Girl Talk #27: Perfect Match

This one is narrated by Katie. She and the gang are taking a computer class with a teacher named Mr. Young, who requires students to work in groups to write their own computer program. Katie, Allison, Randy, and Sabrina create a dating program for their assignment. Each student in the class answers questions and the computer pairs the classmates into boy-girl couples. Then, the teacher organizes a group date to the movies and to Fitzie’s, a local restaurant. It’s an interesting idea for a book, though I doubt it would realistically happen in life. Who knows, though. I suppose kids have done stranger school projects. And just because I’m not smart enough to write a computer program doesn’t mean middle-schoolers couldn’t do it.

Stacy Hansen, the group’s nemesis, spreads a rumor that Katie fixed the computer program so that Katie can be matched up with Greg Loggins. Stacy tells everyone that Katie likes Greg, which is untrue. Scottie hears the rumor and believes it. He starts freezing Katie out and giving her death stares. Sound familiar? This is typical Scottie in-a-rage behavior. As I’ve said before, Scottie doesn’t deserve Katie, and he doesn’t treat her right. Still, she thinks he’s sooo cute. She still likes him, and of course she basically tells him so at the end after she catches him flirting with Stacy to make Katie jealous. Katie sounds pretty mature when she tells Scottie she doesn’t want a serious relationship. I’m quite sure she says that only because these books are for young kids whom parents would think are too young to date. Otherwise, Katie would definitely want Scottie as her boyfriend. All he has to do is smile and wear that hockey letter jacket and she falls all over him.

This book gives us some insight into Greg Loggins. I believe he’s the jerk who said some obnoxious things during the 7th grade trip to Eagle Mountain in book #6, and I know he’s the obnoxious one who bugged Allison during the bowling trip when she was crushing on Billy Dixon in book #10. In this book, Katie still thinks he’s obnoxious until she gets to know him and realizes he acts out because it’s an attempt to get attention from his uncaring father. I felt bad for Greg when he was telling Katie that during their date. I thought it was the most heartfelt and true-to-life part of this book. I wish Scottie could show more vulnerability the way that Greg does.

The one part I didn’t like about this book was all the computer talk as they were learning to write their computer program. Perhaps it was necessary to include those bits in the book, though they bored me.

Happy New Year, dear readers. 😃

December 28, 2024 0

Girl Talk #17: Star Quality

It’s been a while since I recapped one of these, so here goes. I had fun reading this one. I think the reason I love this series so much is because the four main characters are such good friends. I have never had a close group of friends, and I envy the Fab Four. I ❤️ their loyalty. I ❤️ their strong bond. I ❤️ their youth and vitality.

This book tells the story of the girls and Hitline USA, a television talent show. The show features singing groups who dress up and lip synch to popular music. It’s a nationally televised show that just happens to be hosting auditions in nearby Minneapolis. Sabrina, Randy, Allison, and Katie form a group called Pump it Up and dance to a song called Bounce Right Back. They’re competing against four other groups, including The Valentines, which happens to be Stacy the Great’s group. Sabrina, our narrator for this book, is totally jelly because The Valentines have glamorous dresses with sequins and high heels. Sabrina’s friends decide to dress as bouncing balls to fit with their Bounce Right Back theme. Sabs thinks the bouncing balls idea is a bad one because it’s corny, and I agree with her, but she doesn’t want to upset her friends, especially after she finds out that Randy’s mom has sewn ball costumes for everyone and Katie’s mom has bought rubber balls that Sabrina’s friends plan to sew onto the costumes.

Plot twist: Sabs’ dog Cinnamon chews up their bouncing ball costumes, so they wind up wearing matching minidresses with low heels instead. Sabrina’s friends buy her a gold jacket to wear since she’s kinda the leader of the singing group and she’s the most excited about being on TV. Look at the cover art:

Sabrina’s jacket looks cool, and I like the girls’ tights and heels. I always liked these book covers. The artist makes the girls look as described in the text. We can always tell who each girl is supposed to be. Randy has the spiked hair, and Allison is the tall, slim one, etc. However, the girls often look more like college-age women than middle schoolers, though.

Stacy is obnoxious as usual in this one. She taunts and harasses Sabrina, telling her that The Valentines will win the competition. The best quote from the book is from the moment where Sabrina describes Stacy’s arrogance and hair flip as she brags:

“Stacy flipped her hair one last time—rather strongly. The ends hit me right in the face.” 😂🤣

Sabrina and the gang work well together and are overall proud of their performance. The Valentines screw up royally by bumping into each other on stage, teetering on their too-tall heels, and forgetting the song lyrics. The Valentines come in last place. Sabs’ group wins the runner-up prize, which is a gift certificate to a record store and some tote bags.

