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bdb622c
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Behind her was my youngest brother, David Michael (seven, going on three). He was brandishing an ugly figurine carved from a coconut, which he'd somehow convinced my mom and dad to buy in Hawaii. "Nyyyah-hah-hah, the coco-monster's going to get you!" I stepped out of his way. My foot hooked into a backpack that was on the floor, and I fell into a kitchen chair. "ANYBODY SEEN MY BACKPACK?" called my seventeen-year-old brother, Charlie, from ..
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Ann M. Martin |
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cde419e
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Stacey is glamorous. She moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut, from New York City last summer. She's very sophisticated, and is even allowed to have her hair professionally styled, so that she has this fabulous-looking shaggy blonde mane, and she wears the neatest clothes -- big, baggy shirts and tight-fitting pants -- and amazing jewelry, like parrots and palm trees. She even has a pair of earrings that consist of a dog for one ear and a bone..
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Ann M. Martin |
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508f3be
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It's awfully hard helping your parents grow up. But it has to be done.
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Ann M. Martin |
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54f3334
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Everyone in the club is thirteen and in the eighth grade, except for our junior officers, Mallory Pike and Jessica Ramsey. Mal and Jessi are best friends. They are eleven years old and in the sixth grade. Both have pierced ears, and both adore horses -- and any movie, book, or video game that has a horse in it. I don't know how many times they've read Marguerite Henry's Misty of Chincoteague, but I do know they've seen The Black Stallion at..
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Ann M. Martin |
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6582a5b
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An average person has an IQ of 100. An above-average person has an IQ of 120 to 140. A person with an IQ of 150 is considered a genius. Janine's IQ is 196. Sometimes
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Ann M. Martin |
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76db596
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elaborate
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Ann M. Martin |
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2a20b5c
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a blast of putrid air. I nearly gagged. "Yeccch, it stinks!" I blurted out. "Really?" Mary Anne said. "I think it's magical." "No, not Hawaii! Our fridge!" Sam slammed the door shut. "What died in there?" "Someone died?" Mary Anne asked. I held my nose. "Doe! Just sub boldy food." (Take some advice from me, Kristy Thomas. If you're going on vacation, don't ever leave an open bowl of tuna salad in your fridge.) Charlie"
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Ann M. Martin |
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a02571c
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Oh, easy," said Janine. "It was George Herman. That's it. I won!" "Cheater!" I cried. "You looked! You must have looked!" "I did not," Janine retorted. "I just knew it." "Nerd!" Janine slammed the board shut and walked off in a huff."
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Ann M. Martin |
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6d2e9ad
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The best way to get this point across is to describe to you what Claudia was wearing at lunch that day. It was her vegetable blouse: an oversized white shirt with a green vegetable print all over it -- cabbages and squashes and turnips and stuff. Under the blouse was a very short jean skirt, white stockings, green anklets over the stockings, and lavender sneakers, the kind boys usually wear, with a lot of rubber and big laces and the name o..
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Ann M. Martin |
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71f70a4
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In a moment a fussy-looking woman came down the stairs. Do you know what I mean by fussy? I mean, everything about her was too much and too cute. She was wearing two necklaces, a pin, bracelets on each wrist, rings, earrings, and even an ankle bracelet. Her stockings were lacey, and she was, well, as Claud might have said, overly accessorized. Practically everything she wore had a bow attached. There were bows on her shoes, a bow on her bel..
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Ann M. Martin |
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459492b
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David Michael walked up to the desk and rang the bell. "Yes?" asked Karen. "May I help you?" "I'm Bruce Stringbean," said David Michael, giggling. "I'm a big rock and roll star and I need a room for me and my manager and all my friends."
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Ann M. Martin |
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335185c
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What," said Ruby fatly as she reentered the store."
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Ann M. Martin |
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b375ada
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Can we visit her tonight?" I asked. "May we?" Janine, Mom, and Dad all corrected me at once."
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Ann M. Martin |
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7d4e94a
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Kristy smirked at me.
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Ann M. Martin |
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6c8f8be
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You really haven't lived until a dog has stepped on your face. I
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Ann M. Martin |
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fb8b2fa
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If Kristy wanted me to feel left out for some reason, I could do the same to her.
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Ann M. Martin |
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279f22b
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I felt terrible. What could I do to make Kristy feel better? And if she felt better, would she be nicer to me?
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Ann M. Martin |
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4f7da27
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truth? The Louvre
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Ann M. Martin |
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93647fb
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Queen.
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Ann M. Martin |
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dc65242
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back. "WHERE ARE YOUR FEET?" "IN THE KITCHEN!" The Thomas/Brewer family was in total, utter chaos. It was 11:00 A.M. on the Sunday before Labor Day. My family was just waking up, groggy and jetlagged. We'd arrived in the wee hours of the morning from a vacation in sunny, exciting, beach-filled Hawaii. (I had a fantastic time, thanks for asking.) Our flight back had taken almost a whole day. That part wasn't so great. You see, we'd left Hawa..
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Ann M. Martin |
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c4268d9
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But she used to disagree with me on everything, just so she could pick a fight.
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Ann M. Martin |
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a1523c5
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into our house? (Don't expect me to know. I was fast asleep.) When I'd finally staggered downstairs on Sunday morning, I'd found three messages from Mary Anne on the answering machine. Message one was a cheerful "Call me when you're home." Message two sounded a little concerned. By message three, I could tell she was fighting back tears. Thinking we were kidnapped. Imagining we'd decided to move to Hawaii. (Actually, that doesn't sound like..
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Ann M. Martin |
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c673bed
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Mary Anne is a real worrywart. Not to mention shynesswart and politenesswart. The teeniest things can make her cry, too -- movies, books, you name it. Whisper the words "Old Yeller" to her and watch her eyes well up. Usually I have no patience for people like that. I'm the opposite -- tearless and fearless, loud and proud. But I've known Mary Anne since we were babies, and she happens to be my best friend in the world. As you may have guess..
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Ann M. Martin |
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8f9004b
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them. They're all members of the Baby-sitters Club (more about that later), and I'm their president, so bossiness is just part of the deal. Period. Here are the other vital facts about me: I'm thirteen years old and just barely five feet tall. I have brown hair and brown eyes, and I'm very athletic. I wear casual clothes all the time, and I think fashion is boring. Okay. Enough about me. Back to Mary Anne. I was dying to talk to her. Half o..
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Ann M. Martin |
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019a4da
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about Hawaii. Mary Anne had been there on a school trip in July, along with almost all of my other BSC (Baby-sitters Club) friends. "Sorry about the noise, Mary Anne," I shouted into the phone as Emily Michelle zipped by. "Emily, go to Nannie!" "I'm glad you're home," Mary Anne replied. "I have been soooo lonely, and --" "I'm starving!" announced my middle brother, Sam, stomping toward the kitchen. "Yo, Blabberlips, when are you going to be..
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Ann M. Martin |
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88be9b8
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Mimi ... Oh, you just take Janine's side because she's smarter than I am. Mom and Dad love her more because she's smarter, and I bet you do, too!
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Ann M. Martin |
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f37f827
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pictures." Charlie and Sam were arguing at the top of their lungs. Nannie was chasing after Emily Michelle with a change of clothes. David Michael came in and pretended to faint from the smell. Mom bustled in and yelled at Charlie and Sam for not cleaning the fridge. "Guys, will you please be quiet?" I yelled. Honestly, you'd think it would be easy to find peace and quiet in a mansion. But nooooo. Everyone just had to be in the same room as..
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Ann M. Martin |
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fa51edb
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He's ninety-two years old," Mr. Willet whispered to Min and Flora. "And my hearing is as sharp as ever," he said, and everyone laughed."
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Ann M. Martin |
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fe5e433
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Dawn had not yet said anything nice. She was trying to be friendly, but something wasn't right. Did she think I looked terrible? Was she mad at me?
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Ann M. Martin |
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9ce4e06
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They were just passing the Evanses' house, Rose making gruesome faces in case they were spying out their windows, when Abby felt someone take her elbow, and she turned to find Zander Burley, his arm now linked with hers. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said, "one day late." He withdrew his arm and loped ahead of Abby and Rose, along the sidewalk and across the lawn to his front door. Abby watched him, thinking that he moved very gracefully for ..
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Ann M. Martin |
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af65108
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Later, after Abby had lugged Fred back inside and was taking off his jacket, she heard a crinkling sound and reached into the pocket of her coat. Her hand closed around an envelope. She pulled it out and saw her name in neat printing. ABIGAIL. She waited until she was alone in her room to open it, and inside she found a card showing a girl and boy joyfully riding a giant bumblebee, the words Valentine, I'm abuzz over you trailing in the wak..
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Ann M. Martin |
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df2402f
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Are you going to talk about boys?" Sarah laughed. "What boys?" "Any boys." "No. We're talking about what we want for Christmas." "I want a dog," said Rose, hurrying to Abby's side. "A sister," said Sarah. "Poetry books," said Abby. "You just want poetry books because Zander likes poetry," said Rose."
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Ann M. Martin |
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1155c96
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Matt says he thinks the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl this year. He
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Ann M. Martin |
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2a52326
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You see, they hadn't said a single nice thing to me since I had gotten the makeover,
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Ann M. Martin |
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b3cf700
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I'm not going to be able to go with you this afternoon," I said. "Oh." She didn't seem crushed, but I could tell she wasn't overjoyed, either. "Well, I guess I can find enough stuff myself." "Okay," I said. "Will you be at the meeting?" Kristy asked. "Yeah." "See you." " 'Bye." It was mid-winter, but it felt chillier inside than out. * * *"
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Ann M. Martin |
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c41fb33
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What I didn't figure was that I'd be eating dinner with the Stepsister from the Black Lagoon.
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Ann M. Martin |
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502c3fe
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Crunch. Claudia Kishi was eating something sweet and chocolatey.
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Ann M. Martin |
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113448b
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Love Lucy," agreed Claud. "Only we won't try to steal John Wayne's"
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Ann M. Martin |
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9bbc371
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bug on the wall.
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Ann M. Martin |
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2aa76f6
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Mm-hm," Dawn said. "Um, I'm sorry." "Yeah. Right." I'm sorry, too, Mary Anne was what I was sort of hoping to hear."
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Ann M. Martin |
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39250a9
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She thought of Mama making dresses for her and Rose because handmade was cheaper than store bought,
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Ann M. Martin |
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ff2c3d6
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Pop once said it's a good thing we don't know what's around the corner. I didn't understand what he meant then, but I do now. It's better to wish than to know.
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Ann M. Martin |
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b502344
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Abby had known Orrin since they were five, but she had fallen in love with him three months earlier, toward the end of second grade.
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Ann M. Martin |
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339f9e2
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I can't wait, Mom!" Exclaimed Marc, but I could tell he wasn't feeling as excited as he wanted his parents to think he was. I know because I've done that with my parents. Sometimes you have to protect parents and their feelings."
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Ann M. Martin |