read-through: discussion post - #8 Boy-Crazy Stacey

[luxken27]

#8 Boy-Crazy Stacey
Who needs baby-sitting when there are boys around?
Welcome to the discussion post for week eight! Don't panic if you haven't finished Boy-Crazy Stacey yet - we're all in different time zones, so things will be a little bit staggered. The post doesn't have an expiry date on it, so just comment whenever you're ready.

This is the post to discuss your reading of Boy-Crazy Stacey.

What was your favourite part? What was your least favourite part? Any memorable quotes you'd like to share? What had you forgotten about since the last time this book was read?

There are no mandatory questions or points of discussion for this - anything you want to talk about in relation to this week's book, go ahead!

Comments

[bscfan38182]

This was one of my favorites as a kid. I loved seeing Stacey and MA bond. I also love the wacky Pike adventures. I would still love to eat at Gurber Garden. LOL.

[luxken27]

My least-favorite part of this book is Stacey's embarrassingly delusional crush...which actually isn't as bad as I remember it being, LOL. Maybe because I skimmed the parts where she was gushing about Scott? IDK. I can't see how she's convinced that he likes her as more than a passing fancy, but right up until the end, she's convinced they're friends. Did I miss some bonding in my skimming-while-cringing?

My favorite scene is definitely where the Pike kids bring MA the sunburn remedies! So cute. I've definitely learned to appreciate the Pikes more as I've gotten older...a good thing, since I think they're Ann M's favorite family!

[kalloway]

I had a Stacey-level delusional crush at... 14 or so. So much nostalgic embarrassment while reading this one because I just... looked back and ahahaha, I did not learn my lesson from this book, apparently.

I liked how kind Mr. Pike was about Stacey's needing different food and such.

I can only imagine how different their car trips would be today with dvd players and cell phones and whatnot--

[marycontraria]

I ship future!Stacey as a lesbian because to me, her frenetic crushes-on-all-the-boys reads as some kind of a masking strategy. As delusional as her crush on the lifeguard is, it reads as fairly true for a confused 13-year-old, and her lasting belief that "we'd always be friends" is part of a larger issue with Stacey, as a formerly-bullied kid, desperately needing to be liked by anyone that she's ever felt affection for. Given AMM's own non-hetero orientation, I think it's possible that she was writing Stacey as what she assumed a straight, boy-crazy teen would be like, only a lot more of herself than she intended actually came through in the character. The problem with that in the context of these books is that it's easy for me to read that interpretation as an adult and feel a lot of compassion for Stacey, but a kid in the target age would be more likely to read it at face value and believe that Stacey might have stood a chance with the lifeguard and/or believe that they might actually "always be friends"? I dunno, maybe I'm thinking about this too much, lol.

I can't remember what ended up happening with Toby in the later Sea City Super Special... didn't he turn out to be kind of a skeeze who wanted to go out with Mallory, or something?

Bits in this book that stood out: as they're all saying goodbye for two weeks, it's Kristy who starts crying first! Oh, complex!Kristy, ILU.

LOL at the introduction of Mary Anne's insta-sunburn. And the Pikes bringing her all the things to help her feel better was so super-sweet!

Also, my love for the Pike family continues unabated, and I enjoy the Sea City sub-setting for them every time it happens in the series. I think the annual family vacation is such an interesting aspect of them as a family, and I always love reading future!Pike fic set there!