The girls have a blast on camera dancing around and just being friends. They also learn a bit about show business. For instance, someone on set holds up a card reminding the audience to clap. Also, the show’s host, Rick Stevens, has the stereotypical diva attitude that I imagine some celebrities have. The celebrity guest, Alek Carreon, is the opposite; he’s sweet and down-to-earth.

Ciao for now! 😊

May 20, 2024 0

Girl Talk #10: Falling in Like

I first read this book in middle school. Before I started re-reading it this past weekend, I could still recall one detail: Allison walks into an event and feels others staring at her and judging her. She thinks to herself, “I was proud to be there with Billy.”

The fact that I can recall this tiny bit of a scene is a huge compliment to the author. For many books, especially those I read 20+ years ago, I’m unable to evoke any memories at all. Girl Talk is one of those series that I can still recall specific details about.

In this one, Allison volunteers to tutor a fellow student named Billy Dixon who struggles in school. At first, Allison shows reticence to work with him after witnessing him yelling at another student in the lunchroom. In their first tutoring session, she notices that he’s very smart. He can multiply fractions in his head, and he even corrects her on a math mistake. Problem is, he corrects her in a hateful, “you’re a terrible tutor” way, and she cries.

Rather than run away, Allison becomes determined to help Billy, whom she sees as smart but lacking in discipline. As they continue working together she asks him over to her house to study. While the two of them read a story with Allison’s little brother Charlie, Allison notices that Billy makes several reading mistakes. Allison’s mama, a former teacher, later tells her that Billy may have a reading disorder. Allison realizes his difficulty with reading is probably the reason he gets so testy with her when they study English together.

Sam’s group of guy friends challenges Allison and her friends to a bowling competition. Allison, having never bowled before, worries about the competition. On the bowling night, they see Billy at the bowing alley, which has the clever moniker Lois Lane’s. After watching her bowl several gutter balls, Billy comes over to Allison and coaches her on how to hold the ball and when to release it. Greg Loggins notices that Allison begins to bowl better after the pointers from Billy, and he accuses them of cheating and gets belligerent about it. In a previous book, I believe Greg was the one who behaved obnoxiously during the 7th grade trip to Eagle Mountain. 😟

Allison finally bowls a strike, and when she turns to celebrate it with Billy, he’s gone. He probably bails due to Greg’s behavior. However, this feels slightly out of character for Billy, who doesn’t appear to scare easily in earlier scenes.

Billy asks Allison on a date. She feels excited but nervous because this will be her first date. The girls try to coach her on what to say during the date, but they just wind up giggling a lot.

Allison goes over to Billy’s house to convince him to take the reading test, which is important because it will determine if he has a disorder. His front yard needs mowing. The front porch sags. Inside, dirty dishes are piled up and Allison itches to clean the place. Allison implies to the reader that the house is so dirty because Billy has no mom (his mom died years ago), though she doesn’t mention where his father is or even think that a man could possibly run a household effectively without a woman. 😬

Anyway, Alison finds Billy in the basement with several older boys. They’re shooting pool, but when Allison comes in the boys begin to flirt with her. Allison is obviously uncomfortable about being cooped up in a windowless space with bad boys. How do we know these are bad boys? Because they wear ripped jeans and one of them refers to Allison’s teacher as a hag. Allison tries to talk with Billy, but he doesn’t come sit by her and he gives her the cold shoulder. Billy clearly feels jealous that all the guys want Allison, and his response is to stand there sulking while they flirt with her. She flees the basement and Billy follows her upstairs. She begins to cry as she runs from the house, ignoring Billy as he calls her name.

Later, Billy phones to apologize for his jerk behavior. One thing I notice about several of the boys in Acorn Falls is that they have fragile egos and often misbehave when jealous of another guy. We saw this in book #2 when Katie tries out for the hockey team and Scottie feels threatened by having a girl on the team, so his response is to physically hurt her on the ice as a way to soothe his ego. Later, when Michel moves to town in Mixed Feelings, Scottie feels jealous that Katie might like Michel, so Scottie snaps at Katie and treats her like crap. And what about Sabs and Nick? In book one, Nick assumes Sabs is flirting with another guy, so he uninvites her to the school dance. Sabs, Katie, and now Allison in this book, all easily forgive these boys’ insecure behaviors. 😟

Billy takes the test and discovers he does have a learning disorder. We assume that he’s able to get help and improve his grades. However all of that is pretty glossed over and the last part of the book focuses on the date, which includes dinner at the burger joint in town and attending the movie at the junior high. When Allison and Billy walk into the restaurant together, Stacy Hansen watches them obnoxiously, but Allison holds her head high. Billy holds her hand and later puts his arm around her at the restaurant as they sit with Billy’s group of older boys. Allison feels good knowing that Billy is “public” about the fact that he likes her. Maybe this is why adult me remembered the scene so many years after having read it the first time. Adolescent me must’ve envied that feeling Allison has. It’s a feeling of confidence that comes from knowing that someone cares about you and wants to show everyone. Sweet.

