Stephanie
Written on Jun 1, 2020
This really wasn't a mystery at all but I still really enjoyed it. I loved seeing Janine and Claudia start to bond. I missed so much of this with my own sister. (Don't worry! We're besties now!) I really liked seeing a different dimension to Janine. I also appreciated that Claudia wasn't the one in trouble this round!
There seems to be a trend through this stretch where Martin wants us to realize the BSC isn't perfect and it's annoying. Just let me have fiction! :) Jessi was a brat in this one. She couldn't see beyond herself and she was pretty awful towards her friends. Also I feel like Dawn was creating problems where there were none. Of course in the end all of the BSC pulled together to make it all work.
Martin continues to cover tough stuff. Installments like this remind me show important the BSC books were back then. I was reading these in 4th grade and Martin handled a pretty serious subject like anorexia at a level 10 year old me could handle. I assure you I wouldn't have learned it anywhere else. Jessi's thoughtful personality shone in this book.
This is more the kind of mystery I expect from this line. I also loved how by the end of the book Dawn was a little more accepting of people and their pets. I was actually sort of surprised that Dawn wasn't a pet lover considering how eco-friendly she is. I guess vegetarian doesn't automatically equate to animal enthusiast.