Sarah Millar

BSC Bloggin’ Bonus: California Girls!

By: Sarah Millar | May 17, 2013 BSC Bloggin' No comments

This is the latest in a series of bonus BSC Bloggin’ posts where we take a look at the books that run outside the series. Today’s bonus post: California Girls!

This super special starts in an interesting way. Instead of simply getting into a plot that seems absurd and a little crazy, there’s a prologue explaining why the situation is not that far-fetched.

Want to read more in the BSC Bloggin’ project? Click here for all the posts.

In California Girls, the explanation is simple: The girls have two weeks off from school coming up. The Connecticut jackpot is at an all-time high, so the girls give Dawn’s mom money for tickets, promising to split the winnings.

Wouldn’t you know it, Dawn gets 5 out of the 6 numbers and wins $10,000. Of course, the girls’ parents are totally cool with them spending the money on a trip to California instead of putting it away for university.

ANYWAYS.

What I liked most about this book is the storylines for Mallory, Claudia and Stacey. All three girls try to be someone they’re not (Mal dyes her hair blonde, Claudia tries to be smart to impress a boy and Stacey hangs out with a risky group of teenagers). They soon learn why being themselves is the best thing they can do.

I remember loving this book as a kid. Re-reading it now, I enjoyed it just as much the second time. It’s a strong super special, with well-defined stories for most of the girls. Besides Mal, Claudia and Stacey, I related a lot with Dawn this time around.

See, Dawn’s dad is dating a women neither Dawn, nor her brother Jeff, particularly like. Carol tries too hard to be cool with the BSC, as far as Dawn’s concerned. The first time I read this book, my parents were still married, so I can’t say Dawn’s chapters really affected me much. If anything, I may have found Dawn to be a bit of a whiner.

But 15 years after my dad met a woman who tried to get me and my siblings to like her, who I didn’t gave a fair shot to right out of the gate, I see Dawn’s chapters differently. Divorce is hard on everybody, but especially if you’re a teenage girl. I was slightly older than Dawn when my now-stepmom came into my life, but that doesn’t mean I handled things any better. I only wish I had a change of heart as quickly as Dawn did.

So far, I think this is the best super special I’ve read thus far. Four stars!

Join the conversation! Leave a commeœnt below or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #BSCBlogging. Want to join the project? Fill out this form.

About that time I ran the Sporting Life 10K

By: Sarah Millar | May 17, 2013 Personal 4 comments

This year, I challenged myself to run a total of 750KM and my first 10K race before the end of 2013.

Last weekend, I completed one of this tasks.

I wish I could say it was completing the 750KM, but alas, I’m not quite that motivated. Rather, I ran in my first 10K, and actually did pretty darn good (if I do say so myself).

The race was the Sporting Life 10K held every May in Toronto. An easy course for my first foray in 10K running (nearly 7K of the route is running downhill on Yonge St.). But everyone’s gotta start somewhere, right?

I had a few concerns going into this race. The first one is that I’ve only ever run 10K once in my life. It was last fall while I was training for a 5K. It was awful. I hurt for a week afterwards. When I got back, I was limping. My time wasn’t awful for a first attempt (1:14), but I walked a lot of that and found everything after 6K really hard.

The second concern was the lack of training I actually did leading up to this race. Oh sure, I had a plan. Especially given my goal for kilometres run by the end of the year. I mean, I’d be running at least 15K a week, right? Right?

Not so right. See, I haven’t really been hit by the running bug. I like to track my runs and watch myself improve, but I more run because I know I need to in order to stay in shape and try to shed a few pounds. I don’t really run for the love of running. Truth be told, I hate it. If I had a choice, I’d stay on the couch and open another bag of potato chips. But that’s a blog post for another day.

So going into this race, the furthest I had run leading up to it was 7K. Gulp.

I knew I had gotten stronger (again, why I track these things), but didn’t know if I could pull it off.

