Scan barcode
situationnormal's review
3.0
The best Dawn book I've read in what feels like a long, long, while. Probably because of the fun of meeting her dad's many dates, but I think the main and subplots played out well, too. I'm still amazed at how I remembered the Barrett/DeWitt family so well from childhood that I forgot they weren't the same family from the beginning when I started re-reading this series, yet their merger happens relatively late in the series.
Keep in mind that there's some outdated language in this book that can be hurtful--it was written in '94, but it's still worth knowing before stepping in.
Keep in mind that there's some outdated language in this book that can be hurtful--it was written in '94, but it's still worth knowing before stepping in.
bibliotequeish's review
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.
finesilkflower's review
2.0
Dawn gets a long-term baby-sitting job for Whitney, a twelve-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome, who doesn’t realize her "new friend" is being paid to be with her. Predictably, this blows up in Dawn’s face. Whitney kidnaps Dawn’s baby-sitting charges and cares for them herself, proving she can be responsible, sort of.
The treatment of Down’s syndrome has the typical BSC early-90s combination of earnest, well-meaning educatorlyness and vaguely uncomfortable descriptive language. Dawn keeps describing her as "expressionless."
Meanwhile, Dawn’s father introduces one woman after another to his kids, until Dawn explodes in a fire of self-righteous judgmentalness--or, rather, begs him to take Carol back. Which he does. Because he has no personality.
I remember getting this book all shiny and new toward the end of my childhood interest in BSC. (Long before my adult interest in BSC.) Pretty much the only thing I remember about reading it the first time is that Whitney’s room is decorated in peach and lime green. The fact would have had zero impact on me reading it as an adult.
Continuity Error: Dawn’s father’s date refers to him as "Richard," confusingly (although Carol later correctly identifies him as "Jack.")
Timing: Summer in California.
Revised Timeline: Summer between freshman and sophomore years of college.
The treatment of Down’s syndrome has the typical BSC early-90s combination of earnest, well-meaning educatorlyness and vaguely uncomfortable descriptive language. Dawn keeps describing her as "expressionless."
Meanwhile, Dawn’s father introduces one woman after another to his kids, until Dawn explodes in a fire of self-righteous judgmentalness--or, rather, begs him to take Carol back. Which he does. Because he has no personality.
I remember getting this book all shiny and new toward the end of my childhood interest in BSC. (Long before my adult interest in BSC.) Pretty much the only thing I remember about reading it the first time is that Whitney’s room is decorated in peach and lime green. The fact would have had zero impact on me reading it as an adult.
Continuity Error: Dawn’s father’s date refers to him as "Richard," confusingly (although Carol later correctly identifies him as "Jack.")
Timing: Summer in California.
Revised Timeline: Summer between freshman and sophomore years of college.
sammah's review
3.0
Now this was a Dawn book I liked as a kid that I still like today! I always appreciated the character of Whitney, because I knew someone with Down's when I was a kid and it was just so refreshing and nice to see them not only in a book, but to see them represented in a normal way. I liked that, and I still like it now. I mean obviously some of the terminology and ideals are dated, but what do you expect from a late 80s/early 90s BSC book? Most of it held up pretty well over time, and I love that.
Except for the B-Plot. The B-plot can suck it.
Except for the B-Plot. The B-plot can suck it.
xtinamorse's review against another edition
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/dawn-and-whitney-friends-forever
ssshira's review against another edition
3.0
in this book by ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], dawn starts babysitting whitney, a 12 year old who has down syndrome. whitney is fiercely independent, so her parents say that dawn is just a new friend, not a babysitter. of course that blows up in everyone's faces, but there's a happy ending anyway. meanwhile mr. schafer is dating lots of horrible women, so finally dawn and jeff conspire to get him back together with carol (they had split up in [b:Dawn and the We Love Kids Club|48933|Dawn and the We Love Kids Club (The Baby-Sitters Club, #72)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1219222645s/48933.jpg|47871]). back in stoneybrook, mrs. barrett and franklin dewitt get engaged, and the kids fight about it.
highlights:
-this is the first NEW baby sitters club book I bought from the scholastic catalog, after reading books 1-12 (which were the only earlier ones that were in the scholastic catalog at the time).
-they talk about what seasons people are (i.e. if you're an autumn you look best in golds and reds and mustards, if you're a spring you look best in pastel blues and greens, etc.). is this where I learned about that concept?
-dawn's dad's date suggest they play the bumper cars, saying, "come on, schaf, let's show the children that we old people can still do the bump!" OMG what a dork!
-dawn's kristy-style freudian slip: "lots of families with their baby-sitting chargers, er, I mean their children."
-mr. schafer's dates! this book reads like a zine describing someone's terrible blind dates. it's groanworthy and funny
lowlights/nitpicks:
-dawn finally accidentally tells whitney she is her babysitter when insisting that she not have ice cream/spoil her appetite for dinner. she could have played this off so easily, though, by saying, "oops! sorry whitney, I babysit for kids so much that I just get in the habit of that kind of behavior."
-mr. schafer sings "take me out to the old ball game" -- these are not the lyrics to the song. "take me out to the ball game" and "for it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game" are obviously combined in his brain.
-dawn complains about having to go to a california angels game "all the way over in anaheim" but in earlier books they say she lives close to anaheim! now it seems that palo city is closer to LA (since she babysat derek masters in [b:Kristy and the Vampires|558323|Kristy and the Vampires (Baby-Sitters Club Mystery, #15)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175792595s/558323.jpg|545500], while he was working in hollywood). WHY DON'T THESE AUTHORS DO THEIR CALIFORNIA RESEARCH?
