(If you click the cover, you'll see it bigger.)The Cover: Who are those girls with Lauren and Patti? Seriously, Lauren looks the same, albeit better-dressed the usual. (Because they’re in The City.) And Patti next to her looks the same. But Stephanie’s gone through a change. That’s definitely Stephanie. See the red, black and white? But she doesn’t look like the girl on the previous covers or any of the ones following. Ah, well. And finally, there’s Kate, who got a hot transplant. That’s just not how I picture Kate. Anyways…
CHAPTER 1: Our heroines are on the bus, just arriving in The City. The City is never named. I think some people believe it to be New York, but dude, you do not say “Didn’t our whole class go to the museum in October?” about New York. So it’s gotta be smaller, as New York has WAY more than just one museum. Even my home city of Buffalo does. The writer really should have had Kate specify. I know it’s the natural history museum, because it happened in Book #1, but if you’re talking about a city with a lot of museums, you specify every time. But I digress. The girls are on the bus and Stephanie’s playing tour guide, which Kate tries to nip in the bud by reminding her that they know what the damn city is. Lauren and Patti are a bit overwhelmed, while Kate’s still grumbly. Stephanie continues to city babble and Lauren goes into backstory mode. Lauren finishes that off by saying this trip will give them something to put in their school journals. It’s the typical “get in the habit of writing something every day” assignment. The girls bought four of the same notebook. Gee, I smell trouble coming. Stephanie spots her grandmother, known as both “Nana” and “Mrs. Bricker.” I shall refer to her as Nana because it’s shorter. The girls are all visiting her. They greet Nana and Stephanie asks where her friend Tiffany is. Apparently, Tiff’s staying an extra hour at her dance class and will be dropped off later. Tiffany was Stephanie’s city BFF. She wants to be an actress, her older sister’s a model yadda blah. They get their luggage. Lots of people are around and Patti gets startled by a mime. Yes, Stephanie likes the unexpected and Patti doesn’t. Yadda blah. They take a cab to the apartment building. Kate comments that Lauren’s suitcase is heavy. Lauren narrates that she isn’t used to it yet because it was a Christmas present from her aunt and uncle. A Christmas present? A suitcase? How boring! The girls go to get settled in the guest room, where there’s a double bed, two air mattresses and a chair that folds into a single bed, so there’s enough space for the girls and Tiffany. Stephanie shows off the view and even Kate has to be impressed. Surprise, Lauren’s hungry, so the girls head to the kitchen where Nana has bought “a little of everything” at the deli. The doorbell rings and oh, joy, it’s Tiffany.
CHAPTER 2: Miss Tiffany Parks is “small and slender, with pale skin and a pointy face and eyebrows that reminded me of a cat. She had thick, straight, black hair that was parted on the side and hung down to the middle of her back.” Naturally, Tiffany (in her husky voice) asks why Stephanie cut her hair. Stephanie starts to tell the story of Kate’s birthday, but Tiffany interrupts and says the short hair makes her look six. Then she asks where Stephanie got her sweater. Riverhurst of course and Tiffany’s all snotty. Lauren and Kate exchange a look. Tiffany does a stretch and comments about dancing, so Kate says that she thought Tiffany wanted to be an actress, not a dancer. Tiffany says an actress must dance and sing, and Lauren wonders if one of her soap actresses can dance and sing. Tiffany snottily asks who the actress is and then puts down all soap actresses. Patti tries to head off an argument by asking Tiffany if she’d like something to eat, but Tiffany pronounces the food “Totally fatty and greasy. Yucky for my skin.” Stephanie offers fruit salad and Tiffany picks at the strawberries. Kate’s interest has been piqued and she asks what Tiffany means by a real actress. Apparently, only the stage-trained are the real deal. (Yes, this is why whatever those awards are called are more well-known than the Oscars. Oh, wait…) Tiffany’s been in some plays and not school ones. Stephanie pipes up and actually does the bragging FOR her. Neither Kate nor Lauren has heard of either of the plays Tiffany’s been in. Lauren comments that “this is just about the best hero I’ve ever eaten” and Stephanie brings up an old game she and Tiffany used to play. It’s called “Bests” and basically you say stuff like “best friend,” “best ice cream,” “best trip,” etc. and then fill in the answers. Stephanie says the best ice cream is at Scrumptious, where they’ll go tomorrow. She wants Tiffany to go, but Tiffany’s rather hesitant. Nana comes in then and invites the girls to order movies from her video club. Kate picks out some Swedish flick called Raspberries in the Fall. How does a fifth-grader even know about Swedish movies? Lauren picks a comedy from the 30s and Tiffany requests something called Aardvarks. Lauren is happy they’ll be watching so many movies, because then there will be less talking and less chance of fighting.