Here’s the cover. Allison looks bored or fed up. Billy looks tortured.

Last time I said Here Comes the Bride was my favorite book of the series. Falling in Like gives it stiff competition. In fact, I may have to change my mind and call this one my new favorite. 👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

March 12, 2021 0

Girl Talk Series #2: Face Off!

Face Off--pic

When I started reading the Girl Talk book series in middle school, Face Off! was one of my favorites. I thought the message was cool: girls are just as good as boys. I still think the message is cool, but the overall storyline is annoying at times.

Katie Campbell, the blonde, blue-eyed preppy of the friend group narrates this one. It begins with her at the local ice skating rink whirling around and enjoying herself. She’s a great skater, good enough to try some moves she’s seen on figure skating competitions on television. As a kid, I knew nothing about hockey or ice skating, and I remember that it intrigued me to read about this girl in a state I’d never visited who was doing things I had never done. Anyway, Scottie Silver, 8th grade heartthrob, skates past Katie and snatches her hat off her head. She speeds off after him and chases him around the rink. Just as she grabs him by his belt loop, they knock a couple of other skaters over. No one is injured. Scottie grins at Katie and skates off. I reckon this is his way of telling her he likes her.

At dinner that night, Katie’s sister Emily mentions the incident with Scottie. Katie’s mother warns Katie to be ladylike and not play rough with boys. Katie’s mom keeps the house neat as a pin and expects her daughters to maintain a certain decorum. Katie feels pressure to conform.

Later, we see that Katie’s on the flag squad at her school, which means she’s a kind of cheerleader responsible for cheering at games and pep rallies while waving a flag around. Stacy Hansen (a.k.a. Stacy the Great) teases Katie one day after practice about wearing an undershirt instead of a bra. Flat-chested and sensitive, Katie is terrified of being teased by anyone about anything, so she runs into the flag coach’s office, hands in her flag girl uniform, and quits the team. Part of the decision to quit is that she doesn’t like being around Stacy so much, but another big motivator is that she doesn’t love being a flag girl and was only doing it because her mother wanted her to and because her best friend from last year (who has now moved away) tried out for the squad with her.

Anyway, Katie’s mother and her sister Emily are surprised and disappointed that Katie has quit the team, and Katie feels guilty. During lunch at school, Sabs mentions the upcoming hockey tryouts, and Scottie Silver starts acting obnoxious and basically saying he’s the best skater in the county and calling himself a one-man team. Randy Zak, who can’t stand Scottie’s egotistical bragging, stands up to him and proclaims Katie a better skater than Scottie and that Katie will try out for the boys’ hockey team. Katie, who embarrasses just as easily as Sabs did in the previous book, gets angry at Randy. Later, Randy says she thinks Katie should seriously consider trying out. Randy encourages Katie to show everyone that girls are just as good as boys. Katie’s courage grows, and she agrees to try out.

At Monday’s tryout, Coach Budd tells Katie in front of all the boys and spectators that there will never be a girl on his hockey team. Quiet Allison Cloud stands up and tells Coach Budd that Title IX exists partly to ensure that girls and boys be treated the same at public schools that receive federal funding, or something along those lines. Coach Budd relents and lets Katie try out. She is immediately “othered.” She skates toward the locker room to put on her uniform and pads, but then she’s stopped by Scottie, who reminds her that she cannot share the boys’ locker room. Flip, the one guy on the team who’s nice to Katie during tryout week, points out the visitors’ locker room and tells her she can change in there. Katie is wearing a bra that day, which she never wears and is only wearing now because of how Stacy teased her about the undershirt. Katie has cast aside her undershirts and now thinks that wearing a bra is the more grown-up thing to do, which is silly since she has no tits. Funny story, I had B/C cups when I was in sixth grade, and I decided not to wear a bra to school one day because they were scratchy and I hated them. One of my classmates called me out because my tits were bouncing uncontrollably. I don’t feel sorry for Katie for taking longer to develop. I looked like a grown woman at twelve, and it was not fun. Anyway, Katie takes off her bra and puts on her hockey uniform in the changing room. However, the bra gets hooked to the back of her pants and she doesn’t realize it until she skates out onto the ice and everyone laughs at her. She’s humiliated, and her friends have to go into the locker room and give her a pep talk until she can stop crying and muster the courage to go back to the tryout.

She makes it through the first day of tryouts and then goes to Fitzie’s, the afterschool hangout. It’s a restaurant with a 1950s theme. They serve hamburgers and ice cream floats and banana splits, etc. Anyway, at Fitzie’s Scottie warns her that the guys will start to play rough with her on the ice soon, only it sounds more like a threat than a warning. I’m starting to like Scottie less and less. First, he brags about how great he is at lunch, and then he threatens a girl with violence. Granted, Katie is trying out for a dangerous, physical contact sport, but the way Scottie takes pleasure in the idea of her possibly getting hurt is too much. Katie and the other girls only seem to like him because he’s cute, which shows how shallow they all are.

