(If you click the cover, you'll see it bigger.)The Cover: I’ve always liked this cover. Definitely the strongest one until…#7, I think. I quite like #7’s. It’s mostly because I think Stephanie looks really adorable. Albeit out of her color scheme. Honestly, she doesn’t get put in her proper colors until the next cover. It’s such a huge part of her character that I wonder if there was any knowledge of the books by the artist. But aside from the clothes, this is generally how I picture Stephanie in my head. Kate once again has grown some more hair. I like shorter-haired Kate better. Lauren looks essentially how I imagine her. Patti…well, her face is kinda cute, although not as cute as she was on #2 and #3, and I like the curly ends of her hair, but the outfit. Wow. We’ll get to that later.
CHAPTER 1:
It’s sleepover time! Friday night, Stephanie’s room. Kate is looking outside at the snow while the others read teen mags and stuff their faces. (That’s what it really says. “Stuffing our faces and reading teen magazines.”) Patti, Stephanie and Kate discuss the love lives of three stars: Tanya Colter, Kevin DeSpain and Marcy Monroe. Is Kevin in love with Marcy when he’s been seen out with Tanya? Blah blah. Oh, and ever wonder what happened to the kittens from the last book? Guess. Stephanie now owns the all-black one, named Cinders. Lauren and Patti have the two black and white kittens. Lauren’s is Rocky (to go with Bullwinkle) and Patti’s is Adelaide. Lauren comments that Marcy is boring and reminds her of the dullest girl in their class, Karla Stamos.
“They both wear a lot of brown…nobody wears brown! They’re both always talking about improving their minds and how they can’t stand rock music…they only listen to classical. And they both squint.”
Lauren rests her case. Kate still thinks Marcy’s beautiful though. Stephanie says there’s no way Kevin’s in love with her. Patti comments on Kevin’s cuteness and height. We get it. Patti’s tall. Stephanie gets impatient, because she’s currently into blonds like Donald Foster. Kevin’s dark-haired. (Remember that when I get to book #21. He’s blond then. I can’t remember if he switched in between, but he’s blond on the cover.) Patti turns the page and finds a kissing article, which makes her blush. Lauren wants to postpone the article for a food run. Stephanie says kissing’s more important than food. Lauren disagrees and adds that she knows more about it than the rest of them anyway, thanks to her older brother. Lauren goes for food, giving her the chance for backstory. Lauren returns, post-backstory, to find the girls kissing pillows. Or rather, Stephanie instructing Kate and Patti on how to kiss pillows. Kate sums it up rather well:
“If the first boy I kiss is this soft and fat, he’s the wrong one anyway.”
Lauren says Roger (her brother) used to practice on his arm, so Kate gives it a shot, then tries to get everyone into a festival of film classics. Stephanie says they never can tell when they’ll need to know how to kiss. Kate again:
“Like next Friday at Eckhart’s Rink? With Mr. and Mrs. Sykes sitting there? Give me a break, Stephanie!”
Jane Sykes, one of the girls’ classmates, is having a huge sleepover to celebrate winter vacation. They’re going to the skating rink first, then back to the Sykes’ for the sleepover. Kate gets the magazine away from Stephanie and finds a quiz: “Are You Cautious or Carefree?” I’m not going to type out all the questions, but it’s your typical magazine quiz. The funniest sequence is this:
“When you go to dinner at a new restaurant and discover there’s nothing on the menu that you recognize, do you: A. look on it as an adventure and pick something yourself; B. ask the waiter to bring the closest thing he’s got to a hamburger; C. decide you’re not hungry and couldn’t possibly eat a thing.”
“A,” I said right away. I’m pretty interested in most food.
Stephanie made a face. “B. It’s clear that you’ve never seen baked snails, Lauren.”
The end result of the quiz is that Stephanie gets 25 points, meaning she’s daring and carefree, but could stand to give her decisions more thought. Kate and Lauren get 17 and 18 respectively, meaning they’re sensible, but shouldn’t overdo it. And Patti gets so few points that the article asks if she’s still breathing and says she needs to loosen up fast! Poor Patti is totally flustered and goes on about how boring she is. Kate and Stephanie goof around to try to cheer Patti, but we’re reminded that once she gets something in her mind (see #1), she won’t let it drop.
