Scan barcode
lberestecki's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
situationnormal's review against another edition
3.0
Not a ton of plot or a lot of the other BSC members outside of their mall trip (which was fun) but I (mostly) like Stacey books and her relationship with her mom so I'm cool with it. Plus, it's nice seeing the adults be friends with and take care of each other.
BUT there's this glaring error in the book where it says Mary Anne's mom came to check on Stacey's mom...? Did she come from the grave?
BUT there's this glaring error in the book where it says Mary Anne's mom came to check on Stacey's mom...? Did she come from the grave?
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.
impybelle's review against another edition
3.0
Sooo I must admit that I'm a sucker for the blonde books. I know, I know...
I love the little bit in this book where Stacey and Dawn bond over being kids of divorces that aren't entirely amicable and involve quite a bit of traveling. It's little moments like this that make me continue to love this series many, many years later.
I love the little bit in this book where Stacey and Dawn bond over being kids of divorces that aren't entirely amicable and involve quite a bit of traveling. It's little moments like this that make me continue to love this series many, many years later.
aoifeprettypurplepolkadots's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
finesilkflower's review against another edition
5.0
Stacey’s mother comes down with pneumonia just before Stacey is supposed to go to New York to be her father’s date to a company banquet honoring his promotion to vice president, causing Stacey to debate which parent needs her more. In the end, she attends the banquet but steps out to call her mom several times and insists on leaving early to catch a train, so that neither parent is satisfied. In a surprisingly subtly related choice-over-compromise, you-can’t-have-it-all kid storyline, the Pike youngers and their friends spend their allowances on a lot of "nearly free" mail-order junk instead of buying more expensive toys, but end up with nothing that they actually want.
The book is successful in presenting a genuinely difficult decision with arguments on both sides without making the parents too childish (although they are by no means particularly grown-up; but I think Stacey’s parents have always been believably immature). Stacey is superhumanly responsible, I’d say even more so than Kristy; I love that that’s a consistent trait she has across most of her books although it doesn’t seem to be one that the other girls particularly pick up on in their descriptions of her, dazzled as they are by her NYC fashion sense.
Textual puzzle: When Stacey polls the other six baby-sitters about her dilemma, "three would go to New York, three would stay home." Which three? It would have been interesting to see the list of names on each side; you could come up with a justification for almost any permutation, so it could have been random. Here is my best guess, though:
Stay home: Mallory, because she believes that in a family everyone should pitch in, and she would believe that the dad would understand that; Kristy, because although she appreciates success, her feeling of responsibility for caring for the infirm or unable would outweigh that; Mary Anne, because although she loves New York and glitz and glamour she has a martyr complex and would insist it is more right to do the less fun thing.
Go to NYC: Claudia, because as someone whose family has shafted her achievements she would see the value of having that support (although as someone who has been dragged to Janine’s banquets etc., she has a complicated relationship with that, so who knows); Jessi, because anyone who does ballet must believe that success is of greater importance than physical discomfort; Dawn, because she is heartless.
Perplexing referent: In a list of adults who respond to Stacey’s request for "mom-sitters," people to look in on her mother when she’s at school or away, she offhandly mentions "Mary Anne’s mom." Mary Anne’s mom is dead! Does she mean Sharon, Mary Anne’s stepmom (ie Dawn’s mom)? It would be reasonable, perhaps, to describe Sharon as Mary Anne’s mom during one of the periods when Dawn is across the country, but this is not one of those times.
Fun Fact: This is the last book in the mainline series not to be credited with a ghostwriter. I guess Ann M. got more interested in the Little Sister series.
Timing: No specific temporal markers.
Revised Timeline: Fall of twelfth grade
The book is successful in presenting a genuinely difficult decision with arguments on both sides without making the parents too childish (although they are by no means particularly grown-up; but I think Stacey’s parents have always been believably immature). Stacey is superhumanly responsible, I’d say even more so than Kristy; I love that that’s a consistent trait she has across most of her books although it doesn’t seem to be one that the other girls particularly pick up on in their descriptions of her, dazzled as they are by her NYC fashion sense.
Textual puzzle: When Stacey polls the other six baby-sitters about her dilemma, "three would go to New York, three would stay home." Which three? It would have been interesting to see the list of names on each side; you could come up with a justification for almost any permutation, so it could have been random. Here is my best guess, though:
Stay home: Mallory, because she believes that in a family everyone should pitch in, and she would believe that the dad would understand that; Kristy, because although she appreciates success, her feeling of responsibility for caring for the infirm or unable would outweigh that; Mary Anne, because although she loves New York and glitz and glamour she has a martyr complex and would insist it is more right to do the less fun thing.