At home, Katie’s mom tells her that she heard from someone at the grocery store that Katie has tried out for the hockey team. They get into a fight because Mom wants Katie to give up hockey and Katie is determined to go through with the tryout. Katie winds up screaming at her mother, which she claims she’s never done.

On day three of tryouts, the guys gang up on Katie. Every time she gets the puck, they knock her down or hip check (whatever that means). Even the guys on her team during the scrimmage don’t try to help or work with her. She bravely takes a beating. Afterward, she’s already sore and knows she’ll be bruised the next day. She can barely move her arms well enough to change out of her uniform and is trying to muster the strength to walk home when Scottie picks a fight with her outside the rink. He says she better stop being a wimp if she wants to play a man’s game. Katie, rightfully fed up with his crap by that point, tells him that he is so intimidated by a fast skating girl that he and his friends had to beat her up to feel better about themselves. I was so proud of Katie for telling him off. Then, Scottie leans over and kisses her cheek. Ugh! It’s like those old movies where a man and woman argue passionately and then do something sexual like kiss passionately or jump in bed. Katie and Scottie don’t jump in bed, though, thank God. Instead, after Scottie pecks her cheek he runs away. Katie’s dumbfounded and also excited that he’s kissed her. I get that baby girl’s hormones are raging, but I still think Scottie is a jerk and not nearly good enough for Katie. Anyway, Katie tells Sabs about it that night on the phone and Sabs is in disbelief but also delighted that Scottie, the “make out King” has kissed Katie.

On Friday, Katie finds out that she made the team. Teachers and even kids she doesn’t know well congratulate her. Scottie calls her that night to remind her to be at the rink on time for their Saturday game. It’s a short and awkward conversation, and he hangs up without saying goodbye. Katie calls and tells Sabs about Scottie’s call. Then Sabs calls Allison, who interprets Scottie’s behavior. She says Scottie likes Katie and that he was probably embarrassed to call her and so he made up some excuse about letting her know when to arrive for the game. Allison was always the intuitive one in these books. Earlier in this book she’s the one to notice Scottie watching Katie, even before Scottie snatches Katie’s hat and skates away with it. I like that Allison is intuitive, but I think someone should warn Katie to stay away from a guy like Scottie. First his arrogance is on display, and then he physically abuses Katie. Kissing her after trying his best to bruise her body is problematic to me. I would’ve liked Scottie a lot better if he’d been supportive of her or stood up for her during the tryout.

During the first game, Katie rides the bench until the starting left wing, Brian, is injured. Katie has to substitute for him. She steals the puck from the other team and passes it to Scottie, who scores the winning goal right before the buzzer. Everyone chants her name. Afterward, the coach tells her that he knew she was a winner when he chose her for the team. Scottie apologizes for being obnoxious to her on the phone, though he offers no apologies for ganging up on her during tryouts. She instantly tells him she forgives him. Ugh! Then he asks her to go to Fitzie’s for a soda. Stacy, who is supposed to be his girlfriend, storms off with her friends. Scottie offers to carry Katie’s bag to the restaurant, but she tells him she can handle it. The book ends with them laughing over her decision to carry her own bag.

Overall, I do like the themes of this book. There are two that I picked out. One is to never let bullies determine who you are or what you should do. The other theme is that hard work and perseverance pay off. These are good lessons for a middle schooler to learn. Still, I wish Scottie wasn’t such a jerk, and the way Katie easily forgives his behavior bugs me. Plus, Scottie has no redeeming qualities aside from being sooo cute. I guess his apology was a good gesture, but the fact that he bullied her to begin with irks the heck out of me.

Other observations:

Stacy is “going out” with Scottie in this book, which I guess means that they hang out after school. Stacy was also “going out” with Alec, the boy Sabs crushed on in the previous book. Not trying to slut shame her, but how many boyfriends could a girl have during middle school? We’re also told that Stacy dated Nick Robbins back in sixth grade, so we know she’s had a least three boyfriends by age 12. She was also wearing diamond earrings at the ice skating rink in the first chapter of this book. This chick acts twenty-five instead of twelve.
Allison looks beautiful as always on the cover of this book, though she looks about eighteen instead of thirteen. Randy looks like her mullet-haired mom.
In one scene Randy wears a flapper-style dress and cats-eye glasses. Where does she get such an outfit? I go thrifting sometimes, but I never find flapper-style dresses at Goodwill, and these books were written in the early 90s, so I know Randy didn’t order a 1920s-style dress off the internet. Unsolved mystery.

May 18, 2020 0