CHAPTER 2:
The next day, the girls go shopping. They enter Dandelion and we meet the owner, Mrs. Martin. She directs the girls to piles of sweaters and tights near the back wall, some of which are on sale. Stephanie finds a sweater with red and white squiggles on it (no mention of the background color, unless the whole thing is just squiggles) and Kate finds a sweater with yellow and green zigzags and a pair of dark green leg warmers. Lauren finds a turquoise and black top, while Patti chooses a navy blue hooded sweater with white snowflakes…then has a breakdown. On the way to the dressing rooms, she compares herself with Karla Stamos and all her brown, then heads back out into the store. Patti comes back with a wide array of clothes: an electric-blue stretch jumpsuit, bright orange tights, a black Western shirt with rhinestones all over the back, a belt made from a bike chain, and shiny yellow suspenders. She tries everything on, then tries more. She ends up in the outfit on the cover: a pink polka-dotted sweater, a poison-green miniskirt, and striped pink leggings. Patti asks the dread question: how does she look? Lauren hedges and says it’s a great outfit. Kate says the colors look nice on Patti and Stephanie says she looks great, but isn’t it expensive? Patti has Christmas money though. Kate tries a final warning: don’t buy it if you’re not going to wear it, because you can’t return sale stuff. But Patti’s convinced she wants a change and even quotes the quiz. She asks about the chain belt, which Lauren dismisses quickly.
The girls head to Charlie’s Soda Fountain. Lauren tells how they always sit in the last booth and always order the same things. She gets a banana smoothie, Stephanie gets a chocolate milk shake, Kate gets a float with two scoops of vanilla, and Patti gets a lime freeze. So when the waitress appears with menus, Kate dismisses her, but Patti says she wants one. She orders the Secret Weapon: a drink that’s supposed to be a mixture of everything in the store. Lauren mentions in her narration that you have to have a cast iron stomach to even try it and that’s her, not Patti. The waitress asks Patti if she’s sure and Patti nods. The waitress then adds that if Patti finishes it, she gets another free. Kate asks if anyone’s ever finished two. The waitress replies that a year or so ago, one of the high school boys drank one and a half. That would be Tug Keeler, the 250-pound tackle on the Riverhurst High football team. The waitress mentions that they didn’t see him for awhile after that. Soon she’s back with the drinks. The Secret Weapon is in a tall frosted glass with exploding fireworks stamped on it in red. The drink itself is thick, dark and brownish-purple. Kate wonders what the purple is. Stephanie asks if Patti’s going to drink it and Patti replies that she wants to try new things. Kate asks if a strawberry freeze wouldn’t have been new enough. Patti offers sips around and everyone refuses, even Lauren. So Patti takes a deep breath and chugs the entire thing! She says it was very sweet and it coats your throat like cough medicine. When the waitress comes by, she’s shocked and asks if Patti wants a second. She agrees, though Kate tells her not to push her luck. Patti says she won’t drink the whole thing and only manages a couple sips. She’s not saying much and seems very thoughtful. The girls pay and go outside, only to be bombarded by Henry Larkin, Mark Freedman and Larry Jackson, who were in Mimi’s Pizza across the street. It’s snowball fight time! The girls crouch behind a parked car and we’re reminded of Stephanie’s killer arm. She gets Larry on the ear and Henry on the back of the head. Mark’s calling for a regroup when she gets him in the face. (Mark’s my favorite of the boys, though I honestly can’t say why.) Kate and Stephanie run after the retreating boys, but Patti volunteers to stay with their purchases. Lauren notices she’s not feeling well. Stephanie and Kate come running back, as the boys did manage to regroup. Lauren says Patti’s sick and Kate, whose father is a doctor, goes into a “stick out your tongue” routine. Lauren’s exasperated and tells Kate it’s the Secret Weapon. Stephanie yells at the still charging boys and they realize Patti’s sick. Mark starts to apologize, but Lauren tells him Patti drank “one whole Secret Weapon and part of a second.” The boys are stunned, but not into silence.
“Kyle Hubbard drank part of one once on a dare,” Larry told us.
“He thought he was going to throw up for hours afterward. Is that how you feel, Patti?” Henry Larkin wanted to know.
“Please,” Patti murmured queasily. “I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Yeah, thanks for sharing that with us, Henry,” Stephanie muttered.
The girls wonder where Stephanie’s mom, who’s picking them up, could be. Mark climbs a pile of snow and finally declares that she’s coming. Stephanie tells her mom what happened, and Kate and Lauren get Patti and the packages into the car. Naturally, Larry can’t resist a moving target and gets the back window of the car with one final snowball. They get Patti home safely. On the way to drop the other girls off, Mrs. Green asks why Patti finished the drink if it was so bad. The girls explain about the quiz and Patti wanting to try new things. Mrs. Green says it doesn’t sound like Patti and Stephanie says that’s the point. The chapter ends with Kate predicting that Patti will never wear her new outfit.
