Young Adult Revisited

The big story across the country involves a drug kingpin. One man agreed to testify against him, but he ended up dead. Then his doctor (Dr. Ryan) stepped forward, with a letter the man sent him, explaining how the drug operation worked and what the drug lord did. Apparently in the 1980s, this was enough evidence to put someone away for good. The newspaper gets a new intern (in the middle of summer?), named Darcy. She’s exactly like Jess and pretty much hates Liz from the moment she meets her. Darcy and Liz both meet Eric, a new guy working in the coffee shop downstairs. Eric is serious, quiet and loves writing. For some reason he’s the perfect guy for Darcy, who is spoiled, snotty and only thinks about clothes. Liz spends some time with Eric and really likes him, though of course she doesn’t mention that she has an out of town boyfriend. They go out a few times, share poems and stuff they write and generally like each other. Liz doesn’t tell anyone and Darcy gets pissed off because...

Jerry is your typically college student spending some time in Italy and hoping to improve his Italian. One night he runs into a man on the street that recognizes him as an American. He offers him a small painting that he made himself, which replicates a famous painting called the Guccioli Miniature. Jerry doesn’t want it, but the painter keeps pushing him and he eventually buys it for $10. On the walk back to his hotel, he remembers hearing that the original painting came about because Lord Byron kept a mistress and had the image painted so he could carry her with him all the time. He starts noticing dark shadows and feels like someone is following him. That night, he keeps hearing people in the hallway outside his room. Every time he looks at the painting, he imagines steam and heat coming off the picture. When someone rattles his doorknob and no one is there, he finally has enough. He walks out to the balcony, tosses the painting over and feels a weight lift off his chest. The ...

This is the book that taught me the word “pariah” and I was mentioning it to a friend a few weeks ago. Low and behold, we came across a copy at the thrift store and now it’s mine, all mine! So, Mary Anne is flipping through a fashion magazine at a BSC meeting when she sees a model with extremely short hair. She wonders aloud if it would fit her and Claudia flips out. The other girls giggle, telling her that it just wouldn’t look good on her. Originally she agrees, but the more she thinks about it, the more she really likes it. She takes a picture to her dad and he agrees that it would look nice on her. They make a plan to hit the mall on Saturday and she asks him to keep it a secret from Sharon and Dawn. She gets her haircut and naturally loves it. They find a makeup store doing free makeovers and he not only lets her have one, but buys her some makeup. Then they hit a clothing store and she gets a few new clothes. When they get home, she springs her makeover on Sharon and Dawn. ...

Jenny survived her bout with Mr. Hagen and now sees a psychiatrist multiple times. She explains that a neighbor wants her to babysit and she isn’t sure she wants to, but her mom is kind of pushing her because they need the money. On her way out, his creepy nurse Miss Gurney compliments her on her shirt. Then she runs into Chuck, her former boyfriend. Chuck can’t seem to get it through his head that she doesn’t want to see him anymore. Jenny starts her new job and the boy is an insane little monster. Eli has pet tarantulas, loves gruesome horror movies, builds computers for fun and is way too smart for his age. He tricks Jenny into sticking her hand in the tarantula and then laughs like crazy. After hanging out with her friends Rick and Claire at the mall, she meets a cute guy named Cal. They do some flirting and he asks her out. Their date is almost a disaster, as he takes her to a lame party where all people do is drink beer and make out. They go ice skating, kiss some more and sh...

Dawn is still new to the world of the BSC and she’s having some hard times with Kristy who obviously doesn’t like her very much. One day while sitting for the Pike family, she meets Buddy and Suzi Barrett, two new divorced kids living in the area. Suzi trips and skins her knee, but she gives her a bandaid and it’s all good. A few days later Mrs. Barrett calls during a club meeting and requests a sitter. Dawn takes the job and she’s actually kind of excited. On her first job, Mrs. Barrett runs off in a hurry without giving her any information. Buddy keeps pointing his finger at her like a gun and being a beast. She finally manages to get them under control and even creates races to clean the house. Before long Dawn becomes the primary sitter for the family. Every time she goes, the kids are wild and crazy, the house looks like a mess and Mrs. Barrett is running off somewhere in a hurry. Dawn keeps the kids under control, but whenever another sitter is there, the kids barely listen. ...

Greg is still recovering from the problems he encountered in the last book. All of his friends are now in a different class and he is stuck with Mr. Saur, a gruff teacher the kids nickname Sourball. The teacher makes everyone give a speech in front of the class about a true story, which counts for half of their overall grade for the semester. Greg tells the story of the evil camera, which pisses off Mr. Saur. Saur claims that the story was a figment of his imagination and gives him a failing grade. Greg begs for a second chance because if he gets good grades, his parents will let him visit his cousins near Yosemite for the summer. The teacher agrees to give him another shot, but only if he brings in the camera. Shari begs him to leave it alone because she doesn’t want to relive the events of the last book. Greg sneaks out anyway and goes back to the old house, but discovers that someone tore it down. He meets Jon, who tells him that his dad bought the old house and threw away every...

Dawn is feeling kind of bad because Kristy arranges for a special induction to the BSC for Mallory and Jessi. She knows that they weren’t the best of friends when she first joined, but it still kind of hurts a little. It doesn’t help when Dr. Johansson calls and asks for Claudia specifically because Charlotte misses Stacey. Then Mrs. Pike calls and asks just for Dawn; she needs someone to help Margo and Claire enter the Little Miss Stoneybrook contest. At first Dawn thinks it will be fun and easy, but she quickly learns she was wrong. Neither girl is really talented and both are kind of hard to control. Then Kristy sits for Karen and encourages her to enter the pageant. Mary Anne sits for Myriah Perkins, who wants to enter too. Then Claudia sits for Charlotte and convinces her to enter too. Before long, the members of the BSC are barely talking. Margo decides to peel a banana with her feet, while reciting a poem and Claire is going to sing the Popeye song. All the girls lear...