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situationnormal's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Not my favorite BSC book but definitely not my least favorite either. Abby is definitely a jerk in this one (and tbh I'm not convinced Erin was equally to blame), and the side plots are almost non-existent. I wish there had been more of, well, babysitting. And the other babysitters.
bangel_ds's review
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
chicafrom3's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Abby joins a Special Olympics Unified Soccer team, which mixes players with intellectual disabilities with players without, and promptly struggles with the idea that she's not automatically the team superstar. Meanwhile, her mom and sister plan a trip to visit her dad's grave, which stirs up unresolved feelings. In the b-plot (c-plot?) the BSC organizes the kids they sit for into a booster club for Abby's team and hosts a car wash to raise money to get the team matching shirts. Like all BSC books dealing with disabilities, this has not aged well; the language used is seriously outdated, which is only to be expected, but more importantly Abby's attitude towards the disabled players on the team is appalling. There's a throwaway line at the end where she acknowledges that she needs to see them as fellow athletes and not expect less from them because of their disabilities, but all the characters are consistently described throughout as childish, stupid, etc. There is a pretty okay arc with Abby's feud with Erin - I do like that Erin gets to give as good as she gets, and that Coach Wu treats them both equally in their poor behavior - but even if the ableism is somehow set aside, the book never manages to rise above "okay".
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.
finesilkflower's review against another edition
2.0
Abby joins a Special Olympics Unified soccer team, in which intellectually disabled athletes and non-disabled "partners" play together on the same team. It’s coached by Kristy’s old hardass softball coach (74), Coach Wu, who earns Abby’s wrath when she places on her defense instead of center forward. The center forward position goes to talented athlete Erin. Abby hates playing defense and looks forward opportunities to run off and score, leaving her side of the field unguarded. She and Erin ignore chances to pass to each other, and get into a physical fight after Abby angrily calls Erin stupid. The coach benches them. From the bench, Abby starts observing ways the defense could improve--her practice training kicking in--and she realizes that the coach is right that her experience in offense can help her in defense. She works hard in practice and plays good defense when the coach lets her in a game. She admits to Erin that she is an equally skilled player.
There are two subplots. One is a baby-sitting runner where the other baby-sitters get neighborhood kids excited about the team and form a Booster Club to help raise funds for new jerseys. (They also attend games, allowing the main plot to continue throughout the baby-sitting chapters.) The other involves Abby’s feelings about her father’s death. She begs out of visiting her father’s grave on Long Island with her mother and sister, saying she has a game (she does, but she doesn’t tell them she’s benched). Later, she dreams about her father and wishes she’d gone. The book ends with her planning to visit the grave and leave her lucky cleats as a tribute.
I don’t think I would have much liked this one as a kid--I never loved sports stories. But the soccer talk was feelingsy enough that I found it engaging enough as an adult. Abby acts like a real jerk throughout, but it’s motivated by her established competitiveness, and I can certainly imagine being upset if I cared about the success of my team but felt like I was being misused within it.
Overall, the fact that the team is a Special Olympics Unified team and that Erin has an intellectual disability is largely irrelevant. I kind of like this. From a storytelling perspective, it’s an unnecessary bit of complication, but of all the BSC PSA books about diversity and special programs and so forth, this is the least pamphlety and therefore the most effective at making us truly believe that the othered group really is normal and just-like-the-rest-of-us. After all, the same plot could have easily played out in any team. Abby would arguably have been angry at anyone who "took" her position. That Abby doesn’t tiptoe around Erin and treat her like a child ("Good job!") suggests she takes her seriously as a threat.
On the other hand, the argument could be made that Abby’s prejudgment that Erin can’t possibly be as good as she is at sports is informed by her knowledge that she’s one of the "athletes" and not one of the "partners", and that her own role on the team is to be the awesome Normal Hero who would lead these poor freaks, Avatar-style, to victory. In that case, Abby is a terrible human being.
What really bugged me was the lack of connection between the soccer plot and the dad plot. There was really no reason for them to be together. Actually, there was no real reason for the dad plot at all. I know dealing with grief is a lifelong process, and all, but didn’t we process a lot of dad issues in the first Abby book? Why is Abby especially upset about it now? And why and how does it get resolved when it does? A dream is a weak catalyst for resolution.