CHAPTER 3:
Stephanie talks to Patti that night and Patti’s feeling much better. By Monday, she even seems back to normal, wearing navy blue and everything. Then Mark decides to lead a little tour to see the girl who drank two Secret Weapons. His tour includes Larry (“of course, since they’re always together”), Bobby Krieger from 5C (Kate’s old crush), and Alan Reese and Todd Farrell from 5A. Patti modestly says it was only one and a couple sips, but the boys are still impressed.
“Still,” Bobby insisted. “A girl who can finish a whole Secret Weapon!”
Alan asks if the girls are going to Jane’s sleepover. He and Bobby might be at the rink, along with Todd, who’s Jane’s cousin. Then Pete Stone arrives. Pete’s described as having curly dark-brown hair and light green eyes. “We’re sort of interested in each other,” Lauren narrates. The boys say they’ll probably be at the rink. Then Henry comes by and suggests they all go shoot baskets. Once they’re gone, Kate points out that Jenny Carlin is shooting deadly looks at Lauren. Jenny’s got a crush on Pete and hates Lauren because he likes her. But Lauren doesn’t think Pete ever liked Jenny because she’s too pushy. Anyway, Jenny and her Jenny-in-training, Angela Kemp, are glaring daggers at the Sleepover Friends. Stephanie does an amusing imitation of Jenny’s squeaky voice and Kate stares Jenny down until she stops looking at them. Patti asks if Todd is nice. Stephanie says he’s very nice. He was in the same 4th grade class as her and Lauren. Stephanie adds that he’s very shy around girls and Lauren says that he’s tall, too. Todd was the tallest of the boys there and “Pete’s no shorty.” The other girls discuss the party, while Patti watches Todd until he’s out of the room.
However, it turns out Patti can’t even go to the party. Before school the next morning, she says her family is having company, so she can’t go anywhere. The visitor is Karen Lawson. The girls’ parents used to teach at the same university. The families spent a few summers together when the girls were young, then the Lawsons moved to California. Lauren asks what Karen’s going to be doing here. Her older sister Lisa is a high school junior and she and her parents are going to be visiting colleges. Patti describes Karen as short, thin, really quiet and always reading. And she’s staying the entire vacation. Kate gets it in her head to ask Jane if Karen can come to the sleepover. Jane doesn’t mind, because from Patti’s description, probably no one will even notice that Karen is there.
The Lawsons’ plane arrives on Friday afternoon. Patti’s family, including the once again correctly-named Horace, is going to meet them at the airport. Karen will go back with the Jenkins family, while the other Lawsons travel on. Jane’s party doesn’t start until 5:30 and it takes an hour and a half for travel back from the city, so Patti and Karen should still have plenty of time to arrive. Lauren gets there a little late. She’s greeted by Jane and asks if she’s late, to which Kate quips “No more than usual!” Lauren asks if Patti’s there, but the answer is no. Jane leads the way to the living room, where the girls (all 14 of them) will all be sleeping on the floor. Jane instructs them to put their stuff down and come into the kitchen, as they’re eating before heading to the rink at 6:30. Stephanie jokes that Lauren should sleep next to the wall “so Kate and I can protect you if Jenny turns into a vampire in the middle of the night.” The girls giggle and Stephanie adds, “Wait until you see what Jenny’s got on.” Lauren asks who else is there. Sally Mason, Robin Becker, Erin Wilson, Nancy Hersh, Karla… I love how much they use last names in books like these. As if we all constantly use them. The girls head into the kitchen.
CHAPTER 4:
Lauren relates how her older brother sympathizes with Jane’s, because having four girls stay overnight is bad enough, but 14? Wow. However, Dennis Sykes doesn’t seem to mind and is even passing out sandwiches. Mrs. Sykes tells the girls to dig in before taking her husband off to the den. “We’ll need all our strength for later.” Lauren spots Jenny, practically drooling on Dennis, dressed all in black: black sweatshirt with glitter on the sleeves and black pants. Now Lauren understands Stephanie’s vampire comment. (I’m not going to say anything. Even though I wear mostly black every day, I’m not going to say anything.) Jenny’s cohort Angela is wearing blue and she gives Lauren a nod. Dennis heads to his room to watch the hockey game and Mrs. Sykes tells him not to get too involved, as they’re leaving for the rink in about an hour. The Sleepover Friends sit down and Kate comments that Jenny doesn’t have a shot with 16-year-old Dennis.