-alana says "what is that green stuff?" about avocado. every single person who lives in southern california knows what an avocado is, even junk food-obsessed white girls.
-dawn helps whitney make a list of grown-up things she can do to share with her parents, so they'll let her be more independent. I have never had a very close relationship with anyone who has down syndrome, so I am not sure, but this seems condescending and ableist to me.
-I probably go through this with every dawn in california book of this era but it has now been a year since the book came out where she said she would be moving to california for only 6 months ([b:Dawn's Big Move|774632|Dawn's Big Move (The Baby-Sitters Club, #67)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178236291s/774632.jpg|760675]). it's also been about a year in the context of the books (she moved early in the school year and it's now late summer. at the very least they could have addressed this in the context of the story: dawn decided to stay an extra 6 months, etc. it just frustrates me that they put a time limit on it but it seems to actually be indefinite.
maggie outfit:
-"Maggie keeps her hair short and punkish...with clothes to match, like a favorite leather bomber jacket that she wears rain, shine, hot, cold. She'd brought it with her today, over a black cropped tank top, leopard leggings, and lace-up black boots."
one of mr. schafer's dates' outfits:
-"It was a great-looking suit, a pinstripe with a long jacket. She was wearing a beautiful silk wrap blouse under it, gorgeous gold earrings, and carrying a soft leather clutch purse that matched her heels." (she wears it to a cheesy pirate-themed restaurant and sticks out like a sore thumb)
sandwiches the barrett and dewitt kids have at their picnic:
-tuna salad and oreo
-peanut butter and potato chip
-cole slaw and baloney
-grape jelly and cheddar cheese
no snacks in claudia's room.
highlights:
-this is the first NEW baby sitters club book I bought from the scholastic catalog, after reading books 1-12 (which were the only earlier ones that were in the scholastic catalog at the time).
-they talk about what seasons people are (i.e. if you're an autumn you look best in golds and reds and mustards, if you're a spring you look best in pastel blues and greens, etc.). is this where I learned about that concept?
-dawn's dad's date suggest they play the bumper cars, saying, "come on, schaf, let's show the children that we old people can still do the bump!" OMG what a dork!
-dawn's kristy-style freudian slip: "lots of families with their baby-sitting chargers, er, I mean their children."
-mr. schafer's dates! this book reads like a zine describing someone's terrible blind dates. it's groanworthy and funny
lowlights/nitpicks:
-dawn finally accidentally tells whitney she is her babysitter when insisting that she not have ice cream/spoil her appetite for dinner. she could have played this off so easily, though, by saying, "oops! sorry whitney, I babysit for kids so much that I just get in the habit of that kind of behavior."
-mr. schafer sings "take me out to the old ball game" -- these are not the lyrics to the song. "take me out to the ball game" and "for it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the old ball game" are obviously combined in his brain.
-dawn complains about having to go to a california angels game "all the way over in anaheim" but in earlier books they say she lives close to anaheim! now it seems that palo city is closer to LA (since she babysat derek masters in [b:Kristy and the Vampires|558323|Kristy and the Vampires (Baby-Sitters Club Mystery, #15)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1175792595s/558323.jpg|545500], while he was working in hollywood). WHY DON'T THESE AUTHORS DO THEIR CALIFORNIA RESEARCH?
-alana says "what is that green stuff?" about avocado. every single person who lives in southern california knows what an avocado is, even junk food-obsessed white girls.
-dawn helps whitney make a list of grown-up things she can do to share with her parents, so they'll let her be more independent. I have never had a very close relationship with anyone who has down syndrome, so I am not sure, but this seems condescending and ableist to me.
-I probably go through this with every dawn in california book of this era but it has now been a year since the book came out where she said she would be moving to california for only 6 months ([b:Dawn's Big Move|774632|Dawn's Big Move (The Baby-Sitters Club, #67)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1178236291s/774632.jpg|760675]). it's also been about a year in the context of the books (she moved early in the school year and it's now late summer. at the very least they could have addressed this in the context of the story: dawn decided to stay an extra 6 months, etc. it just frustrates me that they put a time limit on it but it seems to actually be indefinite.
maggie outfit:
-"Maggie keeps her hair short and punkish...with clothes to match, like a favorite leather bomber jacket that she wears rain, shine, hot, cold. She'd brought it with her today, over a black cropped tank top, leopard leggings, and lace-up black boots."
one of mr. schafer's dates' outfits:
-"It was a great-looking suit, a pinstripe with a long jacket. She was wearing a beautiful silk wrap blouse under it, gorgeous gold earrings, and carrying a soft leather clutch purse that matched her heels." (she wears it to a cheesy pirate-themed restaurant and sticks out like a sore thumb)
sandwiches the barrett and dewitt kids have at their picnic:
-tuna salad and oreo
-peanut butter and potato chip
-cole slaw and baloney
-grape jelly and cheddar cheese
no snacks in claudia's room.
liannakiwi's review against another edition
3.0
(LL)
This book was way better at speaking about children on the spectrum. There were still some problematic language and treatment in this book, but it was better than Susan’s book.
Also, Carol and Richard getting back together at the end was ridiculous. Your problems as a couple don’t magically disappear after being away from one another for a few months. If the issues were serious enough to break off an engagement getting married after dating other people because you missed someone “normal” isn’t the answer. Terrible message to show the readers.
This book was way better at speaking about children on the spectrum. There were still some problematic language and treatment in this book, but it was better than Susan’s book.
Also, Carol and Richard getting back together at the end was ridiculous. Your problems as a couple don’t magically disappear after being away from one another for a few months. If the issues were serious enough to break off an engagement getting married after dating other people because you missed someone “normal” isn’t the answer. Terrible message to show the readers.
More...