Sign of the Times: Undoubtedly in keeping with the Special Olympics terminology at the time, Erin and the other Special Ed teammates are described as having "mental retardation."
Timing: Mid-summer
Revised Timeline: Summer after college graduation. The Special Olympics are for all ages, so in theory we don’t have to alter the program. Actually, it makes a lot of sense as something Abby would get involved in after graduation. In college, she probably played on school teams. Now she works a 9-5 job and misses the organized programs of school, especially sports. In looking around for a team which accepted adults players, she discovered the Special Olympics program and decided it seemed much cooler than a random adult weekend league.
There are two subplots. One is a baby-sitting runner where the other baby-sitters get neighborhood kids excited about the team and form a Booster Club to help raise funds for new jerseys. (They also attend games, allowing the main plot to continue throughout the baby-sitting chapters.) The other involves Abby’s feelings about her father’s death. She begs out of visiting her father’s grave on Long Island with her mother and sister, saying she has a game (she does, but she doesn’t tell them she’s benched). Later, she dreams about her father and wishes she’d gone. The book ends with her planning to visit the grave and leave her lucky cleats as a tribute.
I don’t think I would have much liked this one as a kid--I never loved sports stories. But the soccer talk was feelingsy enough that I found it engaging enough as an adult. Abby acts like a real jerk throughout, but it’s motivated by her established competitiveness, and I can certainly imagine being upset if I cared about the success of my team but felt like I was being misused within it.
Overall, the fact that the team is a Special Olympics Unified team and that Erin has an intellectual disability is largely irrelevant. I kind of like this. From a storytelling perspective, it’s an unnecessary bit of complication, but of all the BSC PSA books about diversity and special programs and so forth, this is the least pamphlety and therefore the most effective at making us truly believe that the othered group really is normal and just-like-the-rest-of-us. After all, the same plot could have easily played out in any team. Abby would arguably have been angry at anyone who "took" her position. That Abby doesn’t tiptoe around Erin and treat her like a child ("Good job!") suggests she takes her seriously as a threat.
On the other hand, the argument could be made that Abby’s prejudgment that Erin can’t possibly be as good as she is at sports is informed by her knowledge that she’s one of the "athletes" and not one of the "partners", and that her own role on the team is to be the awesome Normal Hero who would lead these poor freaks, Avatar-style, to victory. In that case, Abby is a terrible human being.
What really bugged me was the lack of connection between the soccer plot and the dad plot. There was really no reason for them to be together. Actually, there was no real reason for the dad plot at all. I know dealing with grief is a lifelong process, and all, but didn’t we process a lot of dad issues in the first Abby book? Why is Abby especially upset about it now? And why and how does it get resolved when it does? A dream is a weak catalyst for resolution.
Sign of the Times: Undoubtedly in keeping with the Special Olympics terminology at the time, Erin and the other Special Ed teammates are described as having "mental retardation."
Timing: Mid-summer
Revised Timeline: Summer after college graduation. The Special Olympics are for all ages, so in theory we don’t have to alter the program. Actually, it makes a lot of sense as something Abby would get involved in after graduation. In college, she probably played on school teams. Now she works a 9-5 job and misses the organized programs of school, especially sports. In looking around for a team which accepted adults players, she discovered the Special Olympics program and decided it seemed much cooler than a random adult weekend league.
sammah's review
2.0
This book was really pretty boring, which is sad because I really do appreciate that it talks about Unified Sports and the Special Olympics. You don't see that enough in books for young kids, so kudos for that!
No kudos for Abby, who was a total douche in this book. Also it was just sort of dull. There was no real climax or anything fun going on. It was primarily just about soccer, the kids being the booster club for the team, and Abby being a jerk. Boo.
