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sammah's review against another edition
3.0
I really actually liked this book as a kid, and I still find it pretty decent as an adult. Perhaps because most books that deal with any sort of illness or disease really never touch on diabetes. It's a rough condition for adults, and pretty nasty for children. I know a couple of people who had it super young, and yeah. Not easy. So I can at least appreciate that.
This book is pretty par for the course though when it comes to a book about a kid with a medical condition. Stacey isn't feeling well, and begins to slip with her diet which doesn't help the condition at all. She lands in the hospital when she goes to New York to visit her father, and spends a week getting different doses of insulin. At one point she's even put on an insulin drip while they to figure out the best course of action. Her parents also can't put aside their own nastiness from the divorce to be in the same room together, not even to support their sick child.
I'd like to say that adults should/could put aside their issues and deal with things like this. Sadly though a LOT of people are pretty damn petty, so this wasn't out of the realm of possibility in the real world.
However, four thirteen year olds traveling alone via train to NYC to visit her in the hospital without any adult supervision?
Yeah, that's pretty unrealistic right there.
In the end they figure it out and she returns home to Stoneybrook. All is well, eventually with poor Charlotte Johanssen who lost her shit. Now the BSC can drag Stacey into their next crazy scheme without worrying that she'll keel over! Yay!
This book is pretty par for the course though when it comes to a book about a kid with a medical condition. Stacey isn't feeling well, and begins to slip with her diet which doesn't help the condition at all. She lands in the hospital when she goes to New York to visit her father, and spends a week getting different doses of insulin. At one point she's even put on an insulin drip while they to figure out the best course of action. Her parents also can't put aside their own nastiness from the divorce to be in the same room together, not even to support their sick child.
I'd like to say that adults should/could put aside their issues and deal with things like this. Sadly though a LOT of people are pretty damn petty, so this wasn't out of the realm of possibility in the real world.
However, four thirteen year olds traveling alone via train to NYC to visit her in the hospital without any adult supervision?
Yeah, that's pretty unrealistic right there.
In the end they figure it out and she returns home to Stoneybrook. All is well, eventually with poor Charlotte Johanssen who lost her shit. Now the BSC can drag Stacey into their next crazy scheme without worrying that she'll keel over! Yay!
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-emergency
pixieauthoress's review against another edition
5.0
I'm fairly certain I read this as a kid but all I remember is Stacey eating lots of sweets and then getting ill, which I thought was linked. Thus I was surprised when having lunch with a diabetic friend, she simply checked her insulin then ate a slice of banoffee pie and a bit of chocolate cake. Then another friend informed me that if Jo was ever low on insulin and looked ill we were to feed her lots of sugary foods. Thanks AMM for forevering confusing children about diabetes!
Anyway, I did really enjoy this story. It covered the issue of Stacey's diabetes (although perhaps not terribly realistic), the impersonality of staying in a hospital and her parents' divorce. Although I thought a lot of this was very realistic, I was annoyed at two things: how Stacey's parents couldn't grow up and be civil to each other for the sake of their daughter, and how terrible it is that Charlotte's parents let her get so attached to Stacey that she can't cope when she goes to hospital. Charlotte may be a bright kid, but several times in this book I thought that it would have been for the best for her parents to keep her in the dark a bit. Like her reading about murders and muggings in The Times? NO! Give this girl a BSC book and let her stay a kid! Despite this, a great book. 9/10
Anyway, I did really enjoy this story. It covered the issue of Stacey's diabetes (although perhaps not terribly realistic), the impersonality of staying in a hospital and her parents' divorce. Although I thought a lot of this was very realistic, I was annoyed at two things: how Stacey's parents couldn't grow up and be civil to each other for the sake of their daughter, and how terrible it is that Charlotte's parents let her get so attached to Stacey that she can't cope when she goes to hospital. Charlotte may be a bright kid, but several times in this book I thought that it would have been for the best for her parents to keep her in the dark a bit. Like her reading about murders and muggings in The Times? NO! Give this girl a BSC book and let her stay a kid! Despite this, a great book. 9/10
wallowarlus's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this book was good but it wasn't the best out of the series.