The girls take snacks into the living room. They’ve got Dr. Pepper, Cheese Doodles and fudge cake. Tiffany has club soda and celery sticks. Lauren wonders if life is worth living without fudge cake. I agree. Stephanie gives no one a choice and says they’ll watch Tiffany’s movie first. Turns out it’s a filmed play with three people sitting on stools on an empty stage. They do nothing but talk about death. Tiffany and Stephanie declare it powerful and really moving.
“It almost moved me right out of the room,” Kate murmured in my ear.
I have totally used that line multiple times since I first read this book. Patti puts on Kate’s Swedish film, which is subtitled. Tiffany can’t stand subtitles, so she starts yapping about a girl named Myra Dillard, who lost weight, permed her hair and sings in a rock band with seventh-graders. Kate can’t take it and she and Tiffany bitch at each other. Kate calls her rude, which she is, and Tiffany is pissed that Stephanie won’t stick up for her more. She calls Stephanie a hick and bitches her way out the door.
CHAPTER 3: Natch, Stephanie blames Kate for this. She couldn’t get into the hall before the elevator doors were already closing. Nana comes out to see what happened and calls down to the doorman. Apparently, he just put Tiffany in a cab. (She lied and said she had Nana’s permission.) Nana asks the girls what happened and Kate steps up and says she had a disagreement with Tiffany. Nana calls Tiffany’s mom and asks that she call her back when Tiffany gets home to let her know she arrived safely. The girls sit quietly until the phone rings. Tiffany’s home safe and preparing for bed, and Nana thinks the girls should get ready for bed, too. Kate apologizes for the fight and Nana says Tiffany takes herself very seriously. “Perhaps a little too seriously.” Kate tries to apologize to Stephanie, but Stephanie accuses Kate of being jealous of Tiffany. Kate’s not going to take that and calls Tiffany a phony. Stephanie says Tiffany’s not a phony, she really is an actress.
“She’s an actress, all right. Everything she does is one big act. ‘Stephanie, whatever did you do to your hair?’ ” Kate imitated Tiffany’s husky voice. “ ‘And those hicky friends…simply too awful.’ ”
Lauren and Patti can’t help but laugh, but Stephanie doesn’t think ruining a friendship is very funny. Lauren wonders (not aloud) if Tiffany really is Stephanie’s friend. She wouldn’t want a friend treating her the way Tiffany treated Stephanie. Stephanie takes an air mattress and drags it away from the others. Kate says tall Lauren and Patti should get the bed, while she takes the chair. Then she looks out the window and wishes she could see better. Stephanie tells her there are binoculars in the living room and Lauren goes to get them, then asks why Nana needs them. Turns out she’s a birdwatcher. Kate sees a couple “fighting” in one of the nearby apartments and Stephanie grabs the binoculars and says they’re just dancing. Kate sneaks a grin at Lauren. She got successfully Stephanie talking again. The girls spend some time spying on others, then Lauren goes to get her journal to write in…but the clothes in her suitcase aren’t hers!
CHAPTER 4: So Lauren’s got a suitcase full of men’s clothing. She’s not pleased because she’d packed her “turquoise-and-black top, my black stretch pants, two pairs of leg warmers, and my silver Reeboks.” The girls figure that some guy grabbed Lauren’s suitcase by mistake, as the one she’s got is identical to her new one.
“I’m sure the man will call your house as soon as he discovers he’s got a suitcase full of girls’ leg warmers and stretch pants,” Patti said soothingly.
However, the suitcase is so new, Lauren hadn’t gotten around to writing her name on it anywhere. Kate asks if Lauren’s journal is in there and she says yes, so Kate says that’s how he can track her, but Lauren didn’t write her full name on her journal. “It seemed more private that way,” she says. Stephanie says he can’t call the school about a Lauren, as it’s the weekend, so she starts checking the guy’s suitcase for contact info. The girls paw through everything with no luck. At the bottom of the case is a flat box containing a reel of tape. Patti IDs it as being from an old reel-to-reel tape recorder (her dad had one), and the girls wonder where they’ll find something that will play it. Kate discovers a name on the tape: C. Harkness. To the phone book! They find several Harknesses, but none with C as the initial. Lauren’s all gung ho about calling them all, but Kate reminds her that it’s almost midnight. Thankfully, Patti had brought two long tees to sleep in, so Lauren borrows one and it’s bedtime.
Lauren wakes up the next morning to the sound of Kate scribbling in her journal. Patti and Stephanie are still sleeping, so the girls head to the kitchen, where Nana is making breakfast. Lauren and Kate explain to her about the suitcase incident and “C. Harkness” sounds familiar to her, but she can’t quite place it. They’re joined by Patti and Stephanie, who mentions that she thought one of Nana’s friends might have the kind of tape recorder they need. Nana says she’ll check right after breakfast, but for now…blueberry waffles, anyone?
CHAPTER 5: None of Nana’s friends have a tape recorder, but they’re on the hunt to find one, so the girls start with the phone calls. A. R. Harkness is a crotchety old man. D. Harkness is named Daisy and “she’s not answering the phone right now.” Gloria Harkness is a no answer, Laurence Harkness has been disconnected, and N. T. Harkness’ phone gets answered by a child, who gets yelled at for playing with the phone. Stephanie writes down the addresses for the Harknesses (minus the grumpy old dude) and the girls get ready to go shopping. The girls are flying solo, since the shopping area is “busy and safe” and natch, Stephanie knows it like the back of her hand. She’ll meet them at one for lunch at the much raved about Scrumptious, then it’s time for “sight-seeing and Harknessing.” The evening is still up in the air, but dinner and a trip to the Sky Rink are a possibility.
However, Lauren’s still got that clothing issue to get around. Stephanie and Kate are too short for her to borrow from. She gets a pair of dark green stretch pants from Patti and Nana sends Stephanie off to buy socks and underwear. Then she loans Lauren a nice gray wool sweater with flowers and dark green leaves on it. Lauren starts to protest, saying she’s “sort of a slob,” but Nana says it’s washable.
Lauren had thought they were safe from Tiffany, but then she overhears Stephanie calling her. They patch things up (naturally putting all the blame on Kate) and Tiffany might meet them for dinner. Stephanie changes the subject by asking Patti if there are any old friends she’d like to call. But Patti left her first school so long ago, she doubts anyone would remember her, and her best friend from the second school moved to Maine. Stephanie and Kate grab their journals and it’s time to shop. Nana bids them a “Have a good time. Be careful.” (Isn’t that what Stacey’s mom always says in the BSC books?) On the way up the street, the girls notice a missing poster for a little dog. Kate suggests hanging up signs about Lauren’s suitcase, but Stephanie bats that one down. It’s time to catch the bus.
CHAPTER 6: The girls end up in front of a large toy store called Rumpelstiltskin. Patti wants to go in, as her dad used to bring her here. A bratty doll reminds Kate too much of her sister, so they leave and head to a fancy dress shop called Nell’s. The prices scare the girls away and go to a pet store. Patti buys a small lizard for her brother and Lauren gets her kitten a toy. Apparently, all that took until almost one, so they make for Scrumptious.
Nana’s waiting for them and they tell her about what they did.
I ended up ordering a grilled cheese sandwich, which doesn’t sound very special, but it was…
I know how you feel, Lauren. Mmm…grilled cheese.
As they’re waiting for dessert, Lauren laments her lost journal, knowing she’s going to forget “half the things we’ve done today.” Stephanie goes to give her a page from hers, only to discover that she has Kate’s. Unfortunately, she also gets an eyeful of what Kate wrote…about her. Kate wrote that she couldn’t believe how much of a wimp Stephanie was around Tiffany. Stephanie storms off and Nana goes after her, leaving Lauren to ask what that was about. Kate discovers that Stephanie had her journal and with a sigh, passes it to Lauren to read.
“ ‘I never would have believed it, but when she’s around Tiffany, Stephanie turns into a real wimp. And I’ve never met such a self-centered, stuck-up phony. No wonder Stephanie had such an attitude when she first moved to Riverhurst. It’ll take us weeks to get her back to normal after this trip.’ ”
Kate defends her writing, as journals are indeed the perfect place to let off steam. Nana comes back, saying she’s going to put Stephanie in a cab, but Patti suggests that Nana go with her, while she takes Kate and Lauren to the Historical Society Museum at the end of the street. Then they’ll catch a cab back to the apartment. She gives Patti cab money and goes to pay for lunch. Patti sends the lizard back with her.
CHAPTER 7: After lunch, the girls discuss what to do. Patti wonders if they should go try to smooth things over, but Kate says she’ll likely need time to cool off. The girls then discover that the museum is closed for renovation for the next two weeks. Lauren suggests they pay a visit to N. T. Harkness and after some hesitation, Patti says the address is close, so off they go. Little Todd lets them in and two other little boys rush over to greet them, followed by a confused mother. Lauren explains the situation and it turns out neither parent has been anywhere since the kids got chicken pox. The poor kids have been desperate for company and now they’ve just exposed the girls to the pox…and Lauren’s never had them. The girls leave.
“I’m too old for a childhood disease!” I moaned to Kate and Patti outside.
“You’re probably immune,” Kate said. “Or you would have gotten them when I did.”
Patti suggests trying Daisy Harkness to cheer Lauren. The girls take the bus, only to find no Daisy at home. Lauren leaves a message with the doorman. Another few stops away, they find that Gloria is in Europe for the winter. And Laurence has moved to Florida. In defeat, Lauren sinks down on a park bench and Patti points out the school she attended with Stephanie. (Which is why she knows her way around so well.) The girls have fun looking at the school, until they’re interrupted.
“Excuse me…aren’t you Patti Jenkins?”
All three of us turned around to face a girl about my height, with curly light brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses.
Patti nodded.
“Remember me? Myra Dillard,” the girl said, smiling. “In first grade?”
The Myra Dillard who, according to Tiffany, sang with a rock band?
“Of course!” Patti said then. “I’m surprised you remember me.”
“You were always nice to me,” Myra said. “Even when I was fat. I was really sorry when you moved.”
Aww, how nice. Myra lives right across the street, so she invites the girls over, but they say they should get back. They explain that they’re staying with Stephanie’s grandmother and Myra invites them all to get together with her tomorrow. She’s in the phone book and has her own line. As the girls walk away, Lauren asks why Patti didn’t tell Tiffany she knew Myra. Patti says it’s because she didn’t want to argue with Stephanie’s friend.
“Anybody Tiffany Parks doesn’t like has to be okay,” Kate said.
The bus is coming and Lauren complains that her stomach might not be able to take all that starting and stopping. Patti says this bus only makes limited stops and the last one is where Nana lives. Patti gets on, but Lauren is distracted by the mime they saw when they arrived. She and Kate run for a look…and totally miss the bus. Patti mouths something to them, but they don’t catch it. Lauren starts to run after the bus, hoping to catch it at the next stop, until a panting Kate reminds her that it’s limited stops. Lauren says they’ll take the next bus and end up where they need to be. Kate leans against a parked car and moans, at which Lauren asks what she’s moaning about, only to find out that it’s not Kate doing the moaning. Lauren discovers a dog under the car.
CHAPTER 8: The girls call to the dog, but he won’t budge, so under Lauren goes. Lauren reaches out a cautious hand, which the dog licks, so she grabs him and starts to wiggle backwards. She gets out far enough that Kate can grab him and they see how dirty he is. He yelps and the girls think his back leg is hurt. They wrap him in Lauren’s jacket and then realize they can’t walk that far and they doubt they could get on a bus with a dog. So Kate hails a cab “just like a city person.” *snicker* I have to admit I kinda felt that way when I hailed my first cab. On the way, they spot Patti jogging down the street. They yell out the window and get the driver to stop for her. Patti explains that she was trying to tell them to stay there and she’d come back for them. Kate and Lauren explain about the dog and Patti says maybe it’s the dog from the missing poster they saw earlier. He’s wearing a red collar like the poster said. Patti remembers that his name is Max and the dog’s ears twitch a bit when he hears that. Kate says they can call the number on the poster when they get back. Lauren ponders taking the dog home with her if the poster dog has been found already.
The girls arrive at the apartment. Kate hopes Nana doesn’t mind animals, while Lauren hopes she doesn’t mind grease on her sweater. Nana greets them and before they can explain what happened, she says that a friend brought over a tape recorder. They show her the dog and in typical grandmotherly fashion, she goes to see what she can give him to eat. Lauren calls the number from the poster and a woman answers. Max is still missing, so she’s very excited and says she’ll come right over.
CHAPTER 9: The woman arrives very quickly and it turns out to be someone Nana has “shared a bench in the park with several times,” but has never actually spoken to. Her name is Elizabeth Hatch and that’s indeed her dog. Lauren mentions his hind leg and Elizabeth says she’ll take him to the vet. He got lost because she let him off his leash to run in the park, which she says she’s done several times. He chased a squirrel and disappeared. Elizabeth mentions the hundred dollar reward, but Lauren refuses. Elizabeth offers to treat them to dinner, but they say they’re going home tomorrow. So instead she invites them to a performance that evening of a play that she does the lighting for. She even offers to pick them up and bring them back. Nana agrees and Elizabeth heads out.
Stephanie comes running then, having gotten the tape recorder working. She purposely ignores Kate and says the tape is very weird. There’s almost nothing on it until the end when an arguing male voice comes on. There’s a female voice that they can’t quite make out. And the voices end with a gunshot. Patti and Lauren think the tape should go to the cops, but Stephanie and Kate think there’s a more reasonable explanation than…
“Is a murderer really going to make a tape of the crime and then…” She pointed to the big hiking boots lying on the floor next to the open suitcase. “…take it on a hiking trip?”
Yeah, she’s got a point. Lauren’s mind turns to what she’s going to wear. She’s messed up that day’s outfit with her dog rescue. Nana says she washed Lauren’s clothes from yesterday, so they’re ready for the theatre. Stephanie is confused, so Lauren explains. Then Stephanie says she won’t be going…Tiffany’s coming over.
CHAPTER 10: The girls figure they can’t really bring a fifth, since four kids standing around is a lot already. Patti says then they won’t go either, but Stephanie tells them to go. After a rush of eating, dressing and searching for Horace’s escape artist lizard, the girls are ready.
The girls have fun at the play…and discover something interesting. The argument they heard on tape is part of the play! They have to wait until the play is over to ask Elizabeth about it. Turns out Charlie Harkness is the author. He’s a bit hard to reach, but he does drop by the theatre sometimes. Elizabeth says she’ll ask him to get in touch with Lauren. After the play, they go to Elizabeth’s apartment to say goodbye to Max. Clean, he’s light brown and curly. His leg issue was a bad sprain. They have brownies and hot apple cider, then Elizabeth takes them back to Nana’s. Stephanie’s already gone to bed. Lauren starts to tell the Harkness story when Nana says she remembered who he was. She read an article about the play a few weeks before. Patti asks if Stephanie had a good time with Tiffany. The answer?
“I’m afraid not.” Mrs. Bricker shook her head disapprovingly. “Tiffany Parks had something better to do…she stood us up.”
CHAPTER 11: Stephanie tells the tale the next morning. Tiffany apparently called from a friend’s around 8:30. She’d completely forgotten about Stephanie. Stephanie tells Kate that she was right after all. She admits that she always thought everything Tiffany did was fine because she was so talented, but it’s not fine. “She’s a crummy friend.”
The girls end up going to Myra’s that day. Myra’s got a great voice and plays electric keyboard “almost as well as Spud Zircon, who’s the new keyboard player for my favorite new rock group, Boodles.” Patti talks Stephanie into going and Kate helps by pointing out that it would bug Tiffany to hear that Stephanie visited Myra. Myra shows the girls around. Her family has a huge practice room with lots of instruments and video equipment, as her dad and she both play the piano, her brother plays drums, and her mom tapes them. Myra says that she sings and plays in a group sometimes, and Lauren says they heard.
“You did?” Myra looked surprised. “From whom?”
“Tiffany Parks,” Kate answered, glancing at Stephanie.
“Oh…Tiffany.” Myra nodded. “She wanted to be in Breakout…that’s the band…herself.”
“What happened?” Stephanie asked.
Myra shrugged her shoulders. “Tiffany can’t sing. She was furious when the group turned her down, but she just can’t carry a tune.”
Stephanie is intrigued, beginning to realize Tiffany’s not all she says she is. Myra plays and sings for them, including part of a song she’s writing with another band member. Kate gets to use the video camera, Myra’s brother gave a little performance on the drums, and Myra promised to visit the girls in Riverhurst.
I think of that weekend in the city as the “lost and found” weekend. Stephanie lost her friend Tiffany Parks, but we found new friends in Elizabeth and Max and Myra Dillard.
Max was lost and found, Patti found she could manage in the city just fine, and Kate found some things about the city she actually liked…mimes and hailing a cab, for instance.
I lost my suitcase and my favorite sweater, but got them back, sooner than I thought I would, too.
On Monday, Lauren is called to the office. There’s a man on phone saying he’ll put her suitcase on the 4 PM bus to Riverhurst and she can put his on the 5 PM back to the city. Turns out that C. Harkness saw “Riverhurst” and “Lauren” on her journal’s cover, and the names of the other girls inside. He called the school and asked if they could help.
They said yes, of course: Everybody knows the Sleepover Friends!
And thus ends the first big Sleepover Friends trip. The first of many. Including the next book! Book #5 also is the first time we get a preview of the next book. I won't be writing about those, but they're there. This book is your typical girl series wild adventure that very few kids that age ever had. Sadly, I'm pretty sure we never hear from Myra again. They set her up and then dropped her. There are quite a few decent lessons in the book, such as...
-Don't let people treat you shitty just because they're "talented."
-Don't buy the same journal as your friends.
-Always leave contact info in and on your suitcase.
-Pack an extra pair of undies or two in a carry on bag.
-Do not run away from an open bus door. They will not wait for you.
-All mimes are not the same guy.
-Returning a stray dog can get you free play action and brownies. Mmm...brownies.
I hope to update a bit more frequently, but you never know with me. I do have Book #6 down here at work with me. I just don't know if I'll work on it today.
