(If you click the cover, you'll see it bigger.)The Cover: This cover is slightly confusing until you read the book. It could be taken as Lauren, Kate and Patti (crouching) spying on Stephanie’s birthday party. But the girl with curly dark hair isn’t Stephanie. It’s Linda, Lauren’s brother’s girlfriend. So presumably that’s Roger giving her the cake. Youngest-looking 17-year-olds I’ve ever seen. Linda’s the oldest-looking one in that picture and she’s 15, tops. Aside from that, we’ve got a Stephanieless cover. Lauren looks the best we’ve seen her yet, Patti looks cute as well, and Kate’s grown a couple inches of hair since cover #2.
CHAPTER 1:
I’m sure you’re shocked to discover that we’re at a sleepover. More specifically, we’re at Kate’s and the girls are mixing up some avocado mask in the blender. (Lauren is narrating again. I’m going to stop mentioning that it’s her until the time comes when it’s not. So just assume that it’s her until said time.) The girls finish the mixture, which Lauren tries to taste natch, and she goes quickly into backstory mode. Good. That’s out of the way. The girls make it safely to Kate’s bedroom without a Melissa incident. (Melissa’s Kate’s little sis. Remember that. She’s one of the most main characters after the girls and their parents. Not that she ever does much. She’s just around often.) The girls settle down to a snack of Lauren’s dip, Kate’s fudge, barbecue chips and Dr. Pepper. The avocado mask is, of course, Stephanie’s idea. The girls spread it on their faces. As if fifth graders should be concerned about maintaining taut skin. The mask needs to stay on for an hour or so, and the girls begin talking about Lauren’s brother Roger and his girlfriend Linda. Roger’s throwing Linda a surprise birthday party. They’ll return to Roger’s a little early from a date, under the guise that Mrs. Hunter made a cake for Linda. But no, it’s a party. Kate expresses how lame she thinks surprise parties are…to the chagrin of the others, who were planning one for her upcoming birthday. Stephanie wants to sneak over and have a peek, and she manages to talk everyone into it. The girls sneak out and it’s time to reintroduce Donald Foster. He’s the blonde-haired, green-eyed 7th grader who lives between Kate and Lauren. Very conceited and he’s seen the girls in some embarrassing predicaments. The girls hide in the lilacs (hey, the cover got it right!) and wait. After a slight awkward moment, Roger gets Linda into the house and SURPRISE! She seems genuinely surprised, too, much to Kate’s disbelief. Bullwinkle, Roger’s mostly Newfie dog, starts to howl along with “Happy Birthday,” so Mrs. Hunter asks her husband to let him out. The girls make a dash for it, but so does Bullwinkle…straight for them!
CHAPTER 2:
Patti, tallest girl in the 5th grade, easily makes it to the gate and climbs right over it. Lauren does well to keep up until she trips over a sprinkler. Lauren falls, Kate and Stephanie land on her and Bullwinkle’s right there, too. He starts licking the avocado mask off Lauren’s face. Stephanie thinks it’s funny until it’s her turn. Mr. Hunter’s onto the fact that something’s going on and calls for the dog. Bullwinkle takes a few steps towards the house, giving Kate and Lauren time to get through the gate. But Stephanie’s on the slow side and Lauren has to slam the gate in her face to avoid Bullwinkle’s getting out, as he did in #1. Stephanie makes it over the gate, but leaves a scrap of her pajamas behind, which Bullwinkle makes off with. The girls make it to the far corner of the Fosters’ house when they run into the dreaded Melissa. Kate and Melissa have a sisterly tussle and the noise summons Donald Foster. Melissa runs for it and Donald mocks Kate’s mask. She takes off after Melissa. Donald identifies the other three girls, then tells Stephanie he hears she’s a good dancer. Stephanie plays modest and Donald asks if she’s going to dance with him at the Masons’ party. This is the first the girls have heard of it and Donald says the invitations probably haven’t been sent yet. It’s a dance party the next Friday night. Donald knows because he’s friends with Royce Mason, another 7th grader. Specifically, one with “curly brown hair, big brown eyes and a terrific smile.” Kate’s had a crush on him for months, though Lauren’s the only one who knows. Royce’s sister Sally is in the same class as the girls, so Donald’s sure they’re invited. Lauren reminds us that Jenny Carlin is also in the same class, as is Pete Stone. Jenny likes Pete who likes Lauren. Let the sparks fly! Lauren says they’d better get going and Stephanie gives Donald her “Brooke Shields smile.” (Ooh la!) Stephanie babbles about Donald’s cuteness, but Lauren’s not into it. She’s lived next to him her whole life and knows how egotistical he is. But the night’s adventure isn’t over. Melissa the Brilliant pulled the door shut behind her, locking them all out of the house. Thus begins the process of trying to wake up the parents, because the doorbell is quiet, the bedroom is upstairs, and they’d been asleep for awhile. After attempts at yelling, Stephanie finally succeeds by throwing her shoe at the window. (Stephanie and her great throwing arm.) Mrs. Beekman isn’t thrilled, but not as pissed as she could be. The girls wash the remnants of the masks off their faces and Stephanie asks if a 7th grader could like a 5th grader. Kate is alarmed until Lauren explains that it’s about Donald. Kate is then grossed out. The girls discuss the party briefly and flop down in Kate’s room. Patti says at least there’s one thing to be grateful for: “Like the fact that we didn’t have that honey conditioner in our hair. By the time Bullwinkle finished with us, we might have all been bald!” Ah, Patti.
