Scan barcode
A review by finesilkflower
Kristy and the Kidnapper by Ann M. Martin
3.0
Kristy, Abby, and a group of other SMS students who’ve formed a hasty debate club head to Washington, D.C. to participate in a national competition. There, Kristy is teamed with two boys, Kai and David, the latter of whom seems Shady and Shifty. One night, Kristy and David are attacked and a man grabs David and runs off. Kristy calls for security and foils the kidnapping attempt. David explains that his father is a Secret Service agent who has many enemies. David and Kristy are assigned bodyguards. Kristy kind of likes hers, but David tries to shake his, because he is so sick of this bullshit, even though there is a GUY ACTIVELY AFTER HIM. Kids’ books sometimes write themselves into corners with big adult adventure plotlines: resolutions are either narratively unsatisfying (the adults resolve everything offscreen!) or ludicrous (the Secret Service is stumped, but these random schoolkids solved everything!) This book sort of splits the difference, having the bad guy make the insanely poorly-thought-out move of trying to abduct David DURING A DEBATE MEET IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE. Kristy is the first to notice, scream, and push David back behind the stage. So I guess she gets to do something. David’s dad apprehends the dude.
This is a deeply weird story for the BSC series. There’s no baby-sitting, which is standard for FF, but there’s not really any “Friends Forever”: Kristy is the only BSC member in the book. She does have friendship lessons with ex-member Abby, so I guess that’s why it counts.
But for some reason I really overall enjoyed this book. I liked all the details about debate procedure. It’s a perfect activity for Kristy. It made you want to join debate team, which I guess was the point. I also liked the comparatively low-stakes subplots. Kristy and Abby, assigned to different teams, get overly competitive and keep arguing their opposing sides in their off-time, even though both of them were assigned to a side they didn’t actually believe. I even liked the dopey runner about the ditzy third SMS girl who apparently only came to the con to meet up with her long-distance boyfriend, but who busts out an alarmingly good performance in “Extemporaneous Speaking,” shocking Kristy and Abby, who assumed that anyone interested in boys must be an idiot.
Lingering Questions: Leaving aside the various plot holes in the David situation, I do wonder what kind of national debate tournament would accept such a Mickey Mouse team. Also, don’t teams usually work together against each other in these things, rather than getting shaken up onto new teams for con purposes only? I guess it’s not so much a competition as a friendly convention where all the kids get to beef up their skills and meet new people, even though there are trophies and stuff. (Who gets to keep the team trophy when all the kids go back to their respective schools across the country?) I also wonder how Kristy and Abby, in their close-knit little SMS team, managed to avoid ever seeing Melissa perform.
Timing: No specific temporal markers, although I would imagine a competition like this comes in the spring.
Revised Timeline: Spring of third academic year post-grad. In my mind, I’m updating this to a BUSINESS CON! Replace all the debate stuff with Powerpoints about starting a small business. Kristy is, of course, a presenter and success story.
This is a deeply weird story for the BSC series. There’s no baby-sitting, which is standard for FF, but there’s not really any “Friends Forever”: Kristy is the only BSC member in the book. She does have friendship lessons with ex-member Abby, so I guess that’s why it counts.
But for some reason I really overall enjoyed this book. I liked all the details about debate procedure. It’s a perfect activity for Kristy. It made you want to join debate team, which I guess was the point. I also liked the comparatively low-stakes subplots. Kristy and Abby, assigned to different teams, get overly competitive and keep arguing their opposing sides in their off-time, even though both of them were assigned to a side they didn’t actually believe. I even liked the dopey runner about the ditzy third SMS girl who apparently only came to the con to meet up with her long-distance boyfriend, but who busts out an alarmingly good performance in “Extemporaneous Speaking,” shocking Kristy and Abby, who assumed that anyone interested in boys must be an idiot.
Lingering Questions: Leaving aside the various plot holes in the David situation, I do wonder what kind of national debate tournament would accept such a Mickey Mouse team. Also, don’t teams usually work together against each other in these things, rather than getting shaken up onto new teams for con purposes only? I guess it’s not so much a competition as a friendly convention where all the kids get to beef up their skills and meet new people, even though there are trophies and stuff. (Who gets to keep the team trophy when all the kids go back to their respective schools across the country?) I also wonder how Kristy and Abby, in their close-knit little SMS team, managed to avoid ever seeing Melissa perform.
Timing: No specific temporal markers, although I would imagine a competition like this comes in the spring.
Revised Timeline: Spring of third academic year post-grad. In my mind, I’m updating this to a BUSINESS CON! Replace all the debate stuff with Powerpoints about starting a small business. Kristy is, of course, a presenter and success story.