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Sleepover Friends #29
Kate the Boss
The homecoming parade is in a few weeks, and the Sleepover Friends are going to build the best float of all! Kate, of course, immediately takes over as “director” of the float.
Then the girls find out they have to work on the float with snooty Ginger Kinkaid! Worse yet, Ginger’s got her own ideas about how to design the float.
But Lauren, Stephanie, and Patti discover they actually like Ginger’s ideas better than Kate’s. What happens when the Sleepover Friends get tired of being bossed around by Kate?
Then the girls find out they have to work on the float with snooty Ginger Kinkaid! Worse yet, Ginger’s got her own ideas about how to design the float.
But Lauren, Stephanie, and Patti discover they actually like Ginger’s ideas better than Kate’s. What happens when the Sleepover Friends get tired of being bossed around by Kate?
- GenresChildrensYoung Adult
118 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 10, 2022
This book always stuck with me because of the rubber mini skirts. (Which made an appearance way back in book number four and still baffle me. I'm sure they're supposed to be, like, a pleather or PVC, but for as long as I've been reading this book, which is probably close to thirty years, I've always pictured them as a soft, thick rubber. Like silicone. I don't know.)
But I digress. Was Kate a total jerk in this? Heck yes. But did she totally make up for it? Super heck yes. Other than that, I loved the story, the plot with the float, and the whole Ginger/Christy thing.
But I digress. Was Kate a total jerk in this? Heck yes. But did she totally make up for it? Super heck yes. Other than that, I loved the story, the plot with the float, and the whole Ginger/Christy thing.
August 16, 2025
This one wasn't the best. A lot of squabbles and silly preteen stuff. There's a parade cause the school has a big anniversary and the girls get a float. Unfortunately its sponsored by Blaney Reality and the owner wants his niece Ginger on the float. The girls have a bitter history with Ginger and it shows. They clash and Kate begins to get bossy insisting on having her own way leading to a big fight. The Ginger runs to her uncle cause they won't do things her way. It's a big mess. Things work out and they decide to compromise on the float and everything is well by the end of the book as always. This one was just okay, don't really remember it and it wasn't as engaging or fun as the others. I do strongly remember the cover for the next book which has a different narrator so that should be interesting.
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June 12, 2024Kate the Boss
Homecoming is coming up and Mrs. Mead is looking for volunteers to show people around the school. She tries to get Lauren to volunteer but she’s definitely not interested after hearing Ginger is one of the volunteers. She, Kate, Patti, and Stephanie will be working on one of the floats. There floats will be in remembrance of what a classroom looked like way back when the school was a high school. Kate, Lauren, and Patti will be students. Stephanie will be the statue of the Spirit of Riverhurst (because of her long hair).
They go to Lauren’s to check out the float. They think it looks great and can’t wait to decorate it with desks, a globe, and school books. They worry for a minute that Stephanie might catch the chicken pox. Patti, Kate, and Lauren have already had it and half the school is coming down with it. Stephanie just breezily says if she were going to get it she would have by now. Mr. Blainey (whose company is sponsoring the float) stops by to check it out also. He then drops the bomb that Ginger and Christy will be riding on it with them to make the classroom look fuller.
None of the Sleepover Friends wants this! The end up at Stephanie’s house and while pigging out on junk food talk about what to do about Ginger. Some of there ideas are: telling Christy and Ginger the wrong ime to be on the float, destroying the float “accidently”, and having Wayne Willer -the ggrossiest boy in class- sit by Ginger so that she won’t want to be on the float. They worry that she’ll want to take charge of the float and change what they’re doing. They agree to get a lot of the work done the next day so she won’t have a chance. During a game of “Truth or Date” Stephanie confesses she likes the same guy as Kate (even though Kate says she doesn’t like him anymore).
Just as they thought the next day when they go to plan what’s needed for the float, Ginger and Christy show up. Ginger wants to change the theme to a school in the future and instead of desks have tv’s (because they’ll be learning from home it’s said-which interestingly did happen-) and computers. Instead of skirts and pearls they want lots of neons, gold, and silver. Stephanie is mildly interested in this because instead of astatue they want a cassette player on the the float so they can dance. Kate decides to press ahead and if the other two don’t like it they’ll just have to split the float.
They go to Clothing Classics to find outfits. Lauren admits to Stephanie that Ginger’s idea wasn’t all bad. Maybe they *could* make the float more modern, but then Kate is determed to do the float *her* way. She picks out a yellow shirt for Lauren that makes her look washed out, and a bubble gum pinkj sweater with a flower for Patti (which akso isn’t a good color for Patti). They run into Mark and Henry (who’ll also be on the float) and they don’t seem to mind changing the theme to showing what the school is like today or in the future which infuriates Kate. Then they run into Ginger and Christy in “Just Juniors” picking out lime and hot pink rubber miniskirts to wear on the float (Lime for Giner, Hot Pink for Christy). Katie gets even madder and storms out. She’s not having it!
Roger tells Lauren that the custodian of the school found some desks from fifty years ago which is perfect, but they aren’t able to work on the float for a day because it rains. When they do Kate is being nitpicky about Stephanie getting the statue’s pose exact. Taylor (the boy she and Kate like) and his friends catch them practing and Taylor teases Stephanie. Her friends tell her he must like her but Stephanie doesn’t think so. Later, they see Ginger who tells them she’s coming by later with her own stuff to work on the float.
Kate gets worse! She starts to take over everything. She won’t let Lauren write the date on the blackboard. She doesn’t think Henry should clown around on the float because it wouldn’t be right for the float and she takes it too seriously when Stephanie pretends, she has chicken pox. She and Ginger get into it over how to dress and Ginger leaves and says she’s going to talk to her uncle. Then Lauren gets into with Kate and tells her she’s the one that’s acting impossible. She hasn’t heard not one thing they’ve told her they didn’t want to do. (Kate tho did say maybe there are some things she change but she can’t work with Ginger. She’s impossible). Kate then gets mad and tells Lauren if she thinks she can do better maybe she should be the float directior. She leaves and says she’ll never forget what Lauren said.
That night, Lauren fears the Sleepover Friends are over, btu it’s a short lived fear because the next day Kate shows up at her house and apologizes, She explains her new idea. They can all represent students throughout the ages and wear whatever style clothes of the era they choose. Stephanie and Patti like the idea, but when they try to find Ginger to run it past her they find out from Christy she’s out that day because she has the chicken pox. Christy says she likes the idea but she can’t do the float and offers to give Stephanie her mini skirt and bracelets to match. She doesn’t want to betray Ginger and make it look like she on their side. They convince her tho that if Ginger really is her friend, she won’t be mad and if they can compromise she should to. Christy says that since it *was* partly Ginger’s idea she should be ok with it. So ok,
On the day of the tour, the Sleepover Friends see an old neighboor (Mrs. Dexter) that use to baby sit thern. They tell her they have a float and it’s going to be the best in the parada. She promises them she’ll be there. It’s decided that Kate will represent the 40s, Henry and Patti the 50s, Lauren and Mark the 60s and Stephanie the 70s. Christy spends the night at a Sleepover and after they go to a basketball game at the high school (that Roger wins) Christy shows them how to do their hair.
Ginger isn’t happy about the float, but she forgives Christy after a man interviews them from the paper because he thinks they have the best float and says they’ll probably be the headline story. Kate even gives Ginger the credit for the idea. (Although Lauren gives all of them credit for working together).
My Thoughts:
I just could not visualize this jumble of a float in my head! I got the concept but I understood what was going on way more clearly when they did the classroom scene and even though it was a little *old* I thought it fit the theme *way* better if this was supposed to be a celebration of Riverhurst pasts. I will say tho that it is kind of exciting to be in a parade. I was in one once when I was smaller. It’s vague but I heard I was supposed to be throwing the candy, but I was eating it instead. I was supposed to riding on the car for my dad’s fraternity (NRA). I kinda wish the book would have went into what other things they did to celebrate other than the tour of the school and the parade. Or maybe that’s all there was.
Rating: 5
Homecoming is coming up and Mrs. Mead is looking for volunteers to show people around the school. She tries to get Lauren to volunteer but she’s definitely not interested after hearing Ginger is one of the volunteers. She, Kate, Patti, and Stephanie will be working on one of the floats. There floats will be in remembrance of what a classroom looked like way back when the school was a high school. Kate, Lauren, and Patti will be students. Stephanie will be the statue of the Spirit of Riverhurst (because of her long hair).
They go to Lauren’s to check out the float. They think it looks great and can’t wait to decorate it with desks, a globe, and school books. They worry for a minute that Stephanie might catch the chicken pox. Patti, Kate, and Lauren have already had it and half the school is coming down with it. Stephanie just breezily says if she were going to get it she would have by now. Mr. Blainey (whose company is sponsoring the float) stops by to check it out also. He then drops the bomb that Ginger and Christy will be riding on it with them to make the classroom look fuller.
None of the Sleepover Friends wants this! The end up at Stephanie’s house and while pigging out on junk food talk about what to do about Ginger. Some of there ideas are: telling Christy and Ginger the wrong ime to be on the float, destroying the float “accidently”, and having Wayne Willer -the ggrossiest boy in class- sit by Ginger so that she won’t want to be on the float. They worry that she’ll want to take charge of the float and change what they’re doing. They agree to get a lot of the work done the next day so she won’t have a chance. During a game of “Truth or Date” Stephanie confesses she likes the same guy as Kate (even though Kate says she doesn’t like him anymore).