ssshira's review against another edition
4.0
this is my first time reading this book!
there have been allusions to stacey not being well for a LONG time (at least since [b:Kristy and the Secret of Susan|1382964|Kristy and the Secret of Susan (The Baby-Sitters Club, #32)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388254442s/1382964.jpg|1781098]). in this book, her blood glucose level is so out of whack that she gets insatiably hungry and thirsty. she starts eating chocolate and other sweets, and on a visit to new york to stay with her dad, she goes to the hospital because she feels so crappy. what ensues is a book about what it's like to be in the hospital while they try to figure out what's wrong with you. she spends about two weeks there, having ups and downs in how she feels and how her blood glucose levels are being controlled. her parents are awful to each other in front of her, and she tells them she doesn't want to be the monkey in the middle to them anymore. meanwhile, charlotte johannson is so upset by stacey being sick that she becomes a hypochondriac.
highlights:
-stacey talks about how both she and claudia date lots of boys and "like action!" LOL
-when pretending that she's gonna make her mom and dad jealous of the people they're dating (they're not actually dating anyone, this is just a daydream stacey has), the ideal woman her dad is dating that she describes: "she's terribly wealthy, she has a penthouse apartment in the city and a horse farm in the country. and she can cook and handle a jigsaw." I love this.
-the cover is hilarious. stacey trying to catch the falling mixing bowls while becca and charlotte present plates of fudge wearing martian antennae.
-stacey complains about hospital food being indiviudally wrapped and how bad it is for the environment. it's so stacey to have this new york liberal mindset, I love it.
-cokie got a nose job. when kristy says she can always tell when someone gets a nose job, stacey is like, "but you didn't notice mine..." she's of course joking but kristy plotzes and it's funny.
-there is a chapter where stacey suddenly feels like crap again (she's been on an IV drip of insulin, and it seems like her blood sugar is very low) and the bsc members come to visit. and then the doctors rush them out to try to help stacey, and stacey notices that her friends all look scared. it's really sad and brutal but super REAL. really well done.
-not really a highlight, but it's just interesting how different diabetes was 25 years ago. now they have all kinds of devices that alert you when your bgv (blood glucose value) is approaching too high or too low levels, and they have devices that stay connected to your body and automatically give you insulin on your schedule.
-we get more of a sense of laine. she keeps bringing stacey weird gag gifts, like a mirror that laughs at you when you look into it, and a spider with glasses. HOW SOPHISTICATED SHE IS!
lowlights/nitpicks:
-stacey says half of her friends' parents are divorced. huh? kristy and dawn are the only ones, right?
-I'm not 100% on this, but it seems like what they do in the end that helps her get better is give stacey multiple types of insulin, when they had been only giving her one type beforehand. this is ridiculous. she would have been on long term and short term acting insulin, ESPECIALLY as someone with hard-to-control diabetes. I know a decent amount about diabetes circa 1991, since my father had it and I watched his process of testing his bgv and doling out the two types of insulin based on what he was planning to eat that day, etc. short-term and long-term acting insulin differentiation was around in 1991. stacey absolutely should have already been on two types of insulin.
no outfits
books in kid-kits read or referenced by charlotte:
-[b:A Bear Called Paddington|160629|A Bear Called Paddington (Paddington, #1)|Michael Bond|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393784912s/160629.jpg|1544060] (not specified which paddington book, actually) (stacey's)
-[b:The Dancing Cats of Applesap|1295422|The Dancing Cats of Applesap|Janet Taylor Lisle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1182558191s/1295422.jpg|1284549] (stacey's)
-The Dachshunds of Mama Island (no goodreads page for it!) (dawn's)
-[b:Five Little Peppers and How They Grew|7911|Five Little Peppers and How They Grew|Margaret Sidney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924472s/7911.jpg|1167387] (mary anne's)
snacks in claudia's room:
-ring dings (n.s.)
