#63, Claudia's Freind Friend

This book starts out with Claudia in English class, having a hard time paying attention even though the teacher calls on her twice. After class, the teacher tells Claudia that they have a big test coming up and if she doesn't do well on it, she will fail English. She suggests that she can set up some time in the Resource Room for Claudia, which has helped her in the past, but Claudia is horrified and turns her down. I don't know why. If it helped her before, why would it be so bad this time?

At the BSC meeting that afternoon, the girls get a call from Mrs. Rodowsky. We are told that the oldest Rodowsky boy, Shea,  has been diagnosed with dyslexia. His mother thinks it would be a good idea to hire young teenagers to help him with his homework while he adjusts to this diagnosis because they're closer to his own age and he might like them better. After the call from Mrs. Rodowsky, Claudia admits to her friends that she is in danger of failing English, and they offer to tutor her. Because this is somehow less embarrassing than going to the resource room. Claudia's parents agree that Stacey can tutor her but they will be monitoring the situation.

One thing I should note about Claudia is that it is stressed over and over in the books that she does not have a learning disability. She's of above average intelligence but has a  hard time paying attention in school and doesn't focus on it very well. I think this is utterly ridiculous and that the books would read a lot smoother if Claudia did have a diagnosis of some sort. I mean, even when she tries hard to pass a test, she has to work a lot harder than the other girls, and she's had trouble in school forever.

The first tutoring session that Mary Anne has with Shea ends badly because it takes Shea about a decade to write one letter to a person he admires that is up to Mary Anne's standards. Shea is really discouraged by the end of the session. The person he admires that he chose to write to, by the way, is Jackie Robinson.

the recent Google doodle in honor of Jackie Robinson's birthday

I'm really excited about the new movie about Jackie Robinson. It's coming out in April and I'm thinking I might see it in the theater. Usually I wait for stuff to come out on DVD but I saw the trailer for 42 and it looks good.

Claudia sits for the Rodowskys and manages to upset Shea by trying to help him with his homework.

Stacey is a total hard-ass while tutoring Claudia. Claudia feels resentful. Stacey makes Claudia keep a journal to improve her spelling. Claudia also starts a second journal, bitching about Stacey. Then she and Stacey get into a fight at a club meeting, while the other girls stare in disbelief.

Claudia babysits for the Rodowsky boys again and this time, she and Shea really hit it off and help each other with their spelling. It goes so well that Mrs. Rodowsky wants Claudia to tutor Shea. Claudia has another tutoring session with Shea and that one goes swimmingly as well. She and Shea really understand each other because Claudia, like Shea, knows what it's like to struggle with a learning disability has some experience with doing poorly in school.

The sitters have been getting some notes that they think are from a secret admirer. The follow up to this is that they get a note inviting them to the Rosebud Cafe. They decide that it must not be secret admirers after all, but a prank being pulled by Cokie and Grace, so they dress in really weird clothes and go, only to find that it's some sitting charges who have invited them because they are great babysitters and they deserve ice cream. It's kind of stupid.

Naturally, when Stacey wants to take Claudia's journal home to see how her spelling is, Claudia gives her the wrong one and Stacey reads about what a bitch Claudia thinks she is. This is some great teenage girl drama. She invites Claudia over and they both apologize to each other and are friends again. This is what Claudia wears to go over to Stacey's house:

I changed into something more suitable--a giant blue-and-white striped shirt and socks with blue spots, over blue bike shorts that matched the stripes and spots. I pulled on red high tops, and hung a dangly red earring made of a string of hearts in one ear and another earring that was a dangly row of silver arrows.[sic] I pulled my hair back with a red ribbon, and headed for Stacey's.

Claudia gets a B on the English test, and then the sitters and several of the kids they sit for all go to the spring dance at the community center.

If this recap seems really disjointed and fairly boring, it's because the book is disjointed and boring. The recap doesn't flow very well even though I left out two random sitting chapters that added nothing to the plot. I don't find reading about someone else doing homework and being tutored to be all that fascinating. It's definitely not one of my favorites. My score: 3/10.