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mdevlin923's review against another edition
2.0
Logan Bruno's cousin (Lewis) is coming to town...and Dawn is so excited! She and Lewis have been writing letters, but they have never actually met. Dawn is worried about meeting him for the first time, and the double date that Mary Anne has worked so hard to plan doesn't go well because of the pressure Dawn has put on herself. When Dawn relaxes and stays true to herself, she and Lewis finally have a good date.
luelladeeville's review against another edition
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
1.0
So sad for young me to have read this and absorbed these messages.
sarahhyatt's review against another edition
I honestly don't have any thoughts on this one. I vaguely remembered it.
rsnuggs21's review against another edition
3.0
I've been trying to wait till I reach the end of the series before I review the books that started my love of reading years ago. So I will keep this brief; my god, this poor kid Norman! While it's not healthy for kids to be overweight, this is definitely not the way to go about it. First of all, you are so concerned with your kid eating junk food then why are you still buying it? Second of all, and I can't stress this enough, Mr. Hill is a major dick.
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.
jamietherebelliousreader's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. This was cute but I don’t remember Dawn being so judgmental and she irked me a little bit in this one which was surprising. I also didn’t like the side plot with the siblings that she watched. It just wasn’t handled well but overall this was still a fun read but certainly not a favorite.
hyattsarah's review against another edition
I honestly don't have any thoughts on this one. I vaguely remembered it.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
2.0
Logan’s cousin Lewis, whom Dawn has been pen-palling since shortly after her dalliance with the older boy, comes for a visit. For some reason, Dawn becomes convinced that Lewis won’t like boring old Dawn, so she begins experimenting with clothes, makeup, and sullenness. Nobody likes "the new Dawn," least of all Lewis, whom she is actually pretty mean to. Standing strong with cliche, she drops her act and "is herself" just in time to have one good date with Lewis before he has to go home.
Meanwhile, Dawn is sitting for new clients Norman and Sarah Hill. Norman is overweight and his whole family wants him to slim down. Sarah especially gets into it, blurring the line between encouragement and cruelty. Norman just isn’t interested. Striking about this baby-sitting dilemma is that it’s not wrapped up in a neat little package--Norman doesn’t lose weight, his family doesn’t stop pushing him. Dawn just gets Norman to stand up for himself and Sarah to back down a little. (She’s a charge, too, so she can’t be totally demonized.) There’s also some pat tie-in I can’t quite remember.
Dawn’s and Mary Anne’s motivations are both weird here. At first, Dawn seems to be putting on an act as a form of rebellion: Mary Anne seems to be a little too invested in the Dawn/Lewis thing working out, and Dawn isn’t so sure she’ll like Lewis in person. She thinks of him as "a test case" for future boyfriends, but seems on some level to be trying to sabotage the relationship before it starts. But Mary Anne surprises Dawn by going along with her makeover plan, and Dawn gets insecure, wondering if that means she really does need a total face and personality makeover in order to be the remotest bit attractive to a boy and everyone knows it but her. Dawn is simultaneously trying to attract and repel Lewis, and Mary Anne is simultaneously encouraging and disapproving of her methods. The psychological complexity, while interesting, is handled too clunkily to be intentional. I think it’s just sloppiness.
How Far Is New York? They drive to La Guardia to pick up Lewis. How do they go all the way to NYC and Mary Anne doesn’t make them stop to look at the Empire State Building or something
Jeff/Byron Report: Jeff is visiting for the holidays and Dawn finds him annoying, but pleasantly so. Mentions are made of his visiting the Pike triplets, and all three sleep over for New Years.
Timing: December 30 through the end of January. Lewis comes during his school vacaton, although SMS is in session. How does he have vacation in mid-January?? Surely he had Christmas off too. It just doesn’t add up.
Revised Timeline: Same, of eleventh grade
Meanwhile, Dawn is sitting for new clients Norman and Sarah Hill. Norman is overweight and his whole family wants him to slim down. Sarah especially gets into it, blurring the line between encouragement and cruelty. Norman just isn’t interested. Striking about this baby-sitting dilemma is that it’s not wrapped up in a neat little package--Norman doesn’t lose weight, his family doesn’t stop pushing him. Dawn just gets Norman to stand up for himself and Sarah to back down a little. (She’s a charge, too, so she can’t be totally demonized.) There’s also some pat tie-in I can’t quite remember.
Dawn’s and Mary Anne’s motivations are both weird here. At first, Dawn seems to be putting on an act as a form of rebellion: Mary Anne seems to be a little too invested in the Dawn/Lewis thing working out, and Dawn isn’t so sure she’ll like Lewis in person. She thinks of him as "a test case" for future boyfriends, but seems on some level to be trying to sabotage the relationship before it starts. But Mary Anne surprises Dawn by going along with her makeover plan, and Dawn gets insecure, wondering if that means she really does need a total face and personality makeover in order to be the remotest bit attractive to a boy and everyone knows it but her. Dawn is simultaneously trying to attract and repel Lewis, and Mary Anne is simultaneously encouraging and disapproving of her methods. The psychological complexity, while interesting, is handled too clunkily to be intentional. I think it’s just sloppiness.
How Far Is New York? They drive to La Guardia to pick up Lewis. How do they go all the way to NYC and Mary Anne doesn’t make them stop to look at the Empire State Building or something
Jeff/Byron Report: Jeff is visiting for the holidays and Dawn finds him annoying, but pleasantly so. Mentions are made of his visiting the Pike triplets, and all three sleep over for New Years.
Timing: December 30 through the end of January. Lewis comes during his school vacaton, although SMS is in session. How does he have vacation in mid-January?? Surely he had Christmas off too. It just doesn’t add up.
Revised Timeline: Same, of eleventh grade
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
To be honest, I didn't remember much about this book from when I was a kid. Some of it was familiar, like poor Norman Hill, bust most of it was a big blank for me. Not that I feel like I missed anything, if I'm being perfectly honest. Dawn whining about wanting a boyfriend, about wanting to change her image, and then about Mary Anne just sort of tipped me over an edge. I now need to pull a Norman and go secretly overeat (while I cry).
lemonflower's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed the Dawn part of the story. Trying to be something you’re not as a teenager to impress someone you’re interested in is very relatable. Didn’t really like the babysitting part of this one though as it kind of involved a lot of fat shaming.