#35 The New Stephanie

This book is one of the last few books in the series. As far as I can tell, the last book is #38 Patti's City Adventure. I had stopped reading the books by then, so this one was new to me. Stephanie is the narrator of this book instead of Lauren, who narrated most of the books.

Lauren, Kate, Stephanie and Patti are hanging out in Stephanie's "apartment" at their usual Friday night sleepover. For some reason, Lauren is on a health kick, and is eating sugar-free, whole wheat cookies. Stephanie says they taste like dog biscuits, and I have to agree with her. The other girls still eat their usual sleepover junk food, including Dr Pepper floats. I have never had a Dr Pepper float, and now I would like to try one! That will be my next post.

The girls decide to take another one of those magazine quizzes. This one is called "Are You Nice? Or Not?" There are questions about friends, gossip, community service, etc. Patti receives a perfect score. Of course, since she is the nicest person they know. Lauren and Kate fall somewhere in the middle. Stephanie fails! The quiz results say "What's putting a hold on your niceness? You must have a lot of empty spaces on your calendar. Someone as self-centered, insensitive and snobby as you couldn't possibly have any fun. Who would want to be friends with you anyway?" Wow, these quizzes are harsh! The other girls think it's all a big joke, but Stephanie gets really upset about it. As she is trying to fall asleep that night, she thinks of ways she can improve her niceness quotient and become a better friend.

The next morning, Stephanie turns down a trip to the mall with her friends in order to go to the library and get some books on how to be a nicer person. In one of the books, there is a list of things to do to be a nicer person:

Do: Spend quality time with your friends.
Do: Speak only if you have something nice to say.
Do: Give service - to your community, your friends, your parents, and to all those in need. Find a way to help.
Do: Say "yes" more than "no."
Do: Think of others first. Making others happy is nice.
Do: Follow through on your commitments.
Do: Smile - a lot.

Stephanie takes this all to heart and decides she is going to follow the list. As she is checking out her books, she asks the librarian about community service opportunities and she's in luck - the library needs volunteers to collect contributions and used books for the annual library drive. Stephanie signs up. She is given some leaflets to pass out and sets out the next day to start collecting. She gets off to a good start and is happy that her new niceness plan is working so well.

On Monday morning, the girls all meet up to ride their bikes to school like they do every morning. Stephanie got up early to make sure she had time to look her best. When she meets up with the other girls, she compliments them on their outfits, because that is what a nice person does. She also offers to help Kate carry her books, and comments on what a beautiful day it is. Patti notices this and asks if she is feeling ok, because she's not acting like her usual self. Stephanie is a little offended by this, since she is just trying to be nice. She decides to keep her niceness plan to herself, and assures the girls she is feeling fine.

In class that day, they get back their results from an achievement test. Jenny Carlin (their enemy) brags that she is so smart she will get moved to 6th grade. Stephanie is finding it hard to be nice all the time when people like Jenny Carlin make rude comments towards her and her friends. But she refuses to back down and tries to find something nice to say.

The Sleepover Friends have a new friend! Her name is Hope Lenski. She is quiet, wears strange clothes and is a vegetarian. Apparently she has even been to a few sleepovers! At lunch that day, she mentions that she volunteers at a recycling center. Stephanie thinks this is a great idea and decides to go, too. Kate and Lauren agree to come along, but Patti has a parent teacher conference to attend.

Volunteering at the recycling center is hard work, but Stephanie feels good about it and offers to go back again to help some more. That night after dinner, she offers to help her mother clean out the kitchen cabinets. Then she goes through the family's books to find some to donate to the library. By the time she is done, it's late and she hasn't even started her homework. She ends up staying up late to finish and is tired the next morning.

At school the next day, Patti announces that it's not Jenny Carlin who is being asked to skip to 6th grade - it's her. She is upset about this and doesn't want to go, but it seems like her parents, the teacher and the principal have already made up their minds. They even make Patti go to the 6th grade classroom in the afternoons. The girls say they'll help Patti figure out a way out of this.

Meanwhile, Stephanie continues to be nice to people (including Karla Stamos who the girls describe as being "a grind"), volunteer and help her mother around the house. This leaves little time for homework and it starts to catch up to her. She is worn out, but she is so determined to be a nicer person that she won't cut back. She even takes on another project.

At the recycling center, Stephanie finds out that one of their favorite restaurants, the Pizza Palace, doesn't recycle. The girls are determined to do something about this. They talk to the manager, but he says it costs too much to recycle and he doesn't have time. The girls are disappointed, but they aren't ready to give up.

They have a sleepover at Kate's house, where they decorate giant cookies. That is something new! Then they play some Truth or Dare. Stephanie is still being overly nice and the girls point it out. She gets upset because she is just trying to be nice!

The next day, the girls want to go to the mall, but Stephanie turns them down. She wants to go volunteer for the Sea Mammal League. While she is there, she wishes she was hanging out with her friends at the mall instead. Then she feels bad because volunteering isn't supposed to be fun - it is supposed to be nice.

While this is all going on, the girls are still trying to figure out a way for Patti to stay in 5th grade. They decide to try to find information at the library. Stephanie can't go because she is too busy volunteering. Her friends start to get mad that they never see her anymore. She doesn't even have time to do her homework anymore & she is always tired, and her teacher notices. One day after school, she decides to go to the library so she can get her homework done. She finds a quiet corner, finishes everything and then falls asleep. She wakes up later that night when her parents, the librarian and 2 police officers find her! She didn't tell anyone where she was and her parents freaked out when she didn't come home. She had double booked herself--going to the recycling place with Hope AND going to the mall with her mom, and didn't show up for either.

Stephanie's parents finally realize something is up. She admits that she has been too busy lately with all her volunteering and stuff. Her parents make her stop volunteering during the school year so she can focus on her homework, and tell her she doesn't have to keep doing extra chores around the house.

The good news is, the girls brought around a petition for people to sign, encouraging the Pizza Palace to recycle, and it's a success. They even offer to help the manager get started on a recycling program.

At their Friday night sleepover at Patti's house, Kate shows Stephanie the magazine with the quiz in it. Stephanie had made notes in it about how to be a nicer person and Kate found it. They figured out what she was up to, and they tell her they like the old Stephanie. Stephanie admits she is relieved she doesn't have to volunteer anymore, but they all agree to continue their work at the Pizza Palace.

For their sleepover snack, Hope makes them shakes made of raspberry sherbet and crushed fresh fruit. What happened to the junk food?

The girls also have a surprise for Patti--they got all the 5th graders to sign a petition to let Patti stay in 5th grade. The next morning, Patti shows her parents the petition and explains that she would prefer to stay in 5th grade. Her parents agree to let her make her own decision, and she picks 5th grade. The Sleepover Friends are so excited that they'll still be together!

The book ends with the girls shouting "Sleepover Friends forever!" In case you are wondering where I got the name for this blog--that is it. Quite a few of the books end this way.

Up next: the recipe for Patti's Alaska dip (which sounds disgusting) and a recap of #5 