“Jenny is really operating tonight,” Stephanie said in a low voice. “Better keep your eye on Pete.”
The girls eat, then primp and split into groups. The larger group is going with Dennis and Mr. Sykes in the van, while the smaller is with Mrs. Sykes in her car. Stephanie wants to go in the van to watch Jenny in action…because she’s put on eyeliner now. But the girls end up in the car with Jane. Stephanie wonders where Patti is and Mrs. Sykes says Mrs. Jenkins called a bit ago. They got stuck in traffic and are feeding the girls then bringing them to the rink. Stephanie comments that people can change a lot in two or three years and wonders what Karen will look like.
Lauren deems the rink in great that night, which means they’re playing rock instead of polkas, the ice is in good shape, and it’s not too crowded. Mark, Larry and Henry are already there, and Pete enters as the girls are putting on their skates. Pete’s a “really good” skater, but Lauren’s no slouch, having learned from Roger when she was four. Pete and Lauren try writing their names on the ice, then the girls play crack the whip. Meanwhile, Jenny is hanging on the edge of the rink, shrieking like she’s going to fall. Angela hovers nearby.
“Jenny has one eye on Pete Stone and the other on Dennis Sykes,” Stephanie pointed out. “No wonder she’s having trouble. Her poor feet don’t have a clue about which way she’s going!”
We get a brief run down of what other people are doing and then Henry lets out a “Wow!” Wow, indeed. Patti and Karen have arrived. Patti’s in her new outfit and she looks terrific. But, as Lauren says, Patti may as well have been wearing her old sweater and jeans. All the boys have eyes for Karen only. Short, thin, really quiet and always reading is gone. Only short remains. Karen has real shape, as Lauren puts it. She’s sporting a rubber miniskirt, which Kate points out doesn’t seem comfortable. Karen keeps tugging on the bottom of it. But the deep red mini looks great with the rest of her outfit: white leg warmers, a red sweater sprinkled with black lines and white circles and crosses, an armful of sparkling bangles, and a gold feather earring in one ear. Her hair was honey-colored, shoulder-length and a “mass of tight little waves.” She had straight dark eyebrows, bright blue eyes and kind of pouty lips. And being from California, she’s also tan. Patti calls the other Sleepover Friends over to meet Miss Karen. The girls have to fight their way through the frozen with awe boys to get there. Kate comments that the only good thing so far is Jenny, who’s forgotten her helpless act and is gliding across the ice with ease. Patti introduces everyone and Karen says “Aren’t we going to have fun?” in a “breathless little voice.” Karen then turns to the boys and asks if one of them could teach her how to skate. The other have to jump out of the way of the stampede. Mark takes Karen to the bleachers, while Bobby explains how to lace up her skates. Pete helps her put them on. Kate says Jenny had better take a lesson from Karen and Lauren adds that they’d ALL better.
CHAPTER 5:
Patti exclaims “Isn’t Karen great?” as the girls ride back to the Sykes’. The four Sleepover Friends are crammed in the rear seat of the van, while Karen is up front, between Dennis and Mr. Sykes. Lauren gives a half-assed “Yeah, great,” and Jenny turns around from the seat ahead and says that Pete certainly seemed to think so. Kate starts to take her on, but Stephanie interrupts and says that Karen livens things up. (She whispers in Kate’s ear “Don’t give Carlin the satisfaction.”) Lauren admits that Karen is indeed amazing. She had all the boys, except Todd, eating out of her hand. Lauren compliments Patti on her outfit and Patti replies that Karen talked her into wearing it. She adds that being around Karen is really going to be good for her, but Lauren is unconvinced.
The snacks are out when the girls get home and Karen compliments Mrs. Sykes on her cheese ball. Apparently, they have them at parties in Malibu. Thus begins Karen Time. The girls excitedly ask her questions about celebrities and she rattles on and on. Kate asks her a question, obviously not believing a word. Then Dennis and Karen discuss windsurfing briefly, before he announces he’s off to bed. In the living room, the girls get their sleeping bags out and practically everyone moves closer to Karen. The girls change and Karen’s got some old school PJs with long sleeves and a high neck decorated with lace. Kate mutters that she expected something glitzier and Karen, as if she heard, says her mother got them for her before the Lawsons left. It’s too cold in Riverhurst to sleep as Karen usually does “in the raw.” The girls talk about boys, then get into astrology. Karen gives some girls, including Lauren, brief readings, causing Kate to go “hmm.” Karen says she learned her astrology from a guy named Zoltan, who was born in India and has a bald head covered in tattoos of the heavens. Jenny, bored, asks if anyone wants to play Truth or Dare, and Karen giggles, saying she hasn’t played that in so long she totally forgot about it. This of course prompts other girls to ask what she plays in California. Seven minutes in heaven, natch. The chapter ends with Kate commenting how some of the Riverhurst girls are already picking up Karen’s slang.