No kudos for Abby, who was a total douche in this book. Also it was just sort of dull. There was no real climax or anything fun going on. It was primarily just about soccer, the kids being the booster club for the team, and Abby being a jerk. Boo.
xtinamorse's review
Read my recap at A Year with the BSC via Stoneybrook Forever: www.livethemovies.com/bsc-blog/abby-the-bad-sport
pixieauthoress's review
4.0
Abby was never one of my favourite BSC characters, mainly because I only ever read two of her books before they stopped publishing the BSC series in the UK. She always seemed too similar to Kristy, and a boring replacement for Dawn when she went back to California. Anyway, this book wasn't too bad but I found it rather boring to begin with. Basically, Abby believes that she's the best soccer player on her team and is disappointed when her coach demotes her to a lesser role in the team. She sets out to prove what a great player she is and ends up being a ball-hog and gets benched for not being a team-player. Another girl is also benched and she and Abby hate each other because they each think that they're the best at soccer. Eventually Abby realises that she can do the role that the coach assigned her, even if she isn't the star of the team because of it. She and the other girl become friends. I suppose that the lesson is good, but reading pages of Abby going on about how great she is at soccer isn't exactly thrilling. There are two sub-plots: Abby's mum wants their family to visit their grandparents and their father's grave and Abby still doesn't think she's ready; and the rest of the BSC have a car wash and make badges to raise money to buy team shirts for Abby's team. To be honest, the chapters where the BSC were watching Abby's team play were more interesting than the ones from Abby's POV, mainly because I really don't understand football. I mean, soccer. Overall, this book got better half way through but the first few chapters about the soccer team were a bit boring. Abby does learn a good lesson in the end. Just one thing - was it PC in 1997 to say that someone had "mental-retardation"? I'm sure that in Britain we would have said that they had "mental disabilities" or even "learning disabilities." 7/10
ssshira's review
1.0
this is my first time reading this book.
ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] writes what is one of the most miserable books I’ve ever read, baby-sitters club series or otherwise. abby is on a special olympics unified team, which essentially means that players with intellectual disabilities play alongside players without them. tough-as-nails coach wu from [b:Kristy and the Copycat|1383143|Kristy and the Copycat (The Baby-Sitters Club, #74)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1302692191s/1383143.jpg|1373145] is the coach of abby’s team, and she challenges abby by placing her in a defensive position. abby is mad, especially when one of the players with intellectual disabilities, erin, gets to play forward, abby’s usual position. first, abby tries to play “total soccer” (this is apparently when every player moves around the field playing every position and other players fall into the vacated positions -- abby claims this is what “great” soccer teams do but I’m not convinced) but coach wu gets mad at her for repeatedly leaving a defensive gap and the other teams keep scoring. abby tells erin that she thinks they could be a truly great team if they played total soccer and when erin isn’t responsive abby tells her that she knows more about soccer than her. erin finally calls abby out for thinking she knows less about soccer because she has intellectual disabilities, and things escalate to the point that they won’t pass to each other and end up losing a game and fighting about it (and abby actually says, “what are you, stupid?” to erin. in my opinion, you call someone on a special olympics team stupid, you get banned from special olympics allyship stuff for life, but that’s just me). coach wu is understandably mad and benches both of them for two games. abby starts to see the defensive perspective while benched and ends up apologizing to erin and playing her actual position once she’s allowed back in. first subplot is that abby’s mom is trying to get abby and anna to see their paternal grandparents again and to visit abby’s dad’s gravesite, which abby freaks out about but eventually comes to terms with. second subplot is that the bsc and bsc kids form a booster club for abby’s team, raising money for them to have jerseys.
highlights:
-when reading bsc books I frequently go back and forth between the print books from when they were initially published and the modern ebook editions via overdrive. this was a particularly interesting one for that, since in the original print books they used the term “mental retardation” to describe the individuals on abby’s team, but in the ebook version they swapped it out with the term “intellectual disabilities.” most of the time I don’t like modern edits, since I like reading these as time capsules, but for language that has fallen out of use and is typically only seen as a pejorative now, I can see the benefit.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-abby is truly the worst in this book. she is maybe even worse than mary anne in [b:Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation|371080|Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #3)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387711881s/371080.jpg|361047] and dawn in [b:Dawn Saves the Planet|371103|Dawn Saves the Planet (The Baby-Sitters Club, #57)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1174229864s/371103.jpg|1194798]. keep reading for some examples (beyond what you saw in the summary blurb I wrote above).
