read-through: discussion post - #9 The Ghost at Dawn's House

[luxken27]

#9 The Ghost at Dawn's House
Creaky stairs, spooky noises, secret passages - it must be a ghost!
Welcome to the discussion post for week nine! Don't panic if you haven't finished The Ghost at Dawn's House 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 The Ghost at Dawn's House.

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

[luxken27]

We're still in the realm of the realistic, which is always appreciated :) Not only with the whole BSC-scaring-themselves-silly and finding the secret passage, but also with the Pike family dynamics. I really felt sorry for Nicky in this book, and this subplot probably goes a long way towards my indifference (at best) of the triplets. Nicky struggles a lot with the whole idea of "boy things" vs "girl things" for most of the series, and his older (only) brothers really don't help matters in that regard. It makes me wonder what their relationship as adults would be like...

I really enjoyed the secret passage plot, tho! Its fun reading about the origins of something iconic in the series. And LOVED when Dawn and Stacey actually acknowledged how shitty it is that the other girls only ever bring them crackers when they're pigging out on candy. In the later series it doesn't really seem to bother them, but its nice to see them a little peeved here - and swearing revenge, LOL.

I don't know how I missed it the first (few thousand) time(s) around, but I always thought Cam Geary was an adult heartthrob, for whatever reason. (Like, say, 20ish, the perfect target for fangirl crushes.) It was only when I randomly heard/saw MA's crush compared to the Jonathan Taylor Thomas juggernaut that it finally clicked for me, but its kinda obvious in this book that he's meant to be a teen or even preteen heartthrob. Of all the things to go over my head, LOL... :P

[marycontraria]

You know what? I don't actually like Dawn very much. Even early, more-complex Dawn. She's just not a very fun narrator, and it doesn't help that I can't manage to identify with her love of ghost stories and the paranormal. That said, I like this book for the history behind the secret passage, which - you're right, luxken - is kind of an iconic thing in the series...

And I also always thought that Cam Geary was an adult star! I can't remember when I started to realize otherwise, but it was definitely since joining fandom as an adult myself. I never really did the "teen heartthrob adoration" thing, but my sister was so into JTT it was ridiculous. :)

[kalloway]

I am still sad that I never found a secret passage in my house (or the houses of any friends - we all looked!). Oh well--

There's still a lot of foreshadowing for Mallory in here.

The ongoing 'maybe old house noises' still sort of make me curious, though. Considering both Dawn and Nicky found the passage within a relatively short time, I'm sure other people had to have found it over the years.

I know Dawn's mother is a little scatterbrained, but I can't imagine a reasonable adult reaction wouldn't be 'and how do we block off/lock this up Right Now?'