CHAPTER 6:
Karen teaches the girls the latest California dance moves, then tells a story about vampires in the sewers. Lauren has a bad dream about vampires, Pete and Karen, and wakes up with a bad headache.
“Me, too,” Kate whispered. “I’ve been awake for hours, having Excedrin Headache Number 102: the visitor from California.”
Lauren and Kate declare that they’re ready for home and sneak off to the bathroom. While in there, they discuss Karen. Kate thinks there’s something unreal about her and Stephanie, joining them, agrees. It’s like Karen had a personality transplant, she says. Kate says poor Patti, but Stephanie points out that Patti loves Karen. Lauren grumbles about Pete and Stephanie asks if the girls were going to leave without her. Kate asks if Stephanie still has the magazine from their last sleepover, but no, she’s thrown it out. Kate wonders if they have it at the library. The girls plan to stop at the library after making their escape, but there’s a knock on the door. It’s Patti, hoping that everyone can give Karen a tour of Riverhurst with her. None of the girls has the heart to say no, so they head home for quick naps, then back into town. At first, Karen seems to be enjoying. She likes Charlie’s a lot, though something odd happens there. She spills some of her strawberry soda on her sweater and mutters “Lisa’s going to kill me.” Kate’s curious, but Karen plays it off by saying her sister’s always yelling at her for being a slob. The girls go to Dandelion and then the mall, but by then, Karen’s bored. She asks if this is really what they do on a regular Saturday. Kate replies, listing off some things, one of which is “go to the movies.” Karen’s into that and promptly asks who’s calling the boys. She declares she’ll call them herself, starting with Pete Stone. The girls aren’t sure what to do and Patti tries to stop Karen, but Lauren says not to bother. She has to go pack for a trip to her grandmother’s. Karen talks to Pete, saying that there are five of them and they don’t want to go to the movies by themselves. Lauren and Kate quickly put in that they’re leaving, so Karen drops the number to three. Karen instructs Pete to bring himself and two other boys, with an ever so subtle “Try to get Todd Farrell, okay?” Patti apologizes to Lauren about the Pete thing and Lauren blows it off, saying she’d rather know now what a rotten person he is. (Go, Lauren!) Stephanie walks Kate and Patti to the mall entrance, saying she’s staying to keep Patti out of trouble.
Kate and Lauren hit the library and Kate finds exactly what she expected: Karen stole her horoscopes from the magazine! Kate also points out some of the magazines have pictures of the stars Karen reported seeing doing the same exact things she said they were doing when she saw them. Lauren’s not convinced until Kate says Karen couldn’t have met the astrologer Zoltan…he died 350 years ago!
CHAPTER 7:
Stephanie calls Lauren and is shocked to hear that Karen’s making up at least half of what she says. Stephanie’s confused on why she would do that and Lauren asks what happened at the movies. Turns out, all of the boys were busy, so Pete ended up bringing Robert Ellwanger, Riverhurst’s biggest nerd, and his cousin Arnold, who’s visiting from another town and is apparently an even bigger nerd than Robert. This is amusing because last book, Kate dared Stephanie to ask Robert out and he accepted, so he finally got his date with her. It also turns out that Karen is a movie talker and Pete wasn’t having it. He moved as far away from her as he could get, leaving the Ellwangers to be her rapt audience!
The next day, Lauren and Roger leave for their grandmother’s and have a blast on her farm. Lauren rushes to the phone as soon as she’s home and asks Kate what she’s missed. Karen and Patti were trying on lipstick at the mall the other day. Patti had borrowed Karen’s rubber mini and was sporting eye shadow. Lauren declares that something has to be done and Kate agrees. It’ll all go down at the next night’s sleepover.
Kate’s mom drives the girls to Patti’s and they make their plan. Lauren’s starting to have second thoughts, because Karen is leaving Sunday, but Stephanie says they have to do it because if they don’t, Patti will keep trying to be like Karen. Kate gets a jab in about Stephanie being able to supposedly spot a fake a mile away, but Lauren heads off that argument by asking what they’re going to do. Kate’s plan is to talk about California to give Karen the chance to confess. If she doesn’t, then they bring out Truth or Dare as their secret weapon.