-the team goes to the ice cream shop where erin works, and she says she wants big scoops for all her friends, and abby thinks she's being a showoff. how? huh? she’s just being nice, dude.
-I touched on this above, but this interaction: abby tells erin that she thinks they could be a great team if they played total soccer and tells erin she knows more about soccer than her. erin says "because I have intellectual disabilities? do you think I can't play as well as you because of that?" and she tells abby that she's better at soccer than her. abby says "that's what you think." UGH.
-shannon the puppy gets away from david michael at one of abby’s games and tries to play soccer. and everyone laughs like it's so cute. maybe it’s cute but it’s also really inappropriate and annoying to let your dog run onfield during a competitive sports event. I'd be like, "get out of here with that dog, you brat!"
-haley calls the other team the "lawrenceville footballers" and karen corrects her by saying they're playing soccer, not football. but football is soccer! we just went over this in [b:Mary Anne and the Little Princess|646466|Mary Anne and the Little Princess (The Baby-Sitters Club, #102)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1176702443s/646466.jpg|38400]
-at one point instead of passing to erin who is open abby takes a shot and misses. erin does the same thing, and abby is mad about it (which I don’t understand why you’re mad, because she literally did the exact thing you had just done). then erin says abby should've passed to her, and abby responds, "and watch you blow the shot? what are you, stupid?" how is it even possible that they let abby on this team in the first place? how is it even possible that they don’t kick her off right then and there, for using that kind of oppressive language?
-abby says eggbeaters are fake eggs, but they're not. they're egg whites with thickeners and coloring put in.
-abby resents her mom and sister for going to long island without her even though she hadn't wanted to go.
-I know this is petty but I don’t like sports books in general. I don’t care about soccer, and I don’t find it interesting to read abby’s narration about soccer.
claudia outfit:
-"She was in a little crop-top muscle shirt that she had batikked green and blue. She'd sewed a bunch of buttons up the front as if it were a vest. She also had on skinny black shorts, one blue sock and one green sock, and black Doc Martens with one blue shoelace (on the foot with the green sock) and one green shoelace (on the foot with the blue sock). Her long black hair had been gathered into a single braid. A blue ribbon with more buttons attached to it was woven into the braid. Her earrings? Buttons, naturally."
jackie disaster:
-gets his foot stuck in a bucket at the car wash, stumbles, and crashes into mallory, who is holding a hose, so they fall down and water sprays everywhere
no snacks in claudias’ room.
ghostwriter [a:Nola Thacker|133114|Nola Thacker|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/f_50x66-6a03a5c12233c941481992b82eea8d23.png] writes what is one of the most miserable books I’ve ever read, baby-sitters club series or otherwise. abby is on a special olympics unified team, which essentially means that players with intellectual disabilities play alongside players without them. tough-as-nails coach wu from [b:Kristy and the Copycat|1383143|Kristy and the Copycat (The Baby-Sitters Club, #74)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1302692191s/1383143.jpg|1373145] is the coach of abby’s team, and she challenges abby by placing her in a defensive position. abby is mad, especially when one of the players with intellectual disabilities, erin, gets to play forward, abby’s usual position. first, abby tries to play “total soccer” (this is apparently when every player moves around the field playing every position and other players fall into the vacated positions -- abby claims this is what “great” soccer teams do but I’m not convinced) but coach wu gets mad at her for repeatedly leaving a defensive gap and the other teams keep scoring. abby tells erin that she thinks they could be a truly great team if they played total soccer and when erin isn’t responsive abby tells her that she knows more about soccer than her. erin finally calls abby out for thinking she knows less about soccer because she has intellectual disabilities, and things escalate to the point that they won’t pass to each other and end up losing a game and fighting about it (and abby actually says, “what are you, stupid?” to erin. in my opinion, you call someone on a special olympics team stupid, you get banned from special olympics allyship stuff for life, but that’s just me). coach wu is understandably mad and benches both of them for two games. abby starts to see the defensive perspective while benched and ends up apologizing to erin and playing her actual position once she’s allowed back in. first subplot is that abby’s mom is trying to get abby and anna to see their paternal grandparents again and to visit abby’s dad’s gravesite, which abby freaks out about but eventually comes to terms with. second subplot is that the bsc and bsc kids form a booster club for abby’s team, raising money for them to have jerseys.
highlights:
-when reading bsc books I frequently go back and forth between the print books from when they were initially published and the modern ebook editions via overdrive. this was a particularly interesting one for that, since in the original print books they used the term “mental retardation” to describe the individuals on abby’s team, but in the ebook version they swapped it out with the term “intellectual disabilities.” most of the time I don’t like modern edits, since I like reading these as time capsules, but for language that has fallen out of use and is typically only seen as a pejorative now, I can see the benefit.
lowlights/nitpicks:
-abby is truly the worst in this book. she is maybe even worse than mary anne in [b:Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation|371080|Baby-Sitters' Winter Vacation (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, #3)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387711881s/371080.jpg|361047] and dawn in [b:Dawn Saves the Planet|371103|Dawn Saves the Planet (The Baby-Sitters Club, #57)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1174229864s/371103.jpg|1194798]. keep reading for some examples (beyond what you saw in the summary blurb I wrote above).
-the team goes to the ice cream shop where erin works, and she says she wants big scoops for all her friends, and abby thinks she's being a showoff. how? huh? she’s just being nice, dude.
-I touched on this above, but this interaction: abby tells erin that she thinks they could be a great team if they played total soccer and tells erin she knows more about soccer than her. erin says "because I have intellectual disabilities? do you think I can't play as well as you because of that?" and she tells abby that she's better at soccer than her. abby says "that's what you think." UGH.
-shannon the puppy gets away from david michael at one of abby’s games and tries to play soccer. and everyone laughs like it's so cute. maybe it’s cute but it’s also really inappropriate and annoying to let your dog run onfield during a competitive sports event. I'd be like, "get out of here with that dog, you brat!"
-haley calls the other team the "lawrenceville footballers" and karen corrects her by saying they're playing soccer, not football. but football is soccer! we just went over this in [b:Mary Anne and the Little Princess|646466|Mary Anne and the Little Princess (The Baby-Sitters Club, #102)|Ann M. Martin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1176702443s/646466.jpg|38400]
-at one point instead of passing to erin who is open abby takes a shot and misses. erin does the same thing, and abby is mad about it (which I don’t understand why you’re mad, because she literally did the exact thing you had just done). then erin says abby should've passed to her, and abby responds, "and watch you blow the shot? what are you, stupid?" how is it even possible that they let abby on this team in the first place? how is it even possible that they don’t kick her off right then and there, for using that kind of oppressive language?
-abby says eggbeaters are fake eggs, but they're not. they're egg whites with thickeners and coloring put in.
-abby resents her mom and sister for going to long island without her even though she hadn't wanted to go.
-I know this is petty but I don’t like sports books in general. I don’t care about soccer, and I don’t find it interesting to read abby’s narration about soccer.
claudia outfit:
-"She was in a little crop-top muscle shirt that she had batikked green and blue. She'd sewed a bunch of buttons up the front as if it were a vest. She also had on skinny black shorts, one blue sock and one green sock, and black Doc Martens with one blue shoelace (on the foot with the green sock) and one green shoelace (on the foot with the blue sock). Her long black hair had been gathered into a single braid. A blue ribbon with more buttons attached to it was woven into the braid. Her earrings? Buttons, naturally."
jackie disaster:
-gets his foot stuck in a bucket at the car wash, stumbles, and crashes into mallory, who is holding a hose, so they fall down and water sprays everywhere
no snacks in claudias’ room.
liannakiwi's review
4.0
(LL)
The idea that you need to learn how to be a good team player is so important for kids to see. Some of the other plots in here weren’t great, but the main plot with Abby playing soccer was very important.
The idea that you need to learn how to be a good team player is so important for kids to see. Some of the other plots in here weren’t great, but the main plot with Abby playing soccer was very important.
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