CHAPTER 3:
The next morning, the girls are having breakfast when the mail comes. (Boy, early mail.) Kate gets a red envelope…the dance invitation! Kate wants yellow sneakers, so she suggests the mall. The others had made plans to shop for Kate’s birthday present that day, so Stephanie says she can’t because she’s having her hair cut. Stephanie’s been letting her hair grow since 2nd grade, so it’s quite long. Patti says she has to baby-sit for her little brother…Harold. (Patti’s little brother, however, is named HORACE. I remember that easily because Horace was a Roman poet. Nice editing.) Lauren says she’s going with her mom to visit her aunt. Mrs. Beekman reminds Kate to talk to her dad before making plans. You’re in trouble, remember, Kate? So the girls decide to do the mall Monday after school. Lauren, Stephanie and Patti make their exits.
At home, Lauren asks how Linda’s party went. Mrs. Hunter mentions Bullwinkle behaving oddly outside and how he came back inside chewing a piece of red, black and white cloth. The colors reminded her of Stephanie. Lauren gets off the hook by finding her invitation in the mail. Then Stephanie calls, saying she and Patti did, too. The girls agree to meet in front of Dandelion, the kids’ clothing store on Main Street. Lauren questions whether Kate’s party should still be a surprise, but Stephanie says definitely. She wants to prove to Kate that not everyone can figure out they’re getting a surprise party.
At Dandelion, we get to hear how the girls decided to buy Kate one bigger gift from the three of them. The girls veto a sweatshirt that would be better for Stephanie, baggy gray denim pants and yellow sneakers. They head to the mall next, but both Just Juniors and Kid Works are failures. Hungry, Lauren leads the girls to Sweet Stuff, where they purchase a small bag of caramels (Lauren), white chocolate bark (Patti) and chocolate-covered almonds (Stephanie). The girls sit down to enjoy their junk food and spot a pet shop they’ve never seen before. They check it out and are smitten with some kittens. Lauren declares the calico one the perfect gift for Kate. Stephanie and Patti are skeptical, but Lauren tells them that Kate had a cat named Batik that died when they were in 3rd grade (therefore Stephanie and Patti didn’t know about it). Batik was a big calico, who belonged to Kate’s parents before she was even born. The girls go in to see the kitten, though Patti still thinks they should check with Kate’s parents first.
CHAPTER 4:
The girls hold the kitten, but because her mother was a purebred Persian, the kitten costs $40. Deterred, the girls leave the store. They had only planned on spending $6-$7 each. Stephanie says they only need $20 or so more and they could probably earn it. They do have two weeks. The girls agree to head to Stephanie’s to make a list of things they could do to earn money, when they run into Kate! Kate doesn’t look pleased and Lauren’s about to tell her the truth, when Stephanie jumps in and says they’re on their way to Cut-Ups, the hair salon. She says Patti doesn’t have to baby-sit until later so she came with Stephanie. They ran into Lauren because her mother and aunt are buying sheets and towels. Wow. Nice excuse. But Kate buys it and wants to come along, so Stephanie has to sacrifice her hair for the sake of maintaining the surprise. Stephanie’s the determined sort, so it’s off to Cut-Ups! Stephanie goes to the desk in the salon and it turns out her mother is one of the owner’s favorite customers. Of course he can fit Stephanie in! Insert a groan from her. The next issue is how to pay for it. Stephanie gets styled by the owner himself and slowly, her hair falls to the floor. She takes a look, decides it makes her face look thinner, and declares “Larry, let’s go for it!” The final result is “short curls all around her face and loose waves to her shoulders on the sides and in the back.” So Stephanie looks fantastic, but unfortunately, it cost her all the money in her wallet and she still owes $20 more. Her mom will be thrilled she got a haircut, so she’ll cover the extra $20, but now the girls need to make $30 in two weeks.
