insisting it's the Lake Monster. I feel like Dawn is one of those people who deep down know there's no such things as monsters and ghosts, but she acts like they're real, so maybe she can get someone else to believe in them, so then SHE can believe in them. In other words, I think it's all a big act because she likes the attention. In fact, Dawn almost admits she's never seen the monster, but then catches herself:
"What color is the Lake Monster?" Mal wanted to know.
I glanced at Dawn. "Ask Dawn. She saw the monster."
"I did n--" Dawn started to exclaim. Then she caught herself. "Green. The monster is green. And it looks like a tremendous snake."
And I could be wrong, but I feel like in later books (like when she moves back to Cali for good), she's dropped the whole ghost thing and is now on the whole environmental warrior kick. I haven't read any of the California Diaries books, so I can't say that for sure.
Dawn almost gets two storylines because not only is she freaking out about the Lake Monster (I refuse to refer to it as "Nessie"), but there's also a mystery she's trying to solve that has nothing to do with the Lake Monster....or does it. (No, I'm pretty sure it doesn't). She finds out there was a family named the Bayards who disappeared "decades and decades ago". They were the wealthiest family in the area and lived on the island that's situated in the middle of the lake (how big is this lake that it has its own island that's big enough to hold a mansion?). The Bayard family consisted of the parents; their eighteen-year-old daughter, Annie; her younger brother, Ethan (we don't get an age for him); and servants who they would send to the mainland to get supplies and food. Apparently they rarely left the island. The kids were taught at their home by a governess. Dawn talks to an elderly man who was the fiancé of Annie. He would go to the island to help the gardener and help with repairs on the house, so that's how he met her. When he notices that none of the Bayard's help have been on the mainland for awhile, he goes to the island to find out that everybody is gone. The house is still standing with everything still inside of it, untouched. Annie's fiancé speculated they had dissapeared the night before when there was a huge storm, but their bodies were never accounted for. I mean, it actually is quite intriguing. I'm wondering myself what happened to them.
Again, I'm wondering how big this island is and how far away it is. They can see it from their cabin, so I would guess maybe it takes twenty minute (if that) to get there by boat. The BSC decides it would be fun to go there to spend the night (well, Dawn is the only one who doesn't want to go, but even she would rather do that than have a slumber party with Karen and her friends). I am shocked that the adults allow this. This seems very unsafe. And also, I'm sorry, but going to an uninhabited island to sleep on the ground in sleeping bags doesn't sound like my idea of fun. The very few times I've slept outdoors, I've slept in a tent. At least that sort of helps block the elements and you're not just exposed to the outdoors. They do mention taking two tents but mention they would only put them up if it rained. But why...why not just have Sam (who drives three of the girls over in a borrowed boat because their own boat isn't big enough to get everyone over in one go) help put the tents up? Or, better yet, why not just make a day trip out of the island WITHOUT spending the night. Get there in the morning and just explore the island and do whatever there is to do....we know there are no shops or restaurants...again, this is not an island that people inhabit. Not really sure what the point of it is. Not the island, but why the girls want to spend the night there. But they do and Dawn is freaking out, certain that she keeps seeing ghosts and whatnot. They do find bricks scattered around that they surmise is the Bayard house. Dawn does find a heart-shaped locked with the initials AB carved in it. Obviously, it belonged to Annie Bayard. She gives it to the old man who was her fiancé. The mystery plot line doesn't go anywhere. Nothing is solved from it. I know there's a mystery book where they go back to Shadow Lake, so I wonder if this storyline shows up in that one. It seems like you could have an entire book based upon this mystery, but they only dedicate a couple chapters to it. Like, what's the point? We get some chapters that are VERY useless and could have been deleted (you'll find out who I'm talking about later) and that could have been used for this mystery.
There's a boat show where people can decorate their boats (like a float) and Claudia decides to enter Faith Pierson. She gets her inspiration from Dawn and decides to deck out the boat like the Lake Monster. I'm very confused by the way the boat is presented. First of all, the way Claudia creates the monster is confusing. She's using the boat as the body and she's just making the head and the tail, which she uses green towels to do that. I can see her twisting the towel together to make the tail, but the head? I'm SUPER confused on how she managed to create a dragon-like head made out of towels complete with a mouth, nostrils, eyes, and eyebrows. (There's an illustration). Like, huh?? Even more confusing is that she wants Kristy, who will be steering the boat, and herself, to also dress up. Kristy is dressed up as naturalist with binoculars as though she's out to study the Lake Monster and Claudia is dressed up as a tourists with a camera around her neck as though she's trying to get a picture of the Lake Monster. I actually think this is a pretty clever idea....however why is the boat the Lake Monster. That means they're riding the Lake Monster? Huh? Wouldn't it be better to have the boat be (and go with me here!) .... a boat! And then maybe create the Lake Monster on the side of the boat as though it's coming up from out of the water and INTO the boat and Kristy and Claudia can act like they're looking for the monster, but are none the wiser that the monster is about to crawl into their boat? Wouldn't that make way more sense? Not sure how Claud would create that, but she's pretty crafty. Can papier-mache get wet?
There is a funny part where Claudia makes a sign for the boat so people know what it's supposed to be and she writes "The Lack Munster." First of all, if she knows she's such a shit speller, why doesn't she ASK somebody how to spell it before she attempts to write it? Dumbass. (She did write a second sign with the correct spelling after Kristy pointed it out to her). Second of all, how the hell does she hear a "u" sound in "monster"? Huh?? Also, while we're at it...how the hell does she spell "lake" like "lack"? How does she think "lack" is spelled - "lac"? "lak"? "lakc"????? WHO TAUGHT CLAUDIA LYNN KISHI HOW TO SPELL???? I can understand misspelling some words.....but simple words like "lake"??? WTF???
She also spells boat show as "boat shoe" in one entry and "boot show" in another. She's not even consistent with her spelling. Also, super weirdly, she spells thinking as "thicking". I don't get it. I just don't get it.
Claudia starts to feel a little insecure about the boat parade because the majority of the boats are much bigger and are elaborately decorated like New York or Disneyland or the Wild West. However, everyone loves their boat (even though it makes no sense) and she receives a participation trophy; a ribbon that reads "Most Spirit".
Of course Mallory gets a super lame plot line. She keeps getting bitten by bugs! Seriously, that's her storyline. And it's only Mallory getting the brunt of the bug bites, so I thought it was going to be revealed she was using a new lotion or soap or perfume or something, but no, nothings seems to be out of the ordinary for her, so who knows why the bugs like her so much more than any of the others. Look, Mal is being a bit of a pain in this because she does whine a lot about the bug bites; HOWEVER the other girls (besides Jessi) don't want anything to do with her because she's wearing jeans and long-sleeved shirts and a safari hat with mosquito netting to protect herself. She also sprays herself with tons of bug spray which apparently makes her smell funny. Claudia and Stacey are just aghast by this and make Mal walk ten paces behind them if they go anywhere because they are just so embarrassed. I'm sorry, but if Claudia was wearing this get-up, they would call her a fashion icon and worship the ground she walked on while wearing said outfit.
Jessi meets a boy her age who is vacationing with his family in a cabin nearby. His name is Daniel and she thinks he's very cute. She's also very conflicted because she feels like she's cheating on Quint, her sort-of boyfriend in New York. The two meet and it is revealed they pretty much don't have anything in common. Daniel can't dance, he doesn't like to read, and he couldn't imagine baby-sitting for kids who aren't his siblings.
Daniel asks her to the dance the lodge is having their last full day at Shadow Lake (is it me or do these Super Specials always end with a dance?). For some strange reason, Jessi thinks Daniel is going to "profess his love for [her]". (That's what she tells Mallory!) Um, Jessi, you are eleven freakin' years old! I had to laugh when Mallory is all amazed and how Ben Hobart has never professed his love to her (because, again, they're only eleven! They are literally children!) and Jessi is all, "Daniel is older than Quint and Ben. An entire year older." Wow, Jessi and Mal really do think that once you turn 12, your whole perspective on life changes, don't they? Because a twelve-year-old boy is much more mature and worldly than an eleven-year-old one. And here I am, couldn't even tell the difference between one from the other!
I can't really blame Jessi for thinking that Daniel likes her as more than a friend. If I were in her situation, I'd probably think the same thing. He does flirt with her, is nice to her, compliments her, asks her to the dance, calls her "gorgeous" when he sees her at the dance, etc. I really don't blame the girl for being nervous to tell him that she has someone else she really cares about. After she does, he tells her that he has a girlfriend. Maybe this would have all been cleared up if he had told her this at the beginning when they met. Also, is it me or does eleven and twelve seem awfully young to have boyfriends and girlfriends and be in relationships?
Before I continue on, I wanted to point out a couple things I found odd in the Jessi chapters:
1) When Jessi first meets Daniel, he tells her he's from Boston. Jessi replies by saying, "I've never been there. I've been to New York, though." Huh? Who cares about New York? What does that have to do with Boston? I don't meet people from Portland and tell them I've never been there, but I have been to Seattle. I honestly don't think they would give a flying flip as much as I'm sure Daniel doesn't care that Jessi's been to New York. I wonder if she said that because she was feeling guilty about Quint.
2) When Mallory tells Jessi that no boy has ever professed his love for her (poor Mallory!), she tells Jessi the things she and Ben talk about and this includes "why there should be movies that adults are not allowed to see." This makes absolutely no sense. Although, I think there are plenty of movies that adults have absolutely no interest in seeing!
Stacey has to deal with Sam who is acting like an immature goon towards her. I don't have a problem with Sam liking Stacey (or vice versa) because Stacey is pretty mature for her age and I can see Sam having a crush on her. I don't think they actually date in the series, do they? Maybe they do since Stacey seems to have at least a billion boyfriends. I know when I was reading The Complete Guide to the BSC, there's a list of Stacey's boyfriends that takes up an entire page and that had me rolling. And looking at it again (and it's a page and a half!) they do count Sam as one of her boyfriends. Hmmm....I ship them dating when they're both in high school, or maybe even when they're young adults, out of college and have come together somehow.
Sam is one of the non-BSC characters who narrates a chapter from this book. He keeps calling Stacey "dah-ling" and doing obnoxious things like touching her hair or wolf whistling at her when she's sunbathing in her bathing suit. Of course we find out he's doing these things because he likes her. He tells her that he likes her (advice from Charlie) and she says she once liked him too, but now feels confused. When Stacey is getting ready for the dance, she asks Claud what she should do if Sam wants to dance and Claud gives her terrible advice:
"Probably you should just be polite. If he asks to dance, then dance. Tonight's out last night. Whatever he says or does, go along with him."
I'm sorry, but what the fuck? If Stacey doesn't want to dance with him, then she shouldn't have to dance with him! I'm going to give Claudia the benefit of the doubt and since she knows Stacey does like Sam (or at least used to), then maybe that's why she's giving her this advice. If it was, say, someone like Alan Gray who she doesn't have any interest at all, I would hope Claudia would not give her that advice. I still think this is terrible advice and Claudia should be siding with Stacey here and tell her she should do what makes her feel comfortable, not do the "polite" thing. Ugh. They do come up with a signal where Stacey will blink her eyes at Claud if she's dancing with Sam and needs to be rescued. As you can imagine, this is a terrible signal because Claud sees her dancing with Sam and she blinks at her, but it's only a natural movement and she has to signal she doesn't need her help. They dance and it's the first time Sam acts like a gentleman (well as gentlemanly for a 15-year-old!) towards her.
From reading Sam's chapter, it's clear that he and Charlie are having the best time at Shadow Lake. First of all, they don't have to baby-sit any of their younger siblings. They're also doing all the fun lake things like para-sailing and water-skiing. There's also some clear evidence that neither of them are fans of Karen which makes me fans of them. When they're all getting the three cars ready to drive to Shadow Lake, they're having trouble fitting everything in and Charlie suggests putting these two suitcases in the back of Watson's car and is told there won't be room for Karen and he goes, "Hey! Maybe that isn't a bad idea after all!" and Karen gets all indignant and accuses Charlie of making her stay home. But, *mwah*, chef's kiss, Charlie, that was brilliant. Also, one morning Sam wakes up and hears someone "singing a really stupid song." He thinks at first it was Karen (ha!), but turns out it was Andrew. He tells us:
Oh no! It was a hereditary problem. Andrew was going to wind up just like Karen. I wasn't sure I could take two of them.
Sick burn on Karen there and I LOVE it. Sam and Charlie are my new favorites. This book is clearly written by a ghostwriter who is dissing Karen.
And finally, we have Mary Anne, who pretty much just baby-sits Karen, Hannie, and Nancy who go by The Three Musketeers. Seriously, that's her storyline. They obviously couldn't think of a plot point for her and we just got her POV when she was baby-sitting the three girls a couple of times. She panics because she loses the girls, but it turns out they had found this shed that's falling apart in the woods. They want to keep it a secret and spruce it up so they feel like they're in The Secret Garden (of which I've never read or seen the movie, so I had no idea what they were talking about). Mary Anne finds out about it and tells them they can keep it a secret from the younger boys, but need to tell the adults and the other BSC members when there're playing there.
In the other Mary Anne chapter, where you can obviously see where they are running out of ideas for her, she is once again baby-sitting the Three Musketeers and tells them that she can be the kid and they can be the baby-sitters. Hannie (hey, I just realized we had Hannie and Nannie on this trip!) tells her she needs to crawl around like a baby and I'm like, why? She can still walk and just pretend she's a little kid. But that wasn't the weirdest thing about this. No, that was when Mary Anne says she can't crawl around all day (still not the weird part) because, "I'm thirteen. My knees are weak." WTF? Look, I totally get why she wouldn't want to crawl around because that would be weird and uncomfortable, but if your knees are weak when you're thirteen, I don't know what to say to that...You're 13, Mary Anne, not 83!
We also get chapters narrated from Karen and David Michael (two each) and you could skip these chapters and not miss anything. Seriously, I'm probably doing you a favor by giving you this advice. The boys find out about the playhouse and they want to play in it too but the girls won't let them. The boys decide they're going to build their own fort and each group make a bet that their own playhouse will be the best. Whoever wins (I guess the adults will be the judges), the others will have to do their chores for the rest of the summer. Now this makes sense for David Michael and Karen and Hannie and Linny since they're siblings, but what about Nicky and Nancy who never have any interaction with each other? I guess this is perfect for them since they're not doing each other's chores! In the end, the boys build a terrible fort and the girls decide that the boys will only have to do their chores for the next day. But like I said, you can just skip any of the David Michael and Karen chapters. Why are we wasting all this time on them when we could have gotten more Stacey and Sam storyline or the Shadow Lake mystery? C'mon.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Watson does agree to have the cabin willed to him.
No comments:
Post a Comment