Just as they thought the next day when they go to plan what’s needed for the float, Ginger and Christy show up. Ginger wants to change the theme to a school in the future and instead of desks have tv’s (because they’ll be learning from home it’s said-which interestingly did happen-) and computers. Instead of skirts and pearls they want lots of neons, gold, and silver. Stephanie is mildly interested in this because instead of astatue they want a cassette player on the the float so they can dance. Kate decides to press ahead and if the other two don’t like it they’ll just have to split the float.
They go to Clothing Classics to find outfits. Lauren admits to Stephanie that Ginger’s idea wasn’t all bad. Maybe they *could* make the float more modern, but then Kate is determed to do the float *her* way. She picks out a yellow shirt for Lauren that makes her look washed out, and a bubble gum pinkj sweater with a flower for Patti (which akso isn’t a good color for Patti). They run into Mark and Henry (who’ll also be on the float) and they don’t seem to mind changing the theme to showing what the school is like today or in the future which infuriates Kate. Then they run into Ginger and Christy in “Just Juniors” picking out lime and hot pink rubber miniskirts to wear on the float (Lime for Giner, Hot Pink for Christy). Katie gets even madder and storms out. She’s not having it!
Roger tells Lauren that the custodian of the school found some desks from fifty years ago which is perfect, but they aren’t able to work on the float for a day because it rains. When they do Kate is being nitpicky about Stephanie getting the statue’s pose exact. Taylor (the boy she and Kate like) and his friends catch them practing and Taylor teases Stephanie. Her friends tell her he must like her but Stephanie doesn’t think so. Later, they see Ginger who tells them she’s coming by later with her own stuff to work on the float.
Kate gets worse! She starts to take over everything. She won’t let Lauren write the date on the blackboard. She doesn’t think Henry should clown around on the float because it wouldn’t be right for the float and she takes it too seriously when Stephanie pretends, she has chicken pox. She and Ginger get into it over how to dress and Ginger leaves and says she’s going to talk to her uncle. Then Lauren gets into with Kate and tells her she’s the one that’s acting impossible. She hasn’t heard not one thing they’ve told her they didn’t want to do. (Kate tho did say maybe there are some things she change but she can’t work with Ginger. She’s impossible). Kate then gets mad and tells Lauren if she thinks she can do better maybe she should be the float directior. She leaves and says she’ll never forget what Lauren said.
That night, Lauren fears the Sleepover Friends are over, btu it’s a short lived fear because the next day Kate shows up at her house and apologizes, She explains her new idea. They can all represent students throughout the ages and wear whatever style clothes of the era they choose. Stephanie and Patti like the idea, but when they try to find Ginger to run it past her they find out from Christy she’s out that day because she has the chicken pox. Christy says she likes the idea but she can’t do the float and offers to give Stephanie her mini skirt and bracelets to match. She doesn’t want to betray Ginger and make it look like she on their side. They convince her tho that if Ginger really is her friend, she won’t be mad and if they can compromise she should to. Christy says that since it *was* partly Ginger’s idea she should be ok with it. So ok,
On the day of the tour, the Sleepover Friends see an old neighboor (Mrs. Dexter) that use to baby sit thern. They tell her they have a float and it’s going to be the best in the parada. She promises them she’ll be there. It’s decided that Kate will represent the 40s, Henry and Patti the 50s, Lauren and Mark the 60s and Stephanie the 70s. Christy spends the night at a Sleepover and after they go to a basketball game at the high school (that Roger wins) Christy shows them how to do their hair.
Ginger isn’t happy about the float, but she forgives Christy after a man interviews them from the paper because he thinks they have the best float and says they’ll probably be the headline story. Kate even gives Ginger the credit for the idea. (Although Lauren gives all of them credit for working together).
My Thoughts:
I just could not visualize this jumble of a float in my head! I got the concept but I understood what was going on way more clearly when they did the classroom scene and even though it was a little *old* I thought it fit the theme *way* better if this was supposed to be a celebration of Riverhurst pasts. I will say tho that it is kind of exciting to be in a parade. I was in one once when I was smaller. It’s vague but I heard I was supposed to be throwing the candy, but I was eating it instead. I was supposed to riding on the car for my dad’s fraternity (NRA). I kinda wish the book would have went into what other things they did to celebrate other than the tour of the school and the parade. Or maybe that’s all there was.
Rating: 5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 20, 2022
The plot of building a float for a parade has been used quite a bit. I could kind of see the ending coming a mile away, and fights between the sleepover friends always stress me out, but in general, this was an enjoyable read.
May 30, 2024
Re-reading the Sleepover Friends one by one over the years is always a hit or miss for me, but this one I always loved. Kate is so mean and I'm glad that Lauren stood up for everyone.
As always, snacks were needed to get through these books.
As always, snacks were needed to get through these books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews