#26 Claudia and the Sad Goodbye

Timeline: 
No real time line mention - I'm assuming end of spring still. They are still in school because Claudia misses a ton of it because of her sad goodbye.

Plot: 
I legit fucking cried through this entire book. I don't even remember really crying as a kid while reading this book.

Claudia's grandma, Mimi, hasn't been doing well since her stroke and things keep getting worse. She has a weird fainting episode at the dinner table one night, so they take her to the ER and she gets admitted. They can't find anything wrong with her, so they send her home. She faints again, goes back to the hospital and dies.

UGHHH.

Also, Claudia and MaryAnne are teaching an art class for neighborhood kids. One of the kids, Cori, gets super attached to Claudia because her parents are always ditching her and they suck. Claudia stands up to her mom and tells her to get her shit together. So she does, and Cori's life is a lot better because of Claudia.

Takeaways:
UGHHH. I seriously could not stop crying through this entire book. I was a mess. I kept thinking about how sad I will be when my grandparents die.

One thing that kind of annoys me about these books is how mature everyone acts. Like - Gabby Perkins is only 2.5, but somehow she can sing, tap dance and take an art class? That is not that much older than my niece Quinn, and there is no way Quinn could just be taking an art class like an adult. Also, Jamie Newton is 4, same age as my nephew, Alex. Jamie is taking the art class and speaks like a grown ass man. I cannot.

Again, I can't emphasize enough how much I cried reading this book.

Also, it mentions how Stacey's parents fight and her dad stays in New York instead of coming to the funeral.

Best character:
Ugh, I don't know.

Actually, it's Janine. When Mimi dies, they just shut her bedroom door and pretend it's not there. But Janine is the one who opens it and kind of forces the family to deal with it, and good thing they did since Mimi had left things for them all in her room. Including an obituary where she listed the DATE AND YEAR OF HER OWN DEATH. Because she knew that.

Worst character:
Mimi, for dying, and destroying my day.