Go to NYC: Claudia, because as someone whose family has shafted her achievements she would see the value of having that support (although as someone who has been dragged to Janine’s banquets etc., she has a complicated relationship with that, so who knows); Jessi, because anyone who does ballet must believe that success is of greater importance than physical discomfort; Dawn, because she is heartless.
Perplexing referent: In a list of adults who respond to Stacey’s request for "mom-sitters," people to look in on her mother when she’s at school or away, she offhandly mentions "Mary Anne’s mom." Mary Anne’s mom is dead! Does she mean Sharon, Mary Anne’s stepmom (ie Dawn’s mom)? It would be reasonable, perhaps, to describe Sharon as Mary Anne’s mom during one of the periods when Dawn is across the country, but this is not one of those times.
Fun Fact: This is the last book in the mainline series not to be credited with a ghostwriter. I guess Ann M. got more interested in the Little Sister series.
Timing: No specific temporal markers.
Revised Timeline: Fall of twelfth grade
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
I very distinctly remember the first time I read this book as a kid, and how much it made me dislike Stacey's father. I never cared about him one way or another until after the McGill divorce. After that I remember thinking that he was a bit of a jerk. Not all the time, I didn't hate him in the NYC SS so much, but yeah. He was just this work alcoholic sort of jerk of a guy, and I always thought in this one that he was pretty unfair. Stacey was clearly worried about her sick mother, and he was more interested in making sure his night went well.
I still don't like him in this book even now. Just the whole thing with her parents was a bit of a mess in this one, and the 13 year old kid was trying to be the adult and take care of both her parents in a way. Her mom couldn't help being sick, but her dad could have been a little more easy on her. Show some compassion, ya jackass!
I always liked the subplot in this one too. All kids like getting mail (come on, us adults do too) and this is totally something I did to an extent. Ordering free or cheap things out of magazines and comic books is a very realistic kid thing to do, and then you're suddenly stuck with a bunch of junk. Sounds about right!
I still don't like him in this book even now. Just the whole thing with her parents was a bit of a mess in this one, and the 13 year old kid was trying to be the adult and take care of both her parents in a way. Her mom couldn't help being sick, but her dad could have been a little more easy on her. Show some compassion, ya jackass!
I always liked the subplot in this one too. All kids like getting mail (come on, us adults do too) and this is totally something I did to an extent. Ordering free or cheap things out of magazines and comic books is a very realistic kid thing to do, and then you're suddenly stuck with a bunch of junk. Sounds about right!
xtinamorse's review against another edition
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: https://www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/staceys-choice
ssshira's review against another edition
4.0
this is my first time reading this book!
stacey's mom gets pneumonia and stacey thinks it's her job to take care of her (staying home from school, then enlisting the help of the neighbors to babysit her). meanwhile her dad gets a promotion and asks stacey to be a date to a party in his honor, but stacey is scared to leave her mom. she goes to nyc but spends the whole time thinking about her mom and has to leave the party early. her parents basically tell her to be a kid sometimes, and it's resolved. meanwhile in a partly inane, partly hilarious subplot, the bsc kids all start ordering miscellaneous crap from the backs of magazines and comic books. when they realize that they don't actually all want tie knotters, silver polish, needle threaders, and fake moondust, they get together and have a medicine show-style door-to-door sales pitch, and while nobody wants their crap, they make a bunch of money by putting on an entertaining show.
higlights:
-some of the stuff the kids order is really funny. vanessa pike gets a bust developer.
-the rosebud cafe opens in this book! logan ends up working here. also stacey's mom gets her job at bellair's in this book!
-there is a well-handled BRUTAL moment when stacey tells her dad she is staying in stoneybrook to take care of her mom instead of coming to the dinner. he says that he doesn't have anyone else he could possibly take to the dinner, sounding choked up. she responds that maybe he would if he weren't married to his job. WOWZA.
-the gullible bsc kids finally realize the stuff they're ordering is crap after all of them order moondust and it comes with a note that says that each of them is one of only twenty people in the world who has the moondust
-a great moment where they're in a cab and there's a sign on the back of the cabbie's seat that says, "Please be aware that: I know where I am going. I know how to drive. I have a complete grasp of the English language."
-stacey contemplates where homeless people die, saying that they must die in the streets or a park or grand central but you never hear about it. "you never hear on the news that someone found a dead person in the train station." this book really makes sense for stacey, since she is such a weirdly worldly city kid. of COURSE she thinks it's her job to take care of her sick mom.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-instead of listening to her dad who says he will get a nurse service to care for stacey's mom, stacey enlists the (free) help of all of her neighbors. uhhh...it's not their job to care for your mom. it's not yours either, but it's ESPECIALLY not the job of all your neighbors and friends to provide indefinite free nursing care.
-stacey is kind of annoying in this book. she refuses to listen to her dad about the nurse service, and she goes to his party but isn't present for it at ALL. and she never apologizes to him for the mean thing she said about how he doesn't have other loved ones because he's married to his job. she's kind of a turd.
stacey's outfit for her dad's dinner:
-"By the time I left I was carrying a shopping bag in which were folded a hot pink (fake) silk jacket which fell to my knees, new black leggings, pink-and-black socks, and a black body suit. I planned to wear the outfit with black flats, and to dress it up with some jewelry and maybe a couple of barrettes in my hair."
no snacks in claudia's room.
stacey's mom gets pneumonia and stacey thinks it's her job to take care of her (staying home from school, then enlisting the help of the neighbors to babysit her). meanwhile her dad gets a promotion and asks stacey to be a date to a party in his honor, but stacey is scared to leave her mom. she goes to nyc but spends the whole time thinking about her mom and has to leave the party early. her parents basically tell her to be a kid sometimes, and it's resolved. meanwhile in a partly inane, partly hilarious subplot, the bsc kids all start ordering miscellaneous crap from the backs of magazines and comic books. when they realize that they don't actually all want tie knotters, silver polish, needle threaders, and fake moondust, they get together and have a medicine show-style door-to-door sales pitch, and while nobody wants their crap, they make a bunch of money by putting on an entertaining show.
higlights:
-some of the stuff the kids order is really funny. vanessa pike gets a bust developer.
-the rosebud cafe opens in this book! logan ends up working here. also stacey's mom gets her job at bellair's in this book!
-there is a well-handled BRUTAL moment when stacey tells her dad she is staying in stoneybrook to take care of her mom instead of coming to the dinner. he says that he doesn't have anyone else he could possibly take to the dinner, sounding choked up. she responds that maybe he would if he weren't married to his job. WOWZA.
-the gullible bsc kids finally realize the stuff they're ordering is crap after all of them order moondust and it comes with a note that says that each of them is one of only twenty people in the world who has the moondust
-a great moment where they're in a cab and there's a sign on the back of the cabbie's seat that says, "Please be aware that: I know where I am going. I know how to drive. I have a complete grasp of the English language."
-stacey contemplates where homeless people die, saying that they must die in the streets or a park or grand central but you never hear about it. "you never hear on the news that someone found a dead person in the train station." this book really makes sense for stacey, since she is such a weirdly worldly city kid. of COURSE she thinks it's her job to take care of her sick mom.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-instead of listening to her dad who says he will get a nurse service to care for stacey's mom, stacey enlists the (free) help of all of her neighbors. uhhh...it's not their job to care for your mom. it's not yours either, but it's ESPECIALLY not the job of all your neighbors and friends to provide indefinite free nursing care.
-stacey is kind of annoying in this book. she refuses to listen to her dad about the nurse service, and she goes to his party but isn't present for it at ALL. and she never apologizes to him for the mean thing she said about how he doesn't have other loved ones because he's married to his job. she's kind of a turd.
stacey's outfit for her dad's dinner:
-"By the time I left I was carrying a shopping bag in which were folded a hot pink (fake) silk jacket which fell to my knees, new black leggings, pink-and-black socks, and a black body suit. I planned to wear the outfit with black flats, and to dress it up with some jewelry and maybe a couple of barrettes in my hair."
no snacks in claudia's room.
liannakiwi's review against another edition
3.0
(LL)
While there are important issues in the book about how a divorce can change both the parent’s and kid’s lives down the road, this didn’t feel like it needed to be a full book as it could have been the subplot of another book and the reader would learn plenty of important lessons without it being a 140 page storyline. With that being said, this was a good example of what kids of divorce go through, so I gave it three stars for it being mostly accurate in its depiction.
As an aside: It is highly unlikely that all those neighbors and friends would be easily available. Like do any of the women in these books work or are they all stay at home moms? If Stacey’s mom was so sick she needed round the clock care and a child was the only person to take care of her it’s highly doubtful the hospital wouldn’t at least give Stacey and her mom some resources or numbers to call for help.
While there are important issues in the book about how a divorce can change both the parent’s and kid’s lives down the road, this didn’t feel like it needed to be a full book as it could have been the subplot of another book and the reader would learn plenty of important lessons without it being a 140 page storyline. With that being said, this was a good example of what kids of divorce go through, so I gave it three stars for it being mostly accurate in its depiction.
As an aside: It is highly unlikely that all those neighbors and friends would be easily available. Like do any of the women in these books work or are they all stay at home moms? If Stacey’s mom was so sick she needed round the clock care and a child was the only person to take care of her it’s highly doubtful the hospital wouldn’t at least give Stacey and her mom some resources or numbers to call for help.