Starring Stephanie

Sleepover Friends #2

by Susan Saunders

Stephanie blows an audition for the lead in the school play and shy Patti gets the part. If Stephanie can't act in the school play, how will she ever be a video star?

Genres: Young Adult, Middle Grade, Fiction, Friendship, Childrens, Chapter Books

86 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1987

Reviews

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just adore this series and how cutely they hold up.

In this one, Stephanie makes Patti try out for the school play but ends up choking and Patti gets the lead! And there's an overarching mystery/contest to be in a music video for one of the local rock bands. Oh, and Patti's annoying cousin Lester is in town and pranking the friends left and right.

Favorite retro things: the girls listening to the late-night radio station dedication show, settling for whatever random movie was on tv at the moment, talking about going to Record Emporium to buy tapes, making plans to ride bikes to the mall, watching a local MTV-ish show called Video Trax for music videos, the younger cousins being SENT TO THE CAR to sit by themselves after being too rowdy during a dinner out (do you remember that? Like being left alone in the car a lot as a kid? My mom would run errands and I'd just be sitting alone by myself. Wild.)

Sleepover snacks from this book: fudge, pb&j sandwiches, taco chips with dip, sour cream and onion chips, fudge ripple ice cream, chocolate chunk cookies, everything but anchovies pizza, chocolate mousse, lemonade

[Annie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty campy stuff. Of course all the food at the sleepovers are the real highlight. That, and some of the odd descriptions. For the music video, the girls are dressed in "red sweatpants with a black and white shirt, black sweatpants with a red and white shirt, and white sweatpants with a red and black shirt." The denomination of "sweatpants" under "trendy clothes" is even more of a jolt than realizing there are no computers or cell phones. Gee, and they could still have fun.
You know, whatever that means.

[Leane · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute. I figured out the video location as soon as the first unsuspecting clue was introduced. I also thought it ended a little abruptly.

[Molly Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is exactly as I remembered it! What a delight.

1987 was a great year for little Molly to wish to wear only red, black, and white… make chocolate mousse with crystallized violets… and drink Dr Pepper… at a weekly sleepover with friends.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has a memorable scene involving separating eggs. (It's so memorable that it's the reason I tracked this series down.) The book itself is unlikely to be that enjoyable upon re-reading, but it made it so that separating eggs was totally not intimidating when I (much later) wanted to make a recipe that called for it.

There's a big long recap here. That blog petered out, but it amuses me that there's another one devoted to (sporadically) recapping this series.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these anxiety filled times it's good to look back at old favourites. In book two there is the usual high jinks, Patti's cousin is in town and pulling pranks like hot peppers on pizza and olive oil in the pop. It's a decent fun read, Stephanie is determined to win over Michael Pastore by getting a part in the school play, Patti gets the part she wants and then there's a music video to be filmed. A fun escapist read for me for sure.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Sleepover Friends book that I vaguely remember reading - this time, I remember the Boodles shooting the video at the old McBride house, and that Bullwinkle was involved. (Though I thought he was in one of the clues.) Otherwise, this was a bunch of sleepover hijinks. (And I've over-thought that word so it looks weird now.)

[JH · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is kind of misleading. This is not really about putting on a play. There was a little bit of lead up to the auditions, but that was it, no pay off. I enjoyed the descriptions of food and the sleepovers, of course.

[Doris Ware · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute series

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are adorable!

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not age well

I loved this series when I was younger, but it's terribly outdated now. I remember how cool I thought it would be to dress like Stephanie and have a room that was entirely red, black, and white.

[K.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

very nostalgic.... but my folks never ever lete loose in the kitchen!!!!

[Leah Bayer]

I read a LOT of books as preteen/early teen but for some reason this one has just stuck with me. Yet I never thought of adding it to my shelves! Honestly I don't remember much about the plot but there is one thing I remember vividly: the chocolate mousse! The main girl's mom makes a chocolate mousse for a dinner party that they can't touch, and throughout the night each girl sneaks into the kitchen for "just a bite" thinking that no one will notice. By the end of the night, it's almost gone! So they decide to make a new one (including candied violets) at like 3am. Very dramatic. I honestly have no idea why I remember the details of that scene so vividly 15 years later, but brains are weird.

[Tiffany Spencer]

Starring Stephanie
(PLOT): Stephanie would do anything for Michael Pastore to notice her. Coincidently there's a video contest being thrown by the Boodles. If you can guess the location from the clips shown you get to be in the video. There's also a fifth-grade play being held. Stephanie talks Patti into auditioning but things take a turn when Patti's the one that gets the lead in the play and Michael's attention.

MY THOUGHTS
*What's On The Menu? (fudge/peanut butter and jelly sandwiches/taco chips/dip/chocolate mousse/fudge ripple ice cream/chocolate chunk cookies/

RATE: 5 I remember this one when they tried to make the mousse and messed it up. I'm very surprised they pulled it off. Mousse isn't exactly grilled cheese and something that doesn't sound like 11 year old's could pull off. I'm still shivering over the scene with Ratstien. I would have FREAKED! That would have given me nightmares for a LONG time. Poor Stephanie. And speaking of Stephanie. Stephanie, while I admit I liked her when I read this series, in this one she seems a bit too dramatic. She was the one that convinced Patti to try out for the play. She never *wanted* to do it in the first place. Then Patti never said anything about being into Michael. I bet Patti would have gladly handed over the role to Stephanie if she could have done it. The Boodles sound simply awful, and I bet they’ll be one hit wonders. They’ll probably be on VH1 (Where Are They Now) half strung out on illegal substances, and the other in prison. Russel Crowe will probably end up making adult videos.