Don’t let the subject of this blog mislead you; this is referring to a ‘Time Warp’ in pre-teen fiction and not the Rocky Horror Picture Show. However, if you ‘remember doing the time warp’ then please go ahead and dance it anyway. Tim Curry in stockings and suspenders, oh yes. Moving on.
In my last blog, I ranted a little about the modernisation of teen-fic from the early 90s and how they should have left it alone. Coincidentally, that same day, information was released that a new BSC book is indeed in the pipeline, due to be released in April 2010, ten years after the last book was published. This new book is to be called The Summer Before… and is about the summer before the BSC was formed, when the original four characters were aged twelve.
This is an interesting idea and like most female nostalgia freaks in their twenties, I did have a squee moment. Naturally, I will purchase this, read it, possibly hate it and then rant about it. I am also possibly a lot more excited about this than I should be. It’s like reverting back to childhood. When I was young, the BSC was absolutely my favourite series of books and I really loved to read. They were happy times and I am intreagued by this new addition.
So, the brief description of the book on Amazon explains that this book tells us about the changes that each girl went through in that summer before the seventh grade. I’m not entirely sure how this will work; as most hardcore BSC fans know, Mary Anne’s father doesn’t loosen up until book 4, we know Stacey moves to the ‘Brook and has just been diagnosed with diabetes. This leaves just Claudia and Kristy. The only thing we do know is that at this time, Claudia was apparently just an acquitance, a former childhood friend who drifted apart. We’ll see whether Ann decides to expand on this, or whether she decides to go with the later ghostwritten route, who had us believe that they were close friends all the way through.
For me, I want to know whether this will be BSC-Land, or whether it will be modernised. The later books did start to mention modern technology, with the introduction of emails and cell phones. But for the most part, they remained 80s/90s all the way through. I want to read about them listening to Michael Jackson, wearing oversize shirts and sparkly nail polish and riding their bikes around the ‘Brook, earning a massive dollar fifty an hour sitting. I sincerely hope that they’re not turned into Lady Gaga fans, in skinny jeans and cami tops, earning ten dollars an hour. For me, that would take away from the innocence of the BSC.
Unless a modernisation is on the cards, following the success of the graphic novels and this is a test run, to see how it appeals to the new generation. We shall see.
In other news, a big well done to the London Men and Ladies bowling teams for qualifying for the County Finals in November. We did good, we did!
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