Leading up to race day, we had some great weather. Race day came and it was one degree when we left the house. Gulp. And the wind. Wowzas.

Still, Keith and I soldiered on. And when the time finally came for our corral to go, I was ready. Whatever happened, I knew this would all be over in the next hour and a half. I just had to do it.

And do it I did.

I set a goal for myself to finish in 1:12. When I created my run playlist the night before, the music ended at that time. I figured finishing a few minutes sooner than my first 10K with not a lot of training before the race would have been good enough of an accomplishment.

I ended up finishing the 10K in 1:05 (1:06 for the actual race — I started my Nike+ app and my run 200 metres before I crossed the start line). I also ended up running the entire 10K. I really wanted to walk around the 8.5K mark, but had a feeling if I did, I’d never start running again.

I can’t describe the way I felt after finishing that race. Pride, amazement, accomplishment were all ways I felt. Keith finished ahead of me and was standing just past the finish line waiting for me. When I saw him, I just collapsed in his arms. I really, really did it.

We’re planning another 10K, but I will train this time. And I have 600KM to go to meet my 750 goal for the year. But even if I don’t completely fulfill that goal, I’ll have this one.

BSC Bloggin’: Jessi and the Dance School Phantom

By: Lauren Souch | May 15, 2013 BSC Bloggin' No comments

I actually don’t remember too much about Jessi as a BSC character, other than the fact she was a junior officer and a dancer. When we were selecting books for this project, I jumped at the chance to re-read a Jessi-centric book, as I wanted to try and get to know her a little better.

Want to read more in the BSC Bloggin’ project? Click here for all the posts.

In Jessi and the Dance School Phantom (which is pretty much The Phantom of the Opera, BSC Style), Jessi lands the sought-after role of Princess Aurora in her dance school’s upcoming performance of Sleeping Beauty. Since it’s such a coveted position, many of her classmates are naturally jealous. However, someone in her class is a little TOO jealous and starts sending Jessi threatening notes, stealing her things, and shredding her leotards.

Rather than go to her dance teacher or parents about it (isn’t that always the way it is in these books?), Jessi turns to the BSC for help and the girls band together to try and catch whoever it is tormenting Jessi.

At the same time, the BSC is planning a Pet Show for all the kids in the neighbourhood — another one of Kristy’s “great ideas” — only the kids are getting really competitive about it, leading Kristy to wonder if maybe her idea wasn’t so great after all.

I really liked this book for a number of reasons. First off, Jessi is dealing with an anonymous bully in her dance class. Bullying was an issue when I was growing up (I was both a bully and bullied at some point in elementary school), and it’s an even bigger issue in schools today. Kids can be so cruel, and this book does a great job of not only showing how mean a child can be, but demonstrates how it is possible to forgive and move on.

When Jessi discovers the identity of her bully, she confronts her about it and eventually gets an apology. Rather than rat Hilary (the bully) out to her teacher (and likely get her expelled), Jessi talks to her about it and decides to try and forgive her.

While I think it’s important kids feel comfortable telling an adult when they are being bullied (and it does irk me how often the BSC try to deal with big issues like this on their own), I think there’s also a lesson to be learned about one-time bullies, like in this story.

Hilary was under extreme pressure from her mother to land the lead role, and she was usually a decent kid otherwise. She apologized for her behaviour, and tried to make amends (by turning over the pen she used to write the notes, offering to replace Jessi’s damaged dance clothing, and generally being a lot nicer to her in subsequent rehearsals).

In return, Jessi promised not to tell as long as she actually stopped being mean. While Jessi was apprehensive about trusting Hilary at first, she comes to realize that people can change, and that sometimes you need to forgive and forget.

I also really liked how the pet show plot line mirrored this lesson: the kids were picking on each other, fighting, and getting competitive over which pet was the “better” pet. Worst of all, by inviting all the kids to the show to be inclusive, those without pets were feeling really left out. Luckily, some of the kids who have more than one family pet eventually “share” their pets, which begins to help calm some of the drama.

In the end, though, it’s Jessi who comes up with an idea that will save the pet show: rather than award place prizes, the BSC would award each child with their own, individual award (like “Friendliest Pet” or “Best Tricks”).

Oh, and you know how we learned earlier that people can chance? It turns out this lesson applies to pets, too: mean old Boo Boo the cat finds a friend and somehow manages to score the “Best Personality” award.

Lauren is a 20-something multimedia professional/daydreamer, political nerd, fitness enthusiast, coffee addict and gluten-free cupcake-lover. She blogs about all these things and more over at See Lauren Write.

Join the conversation! Leave a commeœnt below or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #BSCBlogging. Want to join the project? Fill out this form.

BSC Bloggin’: Mary Anne vs. Logan

By: Sarah Millar | May 12, 2013 BSC Bloggin' 2 comments

I never really got the Logan and Mary Anne thing. Truth be told, I was never really a fan of Logan — he just seemed to pop in and out of the BSC members’ lives and always just be there with Mary Anne.

Want to read more in the BSC Bloggin’ project? Click here for all the posts.

So perhaps that’s why when I re-read this book, I wondered why it took Mary Anne 41 books to finally kick Logan to the curb.

OK, that sounds harsh. So here’s the deal. Logan has been controlling, as far as Mary Anne’s concerned. He calls and asks, no demands, they go to the movies on a night she already has a baby-sitting job. He takes her out ice skating unannounced and doesn’t leave when she gets cold (to be fair, Mary Anne never explicitly says she’s cold until she’s freezing). The two of them take a break (how Ross and Rachel), before Mary Anne finally pulls the plug at the end of the book.

The book’s second storyline centred around everyone’s favourite selfish baby-sitting charge, Jenny Prezziosos. Her mom is about to give birth to Jenny’s new baby sister. I loved how this secondary storyline mirrored both parts of the Mary Anne and Logan one.

Firstly, Jenny’s parents are buying her gifts in a way of bribing her ahead of the new baby’s arrival. Logan was doing the same with Mary Anne, especially with his Valentine’s Day surprise (dinner, chocolates, flowers and a gold bracelet).

Secondly, Jenny is afraid of what the new baby means for her relationship with her parents. She doesn’t want to be a “big girl,” in the fears that her parents forget about her because of the baby. This is similar to how Mary Anne is afraid to stand up for herself and separate from Logan because it’s what’s best for her.

If I remember right, this separation doesn’t last long. But Mary Anne’s determination not to be controlled by Logan, to be in charge of herself is a good lesson for young girls to be exposed to.

Join the conversation! Leave a commeœnt below or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #BSCBlogging. Want to join the project? Fill out this form.

BSC Bloggin’: Claudia and the Middle School Mystery

By: Émilie Sartoretto | May 9, 2013 BSC Bloggin' 6 comments

This is a translated post of a French post. Click here for the French version.

When I was in elementary school in the ’90s, much like many girls in my generation, I loved The Baby-Sitters Club. The only difference? I read them all in French.

Want to read more in the BSC Bloggin’ project? Click here for all the posts.

In fact, before junior high, most of what I consumed was in French. So translations – whether books, movies or TV shows – bring to mind a sense of nostalgia. I grew up on this, for better or for worse. Some translations are really, really bad!

That’s one reason why I’ve been excited to re-read The Baby-Sitters Clubs books. I was expecting the worst, but I have to say I’ve been positively surprised so far!

Growing up, I loved that these were available in French. Mostly because I enjoyed reading the same stories my English friends and cousins read, but I wasn’t a strong English reader until junior high.

Even at a young age, you quickly realize that translations aren’t faithful to the original. All the more obvious when you’re Franco-Ontarian. Imagine you’re discussing The Baby-Sitters Club with your Anglophone neighbours and you realize that THE CHARACTERS’ NAMES AREN’T THE SAME. My eight-year-old mind was blown. It can be a tricky situation when you’re a kid.

You’d often hear on the playground that French versions weren’t the “real” version. They’re both real, but they are different. Although as a whole the story remains the same, there are always a lot of differences.

Often, the differences are small. For instance, jokes are adapted because you can rarely translate humour literally. But differences can be more important. Like changing characters’ names.

Like I found out early on, that’s the case for The Baby-Sitters Club. In fact, that’s the case for most of its translations, including the Québecois version. In France, they kept the original names. Indeed, there are two different French translations of this series. For those who are curious, here are the Baby-sitters’ French and Québecois names:

Kristy Thomas: Kristy Park: Christine Paul Thomas
Claudia Kishi: Claudia Kishi: Claudia Kishi
Mary-Ann Spier: Mary-Ann Cook: Anne-Marie Lapierre
Stacey McGill: Lucy MacDouglas: Sophine Ménard
Dawn Schafer: Carla Schafer: Diane Dubreuil
Mallory Pike: Mallory Pike: Marjorie Picard
Jessica Ramsey: Jessica Ramsey: Jessica Raymond

It’s also worth noting that the Québecois series takes place in Nouville, a fictitious town in Québec. Throughout the series, other geographic elements are adapted to Canada. For example, Lucy (Stacey) is from Toronto and Carla (Dawn) once lived in Hull.

On to the 40th book in the series. I was especially excited to read Claudia and the Middle School Mystery. Not only was I a huge fan of Claudia as a kid, I also have a penchant for mystery.

The French title — translated literally to Claudia and the Cheater — leaves less to the imagination. Claudia is accused of cheating on her math exam. The BSC members step in to prove her innocence.

Math. That’s not Claudia’s strong suit. After studying, really, really hard for her exam, she rejoices when she gets an A-. But her teacher is less impressed. The student sitting right next to Claudia non only got the same grade, but made the same mistakes. And so, Claudia is disciplined for cheating.

Claudia is distressed — and who can blame her! She worked so hard and it seems so unfair that she’s accused of a crime she didn’t commit. On top of it all, she doesn’t know how to break the bad news to her parents.

The BSC members to the rescue! They launch an investigation and spy on the cheater who admits her crime to her friends. The cheater brags that she overhead Claudia talking about her study efforts. She explains that cheating on Claudia is a perfect crime because she’s not a strong student.

Interesting facts, but nothing can be proven. The Baby-Sitters realize these are useless unless they can prove them. In the end, Claudia’s teacher agrees to a test retake. And she succeeds!

But things don’t go as well for the cheater. The teacher also asked her to retake the test. Taken by surprise, her results aren’t good. In the end, Claudia’s reputation is restored!

This book was a really enjoyable read. It was one of my favourites in the series as a kid. When I started re-reading, I was expecting a mystery story — a crime to solve — but the story is more so one of injustice and friends who have your back.

It’s hard not to sympathize with Claudia in the impossible situation she finds herself in. It’s so frustrating to work hard to reach a goal and when achieved, find yourself accused of cheating.

The messages of teamwork and rallying for a cause still resonate with me. As a kid, in a still mostly black and white world, it was the aspect of injustice that struck a nerve. As an adult, I found the Baby-Sitters as remarkable allies to be especially memorable here.

It also struck me how logically they go about things: even when they overhear the cheater admit her guilt, they know they need proof. Even their solution in the end is reflected.

Growing up, Émilie read all the books she could get her hands on, even the encyclopedias in her parent’s basement. It’s no surprise she now works in communications. By day, she works at local community health centre, by night she’s loves to garden, craft, woodwork and collect whimsical objects. Toujours une fière Franco-Ontarienne! You can follow her on Twitter here.

Join the conversation! Leave a commeœnt below or join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag #BSCBlogging. Want to join the project? Fill out this form.

« Older Entries