Class of '88: Junior
Class of '88: Juniorby Linda A. Cooney
Five friends. Nick, the golden boy, Celia the beautiful, Sean the thinker, Allie the wild, Meg the brave.-- Summary to be transcribed when I get home and have the book with me. Oops!--
I have to admit that although reading the first two in this series triggered memories of reading the books the first time (in 1987/1988) I don't recall much about this Junior year of the five friends at all. But what struck me was this - the book fit in very well with a guest post I wrote for a blog this week. It was all about how tough it is to be a teen and the stuff I went through, and that others go through and how hard it is to be yourself in high school and not just the person the "cool kids" think you should be.Although the cover of this third book depicts Sean and Nick, the book has a large focus on Allie, who after spending 6 months in New York City (because her father was transferred) has come back to Northern California and Redwood High and has changed considerably.The funny thing I realized as I was reading (and I think I felt similarly when I was 12) was that the way they described Allie's clothing and look (all black, combat boots, black dyed hair) is similar to the way I dress now (ok so I don't own combat boots) and the way I have always WANTED to dress and envied when I was a kid (when I had no guts to follow through). Wow that was a long sentence with a lot of parenthesis. Oh, well.Celia, the blond-all-about-being-popular one, is constantly shamed by her hair stylist mother who wears her hair with blue or purple or pink streaks in it. HOLY COW did I WANT that kind of hair when I was 12 and here is a book that promotes preppy and following the crowd and shuns her. Had they never watched Jem and the Holograms? (I was totally going to be in that cartoon band, by the way.) The fact that most of the kids in these books look down on those whose style and expression is different is a HUGE point in this series. It's hard being in high school and it's very hard to walk to the beat of your own drum when 90% of the population is telling you that makes you a loser and uncool.Allie discovered while she was away that she didn't like the same things her best friend since they were born liked. She felt because she didn't like school or dressing in the latest fashions she had no future - a slogan that was printed on her black jacket which she sported daily. Celia shunned her and made it a project to get Allie back in the good graces of the cool and popular, but Allie didn't want anything to do with it. The only person she could talk to was Sean who went from being bullied and being called a nerd in Freshman and Sophomore years to being respected because he was smart and able to repair computers, amps, tech stuff. He was finally "cool" and because of this almost lost his first girlfriend - a girl named Brooke who was PROUD to be different and quirky and lost his friendship with Allie.Meanwhile Meg and Nick were on the back burner for this book. They are still in love with each other but won't admit it and continuously date people they don't really want just to make the other jealous or have someone. Yawn. Boring.What struck me the most was how much this book resonated with how I felt growing up and even though this is one of the stories I remember the least in the series, I know that I must have felt the same way when I first read it - EXCEPT! - I would have been way too insecure and shy to be that punk, alternative, new-wave girl that I longed to be. These days? I wear what I want, when I want and I will opt for comfort over fashion 99.9% of the time. I am the Allie that was emerging in this book, only a lot less moody. ;)Allie does find something she loves to do in the end - acting. She joins the drama club and gets the lead part in a play. She is shunned for this by her now former BFF, Celia because only lame losers join drama and don't focus on dating college boys, prom, or cheerleading.Celia has always been my least favourite character in this series. I have always loved Allie and Sean. Nick, although he sounds dreamy (and constantly refered to as "blonde good look" and yet always drawn with dark brown hair and eyes on the covers) and Meg have always just been background, never really thought about characters. Do not like or dislike them. They are just there. Rather bland.I'm just starting the final book out of the four - we're about to enter Senior year and finally become the official Class of '88!Oh, and I am so sick of basketball ALWAYS being written as "b-ball". Not once is anyone referred to or the game mentioned as a fully written out word. Did Americans really talk like that in the '80s? I don't remember. I am pretty sure that here in Canada we often used the full word. Say it with me now, "BASKET - BALL". There now, that wasn't so hard, was it?Class of ’88