Scan barcode
bangel_ds's review against another edition
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
situationnormal's review against another edition
2.0
Maybe all of the hurricanes I've experienced on the coast here in NC are the reason, or maybe Florence really just drove the nail in the coffin for me, but reading about hurricanes is so not fun it hurts. Also I love Stacey but she's always a jerk in Sea City.
But at least the BSC officially voted that Skors bars are better than Heath bars. I love both but the Skors bars have the edge. Fight me.
But at least the BSC officially voted that Skors bars are better than Heath bars. I love both but the Skors bars have the edge. Fight me.
hcgambrell's review against another edition
3.0
The BSC girls get another free vacation out of the Pike family and go to Sea City, where they get stuck in the most boring, least devastating hurricane in literary history. Also, Stacey always turns into a selfish jerk when they're at the beach, and Mallory, an 11-year-old, gets asked out by a 15-year-old who apparently wants to date his way through the BSC. I find this much creepier as an adult than I did as a child. Also, Logan is jealous and annoying, and the rest of the book is ordinary babysitting and Stoneybrook life. This was one of my favorites when I was young, but it does not hold up well in adulthood.
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
As a kid my best friends sister had the whole BSC series on a book shelf in her room. I thought she was so grown up. And I envied this bookshelf. And would often poke my head into that room just to look at it.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
And when I read BSC, I felt like such a grown up.
And while I might have still been a little too young to understand some of the issues dealt with in these books, I do appreciated that Ann M. Martin tackled age appropriate issues, some being deeper than others, but still important.
leedigesu's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good one, especially to read right now...the summer. Because I live in NJ going to the Jersey shore has a particular fondness for my childhood, as do these books.
If anything, I'm now plotting how I can plan a few days down at the water.
If anything, I'm now plotting how I can plan a few days down at the water.
kimberlyinthewild's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
finesilkflower's review
1.0
Summer fun! Boring, boring summer fun.
This year, the whole club is visiting that favorite BSCiverse fake Jersey Shore tourist trap, Sea City. Mallory and Jessi are Mother's Helping the Pikes, the way Stacey and Mary Anne used to do, and Stacey is Mother's Helping the Barretts, who have rented a neighboring house. The others also drop by for a week for some reason. The storylines are:
This is another BS Super Special with way too many storylines and neither the time nor the inclination to develop any of them well. The structure and timing of events also hurts any chance at building narrative. All of the Baby-sitters who have plots in Stoneybrook abandon them for their Sea City visit; the reunited sitters do very little in Sea City, and then most of them go home, and those that are left have to deal with a hurricane hitting. Weather events out of anyone's control can be used effectively in narrative to shake things up, force people's hands, and provide perspective. None of these things happen in this book; it's just some more damn stuff that happens and has no effect on anything else. I usually like Sea City stories, but this is such a placeholder of a book.
Lingering Questions: The final chapter is all letters and postcards, a device sometimes used in Super Specials to provide epiloguey follow-up on the various vacation side characters, and here wasted, of course. Why are we expected to care about a letter from a glazier giving the Pikes an estimate for fixing their windows?
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if each passing year actually advanced the timeline. This would be the summer after high school graduation for the older sitters, or between sophomore and junior years for Mallory and Jessi. This is a good time for one last hurrah so I guess it makes sense that the good-natured Pikes were willing to host the older girls at the beach. Aging, as always, really reduces the ick factor of the romance subplots. While still mildly ooky, I am much less concerned about a 20-year-old hitting on a 16-year-old than a 15-year-old hitting on an 11-year-old.
This year, the whole club is visiting that favorite BSCiverse fake Jersey Shore tourist trap, Sea City. Mallory and Jessi are Mother's Helping the Pikes, the way Stacey and Mary Anne used to do, and Stacey is Mother's Helping the Barretts, who have rented a neighboring house. The others also drop by for a week for some reason. The storylines are:
- Mallory is hit on by Toby, the guy who liked Stacey in [b:Boy-Crazy Stacey|137947|Boy-Crazy Stacey (The Baby-Sitters Club, #8)|Ann M. Martin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172091766s/137947.jpg|3057022] and [b:Mary Anne and Too Many Boys|233789|Mary Anne and Too Many Boys (The Baby-Sitters Club, #34)|Ann M. Martin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172965799s/233789.jpg|2152020], and even though Stacey is so over Toby, she's still not ready for him to be into Mallory, because who is. (Stacey is basically having a miserable time this whole book.) Mal likes Toby but randomly remembers Ben's existence two seconds before the big date and decides not to go out with him after all. This is not foreshadowed at all. Listen, if you're going to write a story about a choice between the guy back home and the attractive strange at the beach, write [b:Mary Anne and Too Many Boys|233789|Mary Anne and Too Many Boys (The Baby-Sitters Club, #34)|Ann M. Martin|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1172965799s/233789.jpg|2152020], but if you're not, it's REALLY OKAY to conveniently forget that Ben exists. The rest of us have.
- Kristy recruits some hopeless pinch-hits for the Krushers from the unathletic and uninterested kids in her neighborhood, then she goes to Sea City and kind of forgets about that.
- Mary Anne and Dawn have a "summer mini-camp" at home for some of the repeat clients, then they go to Sea City and kind of forget about that.
- Claudia goes to summer school and makes some friends and does okay, and then she goes to Sea City and kind of forgets about that.
- Logan enjoys Sea City with Mary Anne, but is threatened by the existence of Alex, the guy she liked in a previous year. (Who even knows how long ago now.) Because the only reason to show affection is jealousy, he calls in some favors and plans a special mysterious surprise for her (in one of those annoying chapters which attempts to build suspense by vaguely hinting around what the first-person POV character is doing or talking or thinking about.) The epistolary final chapter reveals that he set up a romantic horse and buggy ride. With all the suspense, I was expecting her to give her an ACTUAL tiger.
- A hurricane hits Sea City and forces the vacationers to evacuate and take shelter in a local elementary school. They're scared, but they make do, and everything turns out fine. This is a typical set of "here is what happens when things are out of the ordinary" chapters. The main problem is that when the hurricane actually hits, we switch to random Karen in Stoneybrook POV, because nothing is as exciting as moving from the epicenter of a hurricane to some place that barely got hit.
This is another BS Super Special with way too many storylines and neither the time nor the inclination to develop any of them well. The structure and timing of events also hurts any chance at building narrative. All of the Baby-sitters who have plots in Stoneybrook abandon them for their Sea City visit; the reunited sitters do very little in Sea City, and then most of them go home, and those that are left have to deal with a hurricane hitting. Weather events out of anyone's control can be used effectively in narrative to shake things up, force people's hands, and provide perspective. None of these things happen in this book; it's just some more damn stuff that happens and has no effect on anything else. I usually like Sea City stories, but this is such a placeholder of a book.
Lingering Questions: The final chapter is all letters and postcards, a device sometimes used in Super Specials to provide epiloguey follow-up on the various vacation side characters, and here wasted, of course. Why are we expected to care about a letter from a glazier giving the Pikes an estimate for fixing their windows?
Revised Timeline: This is where I figure out how old the baby-sitters would be if each passing year actually advanced the timeline. This would be the summer after high school graduation for the older sitters, or between sophomore and junior years for Mallory and Jessi. This is a good time for one last hurrah so I guess it makes sense that the good-natured Pikes were willing to host the older girls at the beach. Aging, as always, really reduces the ick factor of the romance subplots. While still mildly ooky, I am much less concerned about a 20-year-old hitting on a 16-year-old than a 15-year-old hitting on an 11-year-old.
sammah's review
2.0
Are we serious with this, guys? Come ON!
First of all, we had to endure Krushers bs in this book. Can't we have ONE book without that nonsense? Also I HATE when the Super Specials feature chapters from the younger kids POV. You are a 6 year old! I do not care!
Also the whole hurricane thing was so convoluted I can not even.
First of all, we had to endure Krushers bs in this book. Can't we have ONE book without that nonsense? Also I HATE when the Super Specials feature chapters from the younger kids POV. You are a 6 year old! I do not care!
Also the whole hurricane thing was so convoluted I can not even.