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A review by ssshira
Abby's Un-Valentine by Nola Thacker, Ann M. Martin
5.0
this is my first time reading this book.
note: this is my first 5-star review for a bsc book read since [b:Claudia and the First Thanksgiving|371065|Claudia and the First Thanksgiving (The Baby-Sitters Club, #91)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387713856l/371065._SX50_.jpg|361032] which I read over a year ago.
in this book by ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], abby is crusading against romance. everyone at sms and in the bsc seems obsessed with romance, including abby’s classmate ross brown (who we know from being referenced as stacey’s crush in [b:Stacey’s Emergency|794933|Stacey's Emergency (The Baby-Sitters Club, #43)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387735085l/794933._SX50_.jpg|251850]). ross seems to have seen one too many movies and thinks that when girls show that they’re not interested in you it just means you have to act more rapey until they like you. but what’s worse is that all of abby’s friends think ross is such a nice guy and that abby is lucky such a nice guy likes her, so they keep trying to convince her to date him. he shows up at her house with roses (which, by the way, abby is allergic to) and compliments the music playing (which, by the way, is anna’s music). abby finds out that stacey has been helping ross woo her, and she is understandably PISSED. claud, stacey, mary anne, and jessi are all extremely condescending to abby, so finally abby fights back by implying that they only have boyfriends because they’re desperate. BOOM. abby tries to get ross to date anna instead but through a series of slightly unbelievable circumstances (“here anna, wear my shirt! oh no, my contacts tore, better put on my glasses!”) ross thinks abby is anna and vice versa. he gets along well with anna, though he thinks she’s abby, and he’s humiliated when he finds out he had the wrong twin. finally abby apologizes to ross and suggests he date anna, so he does. and the bsc make up and apologize to abby for being super acephobic. the subplot is that scout (from [b:Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer|558315|Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer (The Baby-Sitters Club, #118)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328835550l/558315._SX50_.jpg|545492]) has to go back to the guide dog foundation and andrew is upset because he’s come to think of her as his dog. he’s a huge brat about it, but it’s also a sad plotline.
highlights:
-in 2018, there aren’t enough stories about ace/aro teens. but in 1998, there were even fewer. though they never call it what it is, it’s incredibly powerful reading a book about a teen who just plain DOESN’T want to date, and everyone trying to convince her she’s wrong, and finally by the end they get it and leave her alone.
-valentine’s anecdote from abby's youth: she and anna bought their parents a box of valentine candy but it was abby's favorite candy so she ate the whole box before she could give it to them.
-erica blumberg won abby's best excuse for not doing homework award for telling the teacher her mom had composted it
-abby composes a sonnet in her head, "to valentine's day: how do I detest thee? let me count the ways." it’s basically the scene from 10 things I hate about you
-inspired by the scene in my so-called life (YES!) abby reads sonnet #130 to the class as a romance buzzkill
-there’s a fun babysitting chapter where they make wood davers and watch birds and talk about how it's bird tv. it's because andrew is being too much like strong sad:
-the bsc members keep pressuring abby to go to the dance with ross, and abby says she doesn't want to, so jessi says that maybe someone she likes will ask her. abby says that no matter who asks her she'll say no. I love abby so damn much.
-abby puts it so well: "I didn't ask ross to like me. so why does everyone act as if I did something wrong when I told him no?"
-kristy is the only one who doesn't pressure abby and who totally gets it. she didn't want to date bart but felt like she was supposed to (see [b:Kristy + Bart = ?|646461|Kristy + Bart = ? (The Baby-Sitters Club, #95)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387712240l/646461._SX50_.jpg|632608])
-kristy pretends to be a blind person who needs scout and talks about how she's going to give scout a good home because she's such a good dog, and says andrew has to let her go, and he does, and I actually cried at this part. poor andrew. he’s so little, and it’s kind of cruel that his parents put him in this situation and expected him to be okay with saying goodbye to scout.
-abby: "what part of 'no' does ross not understand?" jessi: "it's nice that someone likes you." abby: "no, it's not. not if you don't like him back." BOOM.
