Still the end of the school year, 8th grade for the big girls, 6th grade for the little girls. The book opens with an award ceremony for Janine, so I assume that's an "end of the school year" type thing.
Plot:
Janine gets an award for being the smartest person to ever walk the halls of Stoneybrook High, so Claudia is jealous and bitter. She can't believe how different she is from everyone in her family. She looks for baby pictures so she can see if her and Janine looked alike when they were babies and can't find any of herself. So she decides she's adopted and launches a full investigation.
The sub plot is that Emily Brewer (Kristy's adopted sister) isn't progressing as quickly as everyone thinks she should, so one afternoon when Claudia is baby-sitting she starts working with her on colors and matching. Mrs. Brewer is very impressed and hires Claudia to tutor Emily.
After all of Claudia's investigating - she goes to the bank to try to get her birth certificate (can't, she didn't have a key to their lock box), she checks in with her old pediatrician (who wasn't her doctor from birth), she looks in old newspapers for birth announcements (she can't find hers, so she calls the other parents who had babies that week to see if maybe they were her real parents and had put her up for adoption). None of the searching is that smart. In the end, she finally just asks her parents and they tell her she wasn't adopted. The end.
Also, she tutors Emily so well that Emily passes the preschool entrance exam. The end.
The sub plot is that Emily Brewer (Kristy's adopted sister) isn't progressing as quickly as everyone thinks she should, so one afternoon when Claudia is baby-sitting she starts working with her on colors and matching. Mrs. Brewer is very impressed and hires Claudia to tutor Emily.
After all of Claudia's investigating - she goes to the bank to try to get her birth certificate (can't, she didn't have a key to their lock box), she checks in with her old pediatrician (who wasn't her doctor from birth), she looks in old newspapers for birth announcements (she can't find hers, so she calls the other parents who had babies that week to see if maybe they were her real parents and had put her up for adoption). None of the searching is that smart. In the end, she finally just asks her parents and they tell her she wasn't adopted. The end.
Also, she tutors Emily so well that Emily passes the preschool entrance exam. The end.
Takeaways:
At the beginning of the book, Claudia is talking about her science class and how they have to do "experiments". But the teacher has been doing the same "experiments" with his classes for years. So at that point, are they still "experiments" if you know what is going to happen? I don't know why, but I loved this line of thought. Claudia is so much smarter than she lets on.
WHY doesn't Claudia just ask her parents right off the bat if she is adopted? She seems to have a pretty good relationship with them, but she is absolutely convinced they would just lie to her.
This book is where I learned that second (or third, or fourth, or tenth) children don't have as many baby pictures taken of them because they aren't the first born.
At the beginning of the book, Claudia is talking about her science class and how they have to do "experiments". But the teacher has been doing the same "experiments" with his classes for years. So at that point, are they still "experiments" if you know what is going to happen? I don't know why, but I loved this line of thought. Claudia is so much smarter than she lets on.
WHY doesn't Claudia just ask her parents right off the bat if she is adopted? She seems to have a pretty good relationship with them, but she is absolutely convinced they would just lie to her.
This book is where I learned that second (or third, or fourth, or tenth) children don't have as many baby pictures taken of them because they aren't the first born.
Best character:
Stacey wins. Claudia confides all of this adopted nonsense to her, and not only does she not tell anyone, but she is the one who finally convinces Claudia to just talk to her parents.
Worst character:
Janine's science teacher says something to Claudia like "I can't believe your sisters" about her and Janine. It was just kind of rude, because Janine dresses like a 70 year old librarian and Claudia dresses like a four year old who is given free reign of a department store.
Really there were no bad characters in this book, so that is a stretch.
Stacey wins. Claudia confides all of this adopted nonsense to her, and not only does she not tell anyone, but she is the one who finally convinces Claudia to just talk to her parents.
Worst character:
Janine's science teacher says something to Claudia like "I can't believe your sisters" about her and Janine. It was just kind of rude, because Janine dresses like a 70 year old librarian and Claudia dresses like a four year old who is given free reign of a department store.
Really there were no bad characters in this book, so that is a stretch.
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