there have been allusions to stacey not being well for a LONG time (at least since [b:Kristy and the Secret of Susan|1382964|Kristy and the Secret of Susan (The Baby-Sitters Club, #32)|Ann M. Martin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388254442s/1382964.jpg|1781098]). in this book, her blood glucose level is so out of whack that she gets insatiably hungry and thirsty. she starts eating chocolate and other sweets, and on a visit to new york to stay with her dad, she goes to the hospital because she feels so crappy. what ensues is a book about what it's like to be in the hospital while they try to figure out what's wrong with you. she spends about two weeks there, having ups and downs in how she feels and how her blood glucose levels are being controlled. her parents are awful to each other in front of her, and she tells them she doesn't want to be the monkey in the middle to them anymore. meanwhile, charlotte johannson is so upset by stacey being sick that she becomes a hypochondriac.
highlights:
-stacey talks about how both she and claudia date lots of boys and "like action!" LOL
-when pretending that she's gonna make her mom and dad jealous of the people they're dating (they're not actually dating anyone, this is just a daydream stacey has), the ideal woman her dad is dating that she describes: "she's terribly wealthy, she has a penthouse apartment in the city and a horse farm in the country. and she can cook and handle a jigsaw." I love this.
-the cover is hilarious. stacey trying to catch the falling mixing bowls while becca and charlotte present plates of fudge wearing martian antennae.
-stacey complains about hospital food being indiviudally wrapped and how bad it is for the environment. it's so stacey to have this new york liberal mindset, I love it.
-cokie got a nose job. when kristy says she can always tell when someone gets a nose job, stacey is like, "but you didn't notice mine..." she's of course joking but kristy plotzes and it's funny.
-there is a chapter where stacey suddenly feels like crap again (she's been on an IV drip of insulin, and it seems like her blood sugar is very low) and the bsc members come to visit. and then the doctors rush them out to try to help stacey, and stacey notices that her friends all look scared. it's really sad and brutal but super REAL. really well done.
-not really a highlight, but it's just interesting how different diabetes was 25 years ago. now they have all kinds of devices that alert you when your bgv (blood glucose value) is approaching too high or too low levels, and they have devices that stay connected to your body and automatically give you insulin on your schedule.
-we get more of a sense of laine. she keeps bringing stacey weird gag gifts, like a mirror that laughs at you when you look into it, and a spider with glasses. HOW SOPHISTICATED SHE IS!
lowlights/nitpicks:
-stacey says half of her friends' parents are divorced. huh? kristy and dawn are the only ones, right?
-I'm not 100% on this, but it seems like what they do in the end that helps her get better is give stacey multiple types of insulin, when they had been only giving her one type beforehand. this is ridiculous. she would have been on long term and short term acting insulin, ESPECIALLY as someone with hard-to-control diabetes. I know a decent amount about diabetes circa 1991, since my father had it and I watched his process of testing his bgv and doling out the two types of insulin based on what he was planning to eat that day, etc. short-term and long-term acting insulin differentiation was around in 1991. stacey absolutely should have already been on two types of insulin.
no outfits
books in kid-kits read or referenced by charlotte:
-[b:A Bear Called Paddington|160629|A Bear Called Paddington (Paddington, #1)|Michael Bond|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1393784912s/160629.jpg|1544060] (not specified which paddington book, actually) (stacey's)
-[b:The Dancing Cats of Applesap|1295422|The Dancing Cats of Applesap|Janet Taylor Lisle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1182558191s/1295422.jpg|1284549] (stacey's)
-The Dachshunds of Mama Island (no goodreads page for it!) (dawn's)
-[b:Five Little Peppers and How They Grew|7911|Five Little Peppers and How They Grew|Margaret Sidney|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924472s/7911.jpg|1167387] (mary anne's)
snacks in claudia's room:
-ring dings (n.s.)
liannakiwi's review against another edition
4.0
(LL)
This book does an amazing job tackling: diabetes and complications that come from it.
Stacey was doing things right and still ended up in the hospital, which is realistic in itself and helped to explain a bit more in depth about the different types of diabetes and what that means.
This book does an amazing job tackling: diabetes and complications that come from it.
Stacey was doing things right and still ended up in the hospital, which is realistic in itself and helped to explain a bit more in depth about the different types of diabetes and what that means.
seejennread's review against another edition
3.0
We finally, finally get the one where Stacey gets sick from her diabetes and it is so anti-climactic it's not even funny. And pretty boring actually. I was expecting a fainting incident or at least a peeing-the-bed accident lol. Stacey is obviously still feeling crappy at the beginning of this one, but she hasn't told her mom or dad, even though her schoolwork is starting to suffer. Duh, doesn't she know that if you have an actual excuse for bad grades, you use it as long as possible?? So, she's feeling bad, is pretty sure it has to do with her diabetes, and what does she do? Steals a package of Ho-Ho's from Claudia's room. I know right?! Scandalous!! Suddenly, Miss I Only Eat Carrots and Pretzels is a chocolate fiend...sneaking candy bars in her room at midnight, taking home a pile of fudge from Charlotte's, mainlining Nutella in the girls' bathroom at school.
Suddenly it's time for a Daddy's Fun Weekend in the Big City but Stacey doesn't really want to go, not just because she's feeling like uber-crap but because her parents have really been getting on her nerves lately. They're constantly making her take sides and interrogating her on what the other is doing and then not believing her. Like, Stacey's mom goes over to the Pike house to council Mrs. Pike on hat-fashions and Mr. McGill thinks she's having a torrid love affair with Mr. Pike or something. But of course, Stacey doesn't tell her parents why she's upset (I suppose this is very realistic actually, I never told my parents anything at that age) and ends up going on her weekend anyway.
And then we launch into the "Stacey so thirsty" chapter...on the train ride into the city, she makes about 50 trips to the bathroom, gulping water from the gross little sink in her cupped hands and then of course having to pee constantly. Once she meets her dad, she makes him buy her a giant diet soda and drinks it on the way home. That night, she gets up every hour or so to get a glass of water, which of course her dad hears and is totally worried. When she gets up the next morning and is totally exhausted, she agrees to go to the hospital, where they immediately check her in and plug her into all these drips and stuff.
Read my full review here!
Suddenly it's time for a Daddy's Fun Weekend in the Big City but Stacey doesn't really want to go, not just because she's feeling like uber-crap but because her parents have really been getting on her nerves lately. They're constantly making her take sides and interrogating her on what the other is doing and then not believing her. Like, Stacey's mom goes over to the Pike house to council Mrs. Pike on hat-fashions and Mr. McGill thinks she's having a torrid love affair with Mr. Pike or something. But of course, Stacey doesn't tell her parents why she's upset (I suppose this is very realistic actually, I never told my parents anything at that age) and ends up going on her weekend anyway.
And then we launch into the "Stacey so thirsty" chapter...on the train ride into the city, she makes about 50 trips to the bathroom, gulping water from the gross little sink in her cupped hands and then of course having to pee constantly. Once she meets her dad, she makes him buy her a giant diet soda and drinks it on the way home. That night, she gets up every hour or so to get a glass of water, which of course her dad hears and is totally worried. When she gets up the next morning and is totally exhausted, she agrees to go to the hospital, where they immediately check her in and plug her into all these drips and stuff.
Read my full review here!
small_giant_plans's review against another edition
3.0
I was feeling nostalgic so I downloaded a bunch of BSC books from the library. This was the first one I saw that I remember vividly. Whenever I felt like I had excessive thirst growing up, my first thought was always “WHAT IF I AM HAVING A DIABETIC EMERGENCY LIKE STACEY” (even though I don’t even have diabetes). It still held up when being read as an adult, even if I find it a little ridiculous that Stacey would get so many gifts while in the hospital. (Also how much of the treasury money is the BSC spending on her? If they only pay a dollar for dues every week, how are they affording long-distance calls on top of their regular expenses?) Stacey, perhaps one of the more frustrating BSC members, is very down-to-earth in this book, and she was dealing with some rough things that all felt real and believable. Overall I enjoyed the trip down memory lane. Let’s see how the others I got hold up.
readingbooksinisrael's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
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