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Fabulous Five #6
The Parent Game
Jana Morgan is feeling confused about her mother's remarriage. To add to her confusion, the students have to choose partners for their Family Living class, and Taffy Sinclair teams up with Jana's boyfriend.
- GenresYoung AdultChildrens
128 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1989
3 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Betsy Haynes
123 books109 followersABOUT ME
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?
My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade
I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.
Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.
I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 8, 2019
The Parent Game
PLOT: Jana's having a hard time dealing with the fact that her mother is about to get married, and at the same time there's a family living project where the the class has to pair up and be parents to make believe baby stuffed animals. Taffy Sinclair (her old enemy at Mark Twain) makes her an unexpected offer to pair up with her boyfriend Randy so that her new enemy Laura won't ask him. Should she trust Taffy not to make a play for Randy herself?
MY THOUGHTS: When I first started reading this book I thought here we go. Yet another book about a class that has its students raising a baby to teach them about parenthood. I've read this in the Clique. I've read this in Girl Talk. I'm sure there was also another one. But luckily the baby raising project was secondary. I didn't have a lot of thoughts about Jana's reluctance to have a step-parent share her space and her mother. I guess because I've never been there. I have a step-parent, but I've never lived with them and the parent. And even if I did, I don't think I'd have insecurities over sharing my father. But I have to think about this if I was Jana's age and only had one parent. I don't know. I think it was logical for Jana to feel the way she did. Changes are never easy to get used to. And also the project did have a twist, and that was they could choose the baby instead of it being a boring egg. That was new! I do remember this project and I will say that it in my case, it was VERY effective. I learned from an early age, I did NOT want to be a parent, and luckily that stuck. The joys of parenthood, I've happily done without! Taffy, I never trusted. I think like the Five, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but in the back of my mind, the nagging suspicion was always there. But what was Taffy's end goal in this? To get Randy? Or was she doing this to piss Jana off? Sometimes it's obvious when the guy you desire isn't going anywhere. True, it may kill you to see it. But you KNOW. And this is what I get when I read about Jana and Randy. You just know one day (just like she was fantasizing) it'll be them at that alter. And then with Chad. To be the best looking girl at Wacko, why is Taffy chasing after guys who don't want her? You'd think they'd be pursuing her. I think in Trouble With Too Many Boys, one did choose her over Melanie but then he found her shallow and changed his mind.
RATING: 4 Story wise this was kind of a lackluster read. Basically what you got out of it was Jana gets a new stepdad and the war between Taffy and the Fab Five is still on.
PLOT: Jana's having a hard time dealing with the fact that her mother is about to get married, and at the same time there's a family living project where the the class has to pair up and be parents to make believe baby stuffed animals. Taffy Sinclair (her old enemy at Mark Twain) makes her an unexpected offer to pair up with her boyfriend Randy so that her new enemy Laura won't ask him. Should she trust Taffy not to make a play for Randy herself?
MY THOUGHTS: When I first started reading this book I thought here we go. Yet another book about a class that has its students raising a baby to teach them about parenthood. I've read this in the Clique. I've read this in Girl Talk. I'm sure there was also another one. But luckily the baby raising project was secondary. I didn't have a lot of thoughts about Jana's reluctance to have a step-parent share her space and her mother. I guess because I've never been there. I have a step-parent, but I've never lived with them and the parent. And even if I did, I don't think I'd have insecurities over sharing my father. But I have to think about this if I was Jana's age and only had one parent. I don't know. I think it was logical for Jana to feel the way she did. Changes are never easy to get used to. And also the project did have a twist, and that was they could choose the baby instead of it being a boring egg. That was new! I do remember this project and I will say that it in my case, it was VERY effective. I learned from an early age, I did NOT want to be a parent, and luckily that stuck. The joys of parenthood, I've happily done without! Taffy, I never trusted. I think like the Five, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, but in the back of my mind, the nagging suspicion was always there. But what was Taffy's end goal in this? To get Randy? Or was she doing this to piss Jana off? Sometimes it's obvious when the guy you desire isn't going anywhere. True, it may kill you to see it. But you KNOW. And this is what I get when I read about Jana and Randy. You just know one day (just like she was fantasizing) it'll be them at that alter. And then with Chad. To be the best looking girl at Wacko, why is Taffy chasing after guys who don't want her? You'd think they'd be pursuing her. I think in Trouble With Too Many Boys, one did choose her over Melanie but then he found her shallow and changed his mind.
RATING: 4 Story wise this was kind of a lackluster read. Basically what you got out of it was Jana gets a new stepdad and the war between Taffy and the Fab Five is still on.
Read
August 27, 2020 As a kid every Saturday we went to Kmart, and every Saturday my mom would let me buy one thing, and it was ALWAYS a fabulous five book. (The cover looks like a spiral notebook cover... I thought that was very clever)
I also managed to track down all the Taffy Sinclair books at a thrift store.
I wonder if this series is still at my parents I would definitely read them again.
I remember in the Taffy books Melanie was chubby and it made references to her eating brownies and then one day she was like NO i don't want the brownie... and then she got skinny.
This is a very vague memory... so don't quote me on this one, what you CAN quote me on is that Taffy had a crooked bicuspid, and Jana ate cream cheese and jam sandwiches,... which I tried because of her and they were DIS-GUS-TING, and I never trusted her again
I also managed to track down all the Taffy Sinclair books at a thrift store.
I wonder if this series is still at my parents I would definitely read them again.
I remember in the Taffy books Melanie was chubby and it made references to her eating brownies and then one day she was like NO i don't want the brownie... and then she got skinny.
This is a very vague memory... so don't quote me on this one, what you CAN quote me on is that Taffy had a crooked bicuspid, and Jana ate cream cheese and jam sandwiches,... which I tried because of her and they were DIS-GUS-TING, and I never trusted her again
May 25, 2017
I thinks it's going to be great!
Read
September 7, 2016I read several Fabulous Fives growing up - they didn't stand out as too interesting and were a little over-dramatic, but they worked for my age group at the time. I liked the clique and the girls involved as they went through different situations at home, school, and together.
Want to read
March 9, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13218032
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13218032
October 7, 2016
Jana is THE BEST.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews