Hanging Out with Cici

Victoria Martin #1

by Francine Pascal

No matter what, trouble always seems to follow, find, and fasten itself to Voctoria. Her mother doesn't understand her, and she's always blamed for everything.Fresh from her latest disaster at her cousin's house, Victoria dreads seeing her mother. Suddenly all that is forgotten when Victoria bumps her head on the train ride home and is whisked back in time to 1944, when everyone wears strange clothing and a few dollars go a long way.Luckily Victoria meets Cici, who turns out to be even more daring and can't do anything right at home or at school. As Cici's houseguest, Victoria has the time of her life sharing in Cici's schemes. The strangest thing of all is that there's something very familiar about Cici and her family. Victoria couldn't possibly have known them--or could she?

Genres: Young Adult, Time Travel, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Teen

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Francine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.

Reviews

[Jody Kihara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my most-loved books when I was a teen! Francine Pascal at her best, long before she started doing the Sweet Valley High series.
A teenage girl travels back in time to when her mother was a teenager - and befriends her! The book is funny, charming, and heartwarming. Now I want to find a copy so that I can re-read it!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book as a teen. Found it on my shelf and attempted a re-read and WOW. Poor little rich girl syndrome all up in here.

The positive, the teenager was written realistically.

The negative, the teenager was written realistically.

Annoying as ALL get out. I am WAY too old for this book. The adults were written realistically too, but they were also annoying. Everyone was too self-involved, but they had to start less-than-ideal for the character growth to take place I guess.

Still, not one I felt like pushing through to get to the payoff.

2, I shouldn’t have stirred up the nostalgia and just left it alone, stars.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I'm aging myself by saying this, but when I was a little girl, my favorite ABC After School Special was "My Mother Was Never A Kid." I remember watching it every time it aired and recording it so I could watch it over and over again. I wore that recording out!


Recently, I discovered that "My Mother Was Never A Kid" was based on the book Hangin' out with Cici by Francine Pascal (first published in 1977). I knew I had to find this book and read it. And, lucky for me, I have a very sweet friend named Lori who found a copy of the book (renamed & repackaged through the years) and sent it my way. Score!

Victoria Martin is almost fourteen years old and believes that entitles her to a few things -- a little more freedom to come and go as she pleases, more parties and good times with her friends, and less nagging from her mom about cleaning her room and getting good grades. Instead, she gets more lectures and punishments. Her mom seems more overbearing than ever. Clearly, her mom doesn't remember what it was like to be a teenager. If she was ever a teenager at all.

Needless to say, Victoria is looking forward to getting away from New York and visiting her cousin Liz in Philadelphia for the weekend. She can't wait to have fun without her mom watching her every move. Instead, she gets into a bit of trouble at a party and is sent back to New York on the next train. Her mom is so mad. Victoria knows she's really going to get yelled at good and loud this time.

But something strange happens on the train. The lights start to flicker, and when Victoria arrives in New York the train station looks different. In fact, the people look different. It's like the train dropped her off in a different decade.

That's where she meets Cici, a boisterous and outgoing girl who helps Victoria navigate through the strange surroundings, takes her on some crazy-cool adventures, and becomes a great friend.

But Victoria can't shake the fact that she's met Cici before....

This book was so much fun! It brought back so many childhood memories. I still related to Victoria and her struggle to get a little understanding from her mom. That was a universal theme in YA Fiction from the '70s, and it will always be relevant to teenagers regardless of the decade in which they live. I definitely think the story held up well over the years.

Now, I need to find a DVD of the After School Special AND read the rest of the Victoria Martin Trilogy.

What a surprising find and a great read!

[Madelyn Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't terrible, but definitely wasn't the best book I have ever read. I found myself wanting to know what would come next in this book. The book did have a good meaning and message directed towards mothers and daughters. However, this book seemed oddly specific and had too many details which in my experience really interferes with the flow of the book. But, the message of the difficulties between mothers and daughters as well as the joy is still shown and demonstrated quite well in this book. I realized that this book is an older book (as old as 91' is... ☺), and the actual topic of the book of the mothers "not understanding daughters" according to Victoria is really reflective of the time period.

Overall, this is a good book and I think that this is something that people should still read despite my three-star rating. Happy Reading!

-Madelyn

[Mrs2b · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library when I was 13 or 14 maybe. I loved this book so much. The characters were so spontanious and full of life, I remember feeling like I was actually a part of the book myself. Kinda silly I guess, but it was a boring summer that year. I loved this story and remember reading it in just a day or two. Then I read it a few more times before it was due back to the library. I'd like to find a copy of this book someday.

[Joyce Cai · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know at the time I read this book that it was an oldie! Nevertheless, I thought it was a fun read. I bought this book at the time when my mom is just being impossible and one look at the title, I knew I had to buy this! (funny, my mom smirked at me upon reading the title when we were about to pay)
I loved this book! it was and oldie but a good one!

[Xtina Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. loved Victoria Martin

[Alannah Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally bought this book back in the '80s. I loved it so much that I bought a copy for my mom (who herself grew up in the 1940s, and she loved the book, too). I still have that original copy among my "keep forever" books. I recommend it to every daughter who feels misunderstood by her mom.

[Michelle Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book when I was a teenager and loved it! Remembered last year how much I had enjoyed it, so trawled the net for a copy. Having re read it as a 'mum' i did see it slightly different, but enjoyed it just the same and it's now on my book shelf waiting for my daughter to read it!

[Madame Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Troublemaker Victoria is always at odds with her mother Cici. One day she gets transported back to her mothers 1944 childhood, and realizes that Cici was once fun but also made mistakes. This was a fun read. The narration had me cracking up.

[Anabella Shay Xo(RomanceBookWormXoXo) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome! I love Victoria and Cici's friendship in this. You see that Victoria learns so much.
I can't wait to read the other books in this series.

[Li Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

HAHAHA this was so weird. I've definitely seen Francine Pascal use the 'time travel to better understand someone' conceit in the Sweet Valley High series, and it definitely doesn't get less cheesy? I am also entirely unable to suspend my disbelief, like. Wouldn't traveling 30 years back in time mess you up for good, or at the very least a good long time to come. Did Cici name her daughter AFTER THAT BEST FRIEND SHE HAD WHO DIED MYSTERIOUSLY IN AN AIR RAID. Did she ever notice the resemblance growing up. Whaaaaat.

Cici was very cool, though. Enjoyed that 40s slang.

Also, is it just me or did Pascal just basically give up on that "I can't stop getting myself into trouble" characterisation of Victoria after this first book.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book on my 13th birthday and I think I read it all before the night was out. I loved the story, and the main character was so sarcastic and funny without meaning to be so. I never really was into any of Francine Pascal's other works, but this one got top billing from me then and I just re-read it and it still is totally fab. After reading this as a kid, my Mum borrowed it, it being about a girl and her mum in the 1940s, when my own Mum came to be a young girl, and it was one of her favourite books that I owned, that she bothered to read and like. SO there are two reviews in one. We both totally dug this novel!

[elissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of my very favorites when I was about 11 or 12. I think it's Pascal's first book. I re-read it in the early 90's when I was first a librarian, and it held up well, so I booktalked it occasionally. A cute story about a teenager who goes back in time and meets her mother as a teenager. Re-issued in 2003 as My Mother was Never a Kid (the same title as the Afterschool Special).

[Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the movie Peggy Sue got Married, for those who like trivia...
This book is much better than Pascal's subsequent Sweet Valley High series, although I must admit that I read those with gusto as a tween. This book is much more complex in plot, and it shows that Pascal definitely has more depth as a writer than many believe. It's a fun fantasy read for girls, and I recommend it for grades four through seven or eight.

[Mikka · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like and don't like the book. Most of the parts were boring but the plot did made me always ask what would happen next. It was thrilling, waiting for what would happen next. And the meaning itself was good since I also have a love-hate relationship with my mom. The downside was, it had too many details for me and some of the details kept on repeating so it kind of made the book boring. Plus, it made me wish that I was done reading while reading because I got bored.

[Shelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book I read way back when I was a teenager. I loved the book so much I actually kept it until recently. I passed the book on to my half sister who is 16 (I'm 42!!!) She loved the book too and read it very quickly. It holds your interest and is quite fun while also making a parent/teen relationship message. Well worth reading if you can find a copy.

[Celia Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that this was written by the same author behind the later "Sweet Valley" series. I just remember really liking this book as a kid...it's sort of a pre-Freaky Friday-esque story where a girl goes back in time and ends up becoming friends with her mother. This book made me want to be nicknamed Cici.

[Tracey Hook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book many years ago. I found it in the basement of The Strand on 12th Street in NYC. Funny how we strive to be so unlike our mothers, but what happens if we were to meet them as their younger self and discover they're the coolest person on the planet? Awesome! A great coming-of-age story.

[Lo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny, cute departure from her previous work. I loved the premise of this book. It's all very "Peggy Sue Got Married" but different. Oddly enough, while reading this book I had no desire to get back to 1962 and chill with La Mommie.

[Syd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was a preteen, and I still own that same torn, dog-eared copy. My daughter is nearly twelve years old and in sixth grade, so today is the day that book gets passed down. I hope she finds even a little of the hope I found in those pages...

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the Victoria Martin series when I was in my tweens. This one was my favorite - Victoria goes back in time and is hanging out with her mother when they are the same age. It was a great book.

[Cheryl Hughes]

I read this when I was a kid. It made me really want to travel back in time and live in the '40s! It also started a life-long love of books about time travel.

[Jen Wahl kilmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book again after finding it in my old closet. Loved it like I always did. Every girl should read this one growing up!

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

After 30 plus years I still remember this book with great fondness and appreciation to the author. Thank you.

[Bryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved this when I was a kid, so it was interesting to reread 30+ years on and try to remember what I saw in it -- and I am not sure what it was, except that I liked present day people having to go back and deal with the past. As an adult, though, I struggled with the way Victoria and Nina treat each other, and how unsupported Victoria is as an adolescent -- and yes, I know this was entirely normal in the 1970s, but I am living (and parenting) now and I could not help it bothering me. I think also I wanted more past, which I understand is a function of reading it as an adult -- when I was 8 or 10 and read it the first time I didn't know anything about the 1940s, so it was all interesting, but now I wanted much more about actual culture shock for Victoria, instead of her continual surprise at how everyone is nicer and everything seems generally better.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book for myself when I was a kid (middle school maybe?) and enjoy it every time. Wouldn't it be fun if all daughters could go back to hang out with their mothers at the same age for 24 hours? We'd probably feel a closer understanding to the way our mothers behave. Love Victoria got to do this and returned to the present time to understand her much just a little better.

[Angela Cable]

I absolutely LOVED this book when I was a kid!

I wish I could find a copy today.

This book held my interest strongly as a teen. This was an early sign of my love of going back in time and learning about how people live. I love doing this today !

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a sense of humor and who likes history of the home front during the second world war.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the original YA books. I was inspired to read this after reading a book about the YA genre. This one is slightly before my time. But I was intrigued when I read that it involves time travel. A fun blast from the past that involves time travel.

[Megan Q. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-read of a childhood favorite.