CHAPTER 5:
Monday arrives and the girls have a new dilemma: they’ve agreed to wash Stephanie’s father’s car, but they promised Kate back on Saturday that they’d go to the mall with her. Stephanie says her grandmother’s coming to visit, Patti’s baby-sitting again, and Lauren…well, Lauren blames it on Bullwinkle. Lauren tells a believable story that she got grounded because her parents saw the scrap of Stephanie’s pajamas that Bullwinkle brought in the house.
While washing Mr. Green’s car, the girls discuss their party problems. Lauren’s worried she can’t keep hiding this from Kate. She thinks they should just tell her. Patti asks if Kate would let them keep working if she knew it was all to buy her a present. No, of course not. The girls decide to keep at it and make $7.50 on the car and $10 repainting Mrs. Jenkins’ gardening shed the next afternoon.
Lauren has her mom call Mrs. Beekman, just in case Kate answers. Lauren gets on the phone and Mrs. Beekman okays both the party and the calico. She even pretends she’s talking to the fish market when Kate comes in the room. Heh.
Wednesday, things aren’t so good. A cranky elderly woman who taught Lauren’s mother in elementary school wants Roger to do some yard work for her. He turns it down flat, but the girls say they’ll do it. Lauren’s worried Kate will see them, as Mrs. Carter only lives on the next street. But Stephanie says the $15 will get them the kitten this week, making it less of a worry that someone else would buy her. The girls have their hands full with Mrs. Carter’s strict instructions, but things get even worse when Kate sees them. The girls all lie and say they owe people money and are cleaning the yard to earn it. Mrs. Carter yells at the girls and Kate bikes off.
The next day, Kate’s being quiet. She asks if they’re busy and when they reply yes, she doesn’t even try to find out what they’re doing. Turns out, they’re going to go buy the kitten. Lauren’s still worried they’re doing the wrong thing, but Stephanie blows off her worries…again. Unfortunately, the girls are too late. The calico is gone.
CHAPTER 6:
Friday comes and the sleepover is at Lauren’s. The girls are bringing their stuff to her house and then her parents are driving them to the Masons’ party. Kate shows up twenty minutes late, despite living two houses over. She’s also not in the outfit the group decided on. The girls had agreed on “pants with the cuffs rolled up, two shirts and colored sneaks.” Kate, however, has on a long printed sweater, pink leggings and gray high-tops. Her usually neat, no fuss hair is pulled back on one side with a red plastic clip and she has on long, dangly, clip-on earrings. The girls aren’t sure what to say. Finally, Patti says she likes the earrings. Kate replies that they’re Tracy Osner’s and the hair clip…is Jenny Carlin’s. Lauren is displeased. Kate’s sleepover stuff is also mysteriously absent. Lauren’s mom drives the girls over and Kate shoots out of the car and into the house. Lauren’s mom is worried and thinks they should tell Kate about the party. Stephanie is still insistent on the surprise.
Apparently, the Masons know how to throw a party. There are “at least forty” people there, a mix of fifth, sixth and seventh grade students. Sally and Royce’s older sister is playing DJ. Patti gets asked to dance by Michael Pastore, which makes her uncomfortable, as she’s so much taller than he is. Pete invites Lauren to go get some food. Mrs. Mason, the choppy-talking nervous mom from book #1, makes another appearance. Lauren finally sees where Kate went: over by Jenny and Tracy. Tracy is wearing blue leggings and Jenny red ones. Both girls also have clips in their hair and dangling earrings. (I never dressed like my friends at a party. Was this a normal practice?) Now for the dance card! Lauren danced with Pete, Larry Jackson and Michael. Patti with Michael, Kyle Hubbard, and Ricky Delman, a tall 6th grader. Stephanie danced with Larry, two 6th graders and three times with Donald Foster. And Kate got to dance with Royce twice. Finally, the girls agree that things have gone to far and decide to tell Kate everything at the sleepover. But Kate doesn’t give them the chance. She thanks Lauren’s dad for the ride home and marches off to her house. Lauren goes after her and Kate basically tells her she’s been a shitty friend, they all have. Lauren tries to tell Kate, but nope, she’s gone. The other three girls go back to Lauren’s…she’s starving, of course. Lauren eats plenty when she’s happy and even more when she’s not. The girls have a lot to be unhappy about, too. It’s the first Kateless sleepover. So they mix up some caramel popcorn, nachos, Dr. Pepper floats, and chocolate chip cookies. Patti asks what they’re going to do about Kate and Stephanie replies that they need to do something quick before Lauren makes her gain a few hundred pounds.
CHAPTER 7:
The next morning, the girls aren’t hungry at all. Lauren’s mom has gone on a mysterious errand and has left instructions with Mr. Hunter to tell the girls not to leave until she gets back. Lauren’s mom soon returns with a giant cardboard box. It’s kittens! Four of them and one is a calico. There are also two black and whites and a solid black. The owner was set to take them to the pound, so Mrs. Hunter figured she could find them good homes. Stephanie declares that the surprise party will be that day. Lauren points out that Kate won’t let them near her house, but Stephanie says Kate wouldn’t say no to a deliveryman. Stephanie’s on a roll. Kate’s getting a heart-shaped pizza for twelve (3 pieces each), an ice cream cake shaped like a cat, and a singing telegram. The girls have $42.50 to spend thanks to Lauren’s mom getting the kitten for free. Lauren wants balloons and her mom asks when all this is going to start. Stephanie replies 4 PM and Lauren’s mom gets on the phone with Mrs. Beekman. Stephanie and Patti get permission to stay at Lauren’s all day and then the planning begins. At 4, the singing telegram. At 4:15, the ice cream cake. At 4:30, the pizza. Then the girls at 4:32 with the balloons and kitten. In the magic world of 1987, the girls are able to buy the cake, pizza and telegram for $29. They spend the other $13.50 on 15 red “happy birthday” balloons. At 4 PM, the clown arrives and performs “happy birthday.” A suspicious Kate looks towards Lauren’s. The cake arrives next and the girls get ready to move. The girls divide up the balloons, putting one around the kitten’s neck. Stephanie and Lauren each have seven balloons and Patti has the kitten with her one. The girls almost make it to Kate’s, but then it’s Bullwinkle on the loose. He thinks the balloons are rubber balls! The girls dodge the dog, but the kitten isn’t having it. She goes into the nearest tree, her balloon taking off for the heavens. Kate thinks everything is hilarious and the girls try to explain that they weren’t avoiding her for the reasons she thought. Stephanie adds, “And if you want your birthday present any time soon, please call the fire department.” Patti and Lauren get Bullwinkle back where he belongs and the fire department gets the kitten for Kate. The fireman who rescued her is named Fred, so Kate’s kitten becomes Fredericka. Stephanie is hesitant, but Patti points out that she’s Kate’s kitten. Kate invites the girls inside for pizza and ice cream cake. Mrs. Beekman okays a sleepover and the girls declare the first Sleepover Weekend. Kate suggests the girls bring the other kittens over to give Fredericka one last night with her littermates.
CHAPTER 8:
Stuffed full of food, Lauren suggests Truth or Dare. She picks on Kate first and Kate chooses Truth. Lauren asks her if she was really surprised and she says yes. She thought everyone was mad at her until the clown showed up. Turns out the clown was a girl. Lauren is thrilled. “Now I know what to tell Aunt Beth when she asks me what I want to be when I grow up.” Stephanie is nailed by a Kate dare. She has to call Robert Ellwanger, the nerdiest kid in class, and ask him to the movies. It’s vengeance for when Stephanie dared Kate to call and ask him over. Stephanie gets up the nerve and asks. Poor Robert isn’t dumb. He asks if this is some sort of joke. Stephanie plays it off and Robert accepts her invitation. He asks what time and which theater She says she’ll check the schedules and let him know. Smart Robert says if he doesn’t hear from her, he’ll give her a call and Stephanie is forced to give up her phone number. Lauren can’t resist teasing. “You should feel flattered, Stephanie. He turned Kate down flat.” But Stephanie gets a shot at revenge in an unusual way. She accepts a dare from Lauren to run around Donald Foster’s house. Stephanie takes her sweet time and the girls begin to worry. The girls go after her and when Kate pushes through the hedge, she finds herself serenaded by Donald, Ricky Delman, Larry Jackson and Royce Mason. Turns out Stephanie interrupted a little campout. Bullwinkle howls along with “happy birthday” (neatly tying into the beginning when he did the same at Linda’s party) and Melissa screeches “Kate, I’m telling Mom!” And everything’s all right again.
Finito! This isn’t one of my favorites. Thankfully, there isn’t another weak book until #8 or so and I liked the characters enough not to drop the series. I’m not big on surprise party dilemmas, so I was irritated with this. It did, however, cement Lauren as my favorite, because she has enough sense to realize it’s not the best idea. We get Bullwinkle and Melissa causing trouble again and it’s only the third book of the series. Bleh. The name mix-up with Patti’s little brother also drove me nuts. I do like how we get to experience more of Riverhurst via the shopping trip. You get the feeling that it’s a safe, fairly small town. And there’s the usual plethora of food. These girls are definitely not watching their weight. I’m sure they eat healthier stuff when they’re not having sleepovers or parties. Stephanie’s haircut is another one of the highlights. Mostly because she looks great on the cover of #4. I think that’s how I always picture her in my mind, though there are prettier pics of her on later covers.
Book #4 is up next. The title is “Patti’s New Look.” I remember being mad when I first read these that Lauren didn’t get #4, but she gets #5 and #8 so it works out. #4 is a good one. More wild clothing descriptions. More parties. I never had that much damn fun in 5th grade!
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