Eekind’s Reviews > The One and Only: A Maryellen Classic > Status Update

I feel comfortable saying that I don’t like having three storylines that historically would have been their own three books in a six book arc in this one book but the two stories I have reached (Meet Maryellen and Maryellen learns a lesson, essentially) are both well written. I kind of wish Mrs Humphrey had more characterization than Fat and conflates Maryellen with her sisters, but the moral of this section was A+

I do like Maryellen being frustrated with the Karen’s for upstaging her, just by also wearing dresses with crinoline & blouses. Granted Stohlman is literally wearing the same pink and black poodle skirt, but the second they all discuss a third girl in their grade wearing the skirt, it’s immediately dropped as an issue. I do prefer how much interiority we get with Maryellen vs a unprompted Molly moment like this

I know it’s a small thing in the scheme of the book but I do really like that Maryellen and Mrs Larkin were able to mend fences. Tripp does such a good job teasing out the mutual frustration on both ends so when Mrs Larkin offers the olive branch about how Maryellen and Davy took responsibility, it meant a lot more than just a standard sitcom farce of misunderstanding with a parent and child

This was very much covered in the Dolls of our Lives Pod episode for this book, but it is so interesting to see the original six AG girls struggle more with the expectations of being a young lady vs Maryellen being upset that her family treats her like a baby and striving to be seen as a grown up. That change of perspective adds so much depth to Mom and Joan dressing Maryellen down about front door painting incident

I know it’s 1954 and the Larkins live in a Midcentury Ranch in FL but having your Nine, Six, Four and Two year old all share a room sounds deranged…you know they constantly fighting like cats and dogs