Posted on by TracyC

Valentine Blues

valentinebluesValentine Blues by Jeanne Betancourt, 1990.

This book is part of the Aviva Granger Stories series.  (It’s the only one I have in the series right now.)

In the last book, Aviva’s best friend, Josh, came to live with her, her mother, and her step-father.  Josh was living in an orphanage before that, and since he and Aviva were close, her mother and stepfather thought that it would be natural to invite him to be part of the family.  At the time, Aviva thought that it was a good idea, but being friends with someone doesn’t mean that it will be easy living with them, and Aviva’s family life is already complicated!

Aviva’s parents are divorced, and both her mother and father are already in new relationships.  Her mother has remarried, and Aviva not only has a stepfather but a half-sister (college age) and half-brother (baby) living in the same house.  Aviva’s father has a girlfriend, Miriam, and Aviva doesn’t get along well with her.  Miriam would like it if she and Aviva’s father had a child of their own.

When Josh comes to live with Aviva’s mother and her family, Aviva realizes that sharing a family and house with him makes things even more complicated.  He takes too long in the bathroom and makes her late to school.  He’s one more person for her mother to pay attention to, so Aviva gets less attention.  Even her dog seems to like Josh better now!

Then, shortly after Valentine’s Day, Aviva overhears Josh and his friend Ronnie Cioffi talking about girls and giving them ratings based on their looks.  Out of 10 points, Cioffi rates Aviva as a 2, and Josh agrees.  Josh has a crush on Louise, a girl they know from school, and she has a much better figure.

It isn’t that Aviva is in love with Josh, who she sees more as a friend/brother, but it hurts that he seems to be taking her place in the family and doesn’t even really appreciate her, joining in with his friend in making fun of her body.  With her time divided between two households, two parents who hardly seem to have time for her these days, and Josh moving in and taking over, Aviva worries that maybe she doesn’t really belong anywhere or to anybody.

It takes a night when Aviva sleeps out in the barn without telling anyone where she is to make the people closest to her realize how much she needs them.  A sleepover at Louise’s house (where the girls candidly discuss their own ratings for the boys they know) and Aviva’s anonymous question in sex ed class also help to put the rating system into perspective for all the kids.

The book has some Christian themes because the children go to a Catholic school, although this book mostly focuses on family life and girls’ and boys’ perceptions of each other.  The kids are eighth graders, and there is also some talk about sex ed.

Posted on by TracyC

My Crazy Cousin Courtney Comes Back

CousinCourtneyBackMy Crazy Cousin Courtney Comes Back by Judi Miller, 1994.

The title is a little deceptive because Courtney hasn’t come back to New York to visit Cathy.  This time, Cathy has flown to Beverly Hills to spend Christmas with Courtney.  Courtney’s parents are now divorced, and Courtney’s adjusting to it, but she’s still as wild and unpredictable as she ever was.

Almost as soon as Cathy arrives, Courtney wakes her in the middle of the night to tell her that she needs her help to rescue an old man who’s being held against his will and maybe bring him cans of soup and sauerkraut.  Courtney’s heart is always in the right place, but as usual, she has the wrong idea.  In the best Courtney tradition, things work out amazingly well in the end.

In between spotting movie stars and getting into trouble, the girls manage to find time to get their nails done and visit with their friend Frank, who they met last summer in New York.  Cathy had fallen in love with Frank until she realized that he was more interested in being Courtney’s boyfriend.  Seeing him again over Christmas has brought back Cathy’s awkward feelings.  She still likes Frank, but the last thing she wants to do is to take a guy away from her lovable, if crazy, cousin.  But, if there’s one thing that Courtney specializes in, it’s happy endings.

This book isn’t as introspective as the first one in the series was, although Courtney and Cathy still help each other with their opposite personalities.  Cathy’s common sense and restraint can’t stop Courtney in her wild escapades, but she does inspire Courtney to be more thoughtful.  Courtney also helps Cathy to get out of shell, speak up for herself, have a little excitement, and see the possibilities that life has to offer.

Posted on by TracyC

My Crazy Cousin Courtney

CousinCourtneyMy Crazy Cousin Courtney by Judi Miller, 1993.

Cathy Bushwick usually spends the summer at camp, but this summer, her mother is having her stay in the city because her cousin Courtney is coming to visit them in New York.  Cathy and Courtney are actually second cousins because their mothers are first cousins.  They’re the same age (thirteen) and met once when they were five, but neither of them remembers it.  All that Cathy really knows about Courtney before she arrives is that she’s somewhat neurotic (Courtney is troubled by anxiety and panic attacks) and that the reason she’s coming to visit is that her parents are thinking of getting a divorce and need time alone to discuss it.

Cathy understands what it’s like to live with a single parent.  Her parents are divorced, and her father went to California years ago to become an actor.  She hasn’t heard from him since.  Her mother used to be an actress, but with Cathy to take care of, she became a theatrical agent for animals instead (she finds animals for people to use in commercials).  So, when Cathy hears that Courtney will be visiting from Beverly Hills, she’s very excited.  At first, she hopes that she and Courtney will be like sisters and that Courtney might have even heard of her father in California.

Cathy’s illusions are shattered almost immediately.  Courtney not only hasn’t heard of her father but she’s nothing like Cathy imagined.  When she and her mother go to meet her at the airport, she’s wearing heart-shaped sunglasses and a hot pink shirt that says, “KISS ME QUICK,” and she has a pile of luggage.  She’s used to having money and getting the best of everything, and she’s immediately disappointed with the modest apartment where Cathy and her mother live.  When she learns that they don’t even have a pool, she gets upset and wants to go home.  But, it’s no use.  She’s stuck there for the summer.  And, they’re stuck with her.

But, things don’t turn out to be as bad as Cathy fears they’re going to be.  In some ways, they’re worse.  Once Courtney reconciles herself to spending the summer in New York, she has some very specific ideas about things that she’d like to do, and a lot of them end up getting the girls in trouble.  Shy, sensible Cathy finds herself getting locked in Tiffany’s after closing time because Courtney thought she saw a spy stealing their designs, rescuing Courtney from the dolphin pool at the aquarium, and lots of other things that she never thought she’d find herself doing.  Then, one day, the girls think they’ve witnessed a murder.  What are they going to do?  Is Cathy going to survive the summer with her crazy cousin Courtney?

This book is the first in a series about Cathy and Courtney.  Courtney may be a bit wild, but she’s not as crazy as Cathy thinks.  Over the course of the summer, the two become friends, and they learn quite a few things about each other and about themselves.  By the time Courtney has to go home, a little of each of them has rubbed off on the other, and neither will be quite the same again.

The book is available online through Internet Archive.