In Patti’s yard, her brother is making a snow robot. Heh. I love Horace. Patti answers the door in a purple stretch jumpsuit and she’s got her hair pulled back on both sides. She happily greets everyone and then more sullenly declares that Karen’s been reworking her room. Patti’s room usually has a quilt her grandmother had made on her double bed, and bookshelves filled with books, stuffed animals, china figurines from around the world, and very old family photographs. Karen has redone it so that there’s a new blue bedspread with yellow lines and green squiggles. Most of Patti’s books are gone and all of the stuffed animals, leaving the figurines to be spaced out one or two per shelf. Lauren asks about Billy, the stuffed bear Patti got for her 3rd birthday and usually had out in her room. Apparently, he’s in the attic because Karen thought Patti’s room looked like it belonged to a 1st grader. Kate asks where Karen is and she’s gone to a Japanese restaurant to get some snacks. She returns just then and Patti asks Lauren to help her get stuff from the kitchen. Once there, Patti needs to talk. Lauren asks what the problem is and Patti starts to say that it’s her (Patti, not Lauren). She’s interrupted by her kitten meowing and she asks her what’s wrong, only she calls her Tanya. Her name before had been Adelaide. Lauren asks what’s up with the name change and naturally, it’s Karen’s doing. Patti finally says Karen is fine the way she is, but Patti can’t be like her. She thinks she’s an uptight failure. Lauren tells her to stop and says they all like her the way she is. Then she tells Patti that Karen’s not all that she seems. Patti’s confused about why Karen would lie and they race back upstairs because they know that’s what Kate’s trying to find out. And when Kate wants to know something, she won’t be derailed, “not even by the rules of common politeness.” Kate’s got Karen talking about Zoltan and is about to say that Karen couldn’t possibly have studied with him, when a whirlwind hits. The other Lawsons are back and one of them is PISSED. Lisa, Karen’s older sister, flies into Patti’s room, declaring that Karen stole her clothes. Lisa is described as “small, not much bigger than Karen, and very blonde, with spiky hair and dark eye makeup. She was wearing a black and white sweater, a black rubber mini, black tights, and long dangly earrings.” Lisa points out that Karen is wearing her stretch pants and earring and Patti’s got on her purple jumpsuit. Patti’s flustered and Lisa examines the other girls for more of her things. She says that Karen must have raided her suitcase before they left. She had to wear some of the same clothes two and three times (oh, horrors!). Karen apologizes and says she did it because she was tired of looking boring. Lisa growls that if her stuff isn’t back in her suitcase is five minutes, Karen is TERMINATED.
CHAPTER 8:
Once Lisa’s gone, Karen asks if everyone thinks it’s easy, having such a cool sister. Patti and Karen change their clothes as Karen explains. She’s the smart one, Lisa’s the popular one. Kate tells Karen that she’s very pretty, so she shouldn’t have trouble being popular, but Karen replies that what boy is going to want the smartest girl in class? She thought the trip would give her a chance to be cool. Karen admits she stole things from the magazines and even says she took the same quiz and got the same result as Patti! Karen apologizes to Lauren about Pete. She figured it out about them when they were at the movies…because Pete talked about Lauren a lot! Lauren handles it casually. Karen admits she’s glad it’s over because it’s exhausting to act like someone else. The topic shifts to Lauren being able to eat continuously and Stephanie and Karen have a bonding moment over being short and not being able to eat as much or they’ll get fat. Karen shows them the Japanese food she brought back, but Patti declares “Let’s order pizza!” Patti’s kitten enters the room and Karen pushes the sushi towards her, calling her Adelaide again. Stephanie says they’ll eat and then fix Patti’s room back to the way it was. Karen adds that they can play Mad Libs after and scribbles a quick one down, modeling it after Lauren’s horoscope. The book ends with everyone laughing.
So that was Patti’s first personality shift. Each girl has at least once during the series where they behave drastically differently. Kate and Stephanie are both really on in this book. They've got some excellent lines. I also like this one because we meet a lot of the other Riverhurst kids. Karen’s interesting, too, as is Lisa. I always kind of hoped they’d go visit her in California, but the trips in Sleepover Friends are mostly realistic, not big, out there adventures like the Baby-Sitters Club had. The next two books are two of those trips, one to the city and one camping. Until then!