-abby and kristy go on valentines day to see a movie called pepperoni man (YES!). abby wins a box of valentines chocolates. the movie theater manager says "I hope you have someone special to share it with." abby says she does, and brings it back to kristy. maybe abby isn't aro actually and she and kristy can be ace together forever?
lowlights/nitpicks:
-abby says something about how claud's parents should be okay with her eating junk food, "as long as claud eats her vegetables and doesn't pork out." eeechhhh abby, we're in a fight now
-abby says that they moved to stoneybrook because their mom couldn't take the long commute on the LIRR. but depending on where they lived in long island, it might be closer than stoneybrook.
-how did ross get abby and anna confused when they have different length hair?
-maybe the ending is a little too neat. there’s a twin who does like ross. I personally wouldn’t want to date the guy who kept harassing my twin sister to date him. but it’s okay because I just want abby to be happy, and in the end she is.
claudia outfit:
-"Today she was dressed in ski-lodge mode. That meant a woolly sweater, long black tights with thick blue socks, and hiking boots. But these weren't just any hiking boots--they were tied with shiny silver shoelaces with little snowflakes on the ends. They'd also been decorated--by Claudia--with a motif of snow-capped mountains running along the outside of each boot. Claudia's sweater was blue, white, and gray with a snowflake-patterned yoke. It was enormous, stretching almost to her knees. Her hair was pulled back in a long braid. From one ear dangled a silver earring in the shape of a pair of crossed skis, and from the other hung a small silver polar bear."
stacey outfit:
-"Today she was wearing a short, dark brown leather skirt over pale stockings. She had on these cool boots that came to just above her knees. Her sweater was the color of butter, and it looked unbelievably soft. There were three pearl buttons at the collar. Stacey had left two of them unbuttoned. Her blonde hair was pulled into a French braid, and she was wearing what looked like real pearl earrings."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-salt-and-vinegar chips (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-hershey's kisses (n.s.)
-bite-size snickers (n.s.)
note: this is my first 5-star review for a bsc book read since [b:Claudia and the First Thanksgiving|371065|Claudia and the First Thanksgiving (The Baby-Sitters Club, #91)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387713856l/371065._SX50_.jpg|361032] which I read over a year ago.
in this book by ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png], abby is crusading against romance. everyone at sms and in the bsc seems obsessed with romance, including abby’s classmate ross brown (who we know from being referenced as stacey’s crush in [b:Stacey’s Emergency|794933|Stacey's Emergency (The Baby-Sitters Club, #43)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387735085l/794933._SX50_.jpg|251850]). ross seems to have seen one too many movies and thinks that when girls show that they’re not interested in you it just means you have to act more rapey until they like you. but what’s worse is that all of abby’s friends think ross is such a nice guy and that abby is lucky such a nice guy likes her, so they keep trying to convince her to date him. he shows up at her house with roses (which, by the way, abby is allergic to) and compliments the music playing (which, by the way, is anna’s music). abby finds out that stacey has been helping ross woo her, and she is understandably PISSED. claud, stacey, mary anne, and jessi are all extremely condescending to abby, so finally abby fights back by implying that they only have boyfriends because they’re desperate. BOOM. abby tries to get ross to date anna instead but through a series of slightly unbelievable circumstances (“here anna, wear my shirt! oh no, my contacts tore, better put on my glasses!”) ross thinks abby is anna and vice versa. he gets along well with anna, though he thinks she’s abby, and he’s humiliated when he finds out he had the wrong twin. finally abby apologizes to ross and suggests he date anna, so he does. and the bsc make up and apologize to abby for being super acephobic. the subplot is that scout (from [b:Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer|558315|Kristy Thomas, Dog Trainer (The Baby-Sitters Club, #118)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1328835550l/558315._SX50_.jpg|545492]) has to go back to the guide dog foundation and andrew is upset because he’s come to think of her as his dog. he’s a huge brat about it, but it’s also a sad plotline.
highlights:
-in 2018, there aren’t enough stories about ace/aro teens. but in 1998, there were even fewer. though they never call it what it is, it’s incredibly powerful reading a book about a teen who just plain DOESN’T want to date, and everyone trying to convince her she’s wrong, and finally by the end they get it and leave her alone.
-valentine’s anecdote from abby's youth: she and anna bought their parents a box of valentine candy but it was abby's favorite candy so she ate the whole box before she could give it to them.
-erica blumberg won abby's best excuse for not doing homework award for telling the teacher her mom had composted it
-abby composes a sonnet in her head, "to valentine's day: how do I detest thee? let me count the ways." it’s basically the scene from 10 things I hate about you
-inspired by the scene in my so-called life (YES!) abby reads sonnet #130 to the class as a romance buzzkill
-there’s a fun babysitting chapter where they make wood davers and watch birds and talk about how it's bird tv. it's because andrew is being too much like strong sad:
-the bsc members keep pressuring abby to go to the dance with ross, and abby says she doesn't want to, so jessi says that maybe someone she likes will ask her. abby says that no matter who asks her she'll say no. I love abby so damn much.
-abby puts it so well: "I didn't ask ross to like me. so why does everyone act as if I did something wrong when I told him no?"
-kristy is the only one who doesn't pressure abby and who totally gets it. she didn't want to date bart but felt like she was supposed to (see [b:Kristy + Bart = ?|646461|Kristy + Bart = ? (The Baby-Sitters Club, #95)|Ann M. Martin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387712240l/646461._SX50_.jpg|632608])
-kristy pretends to be a blind person who needs scout and talks about how she's going to give scout a good home because she's such a good dog, and says andrew has to let her go, and he does, and I actually cried at this part. poor andrew. he’s so little, and it’s kind of cruel that his parents put him in this situation and expected him to be okay with saying goodbye to scout.
-abby: "what part of 'no' does ross not understand?" jessi: "it's nice that someone likes you." abby: "no, it's not. not if you don't like him back." BOOM.
-abby and kristy go on valentines day to see a movie called pepperoni man (YES!). abby wins a box of valentines chocolates. the movie theater manager says "I hope you have someone special to share it with." abby says she does, and brings it back to kristy. maybe abby isn't aro actually and she and kristy can be ace together forever?
lowlights/nitpicks:
-abby says something about how claud's parents should be okay with her eating junk food, "as long as claud eats her vegetables and doesn't pork out." eeechhhh abby, we're in a fight now
-abby says that they moved to stoneybrook because their mom couldn't take the long commute on the LIRR. but depending on where they lived in long island, it might be closer than stoneybrook.
-how did ross get abby and anna confused when they have different length hair?
-maybe the ending is a little too neat. there’s a twin who does like ross. I personally wouldn’t want to date the guy who kept harassing my twin sister to date him. but it’s okay because I just want abby to be happy, and in the end she is.
claudia outfit:
-"Today she was dressed in ski-lodge mode. That meant a woolly sweater, long black tights with thick blue socks, and hiking boots. But these weren't just any hiking boots--they were tied with shiny silver shoelaces with little snowflakes on the ends. They'd also been decorated--by Claudia--with a motif of snow-capped mountains running along the outside of each boot. Claudia's sweater was blue, white, and gray with a snowflake-patterned yoke. It was enormous, stretching almost to her knees. Her hair was pulled back in a long braid. From one ear dangled a silver earring in the shape of a pair of crossed skis, and from the other hung a small silver polar bear."
stacey outfit:
-"Today she was wearing a short, dark brown leather skirt over pale stockings. She had on these cool boots that came to just above her knees. Her sweater was the color of butter, and it looked unbelievably soft. There were three pearl buttons at the collar. Stacey had left two of them unbuttoned. Her blonde hair was pulled into a French braid, and she was wearing what looked like real pearl earrings."
snacks in claudia’s room:
-salt-and-vinegar chips (n.s.)
-pretzels (n.s.)
-hershey's kisses (n.s.)
-bite-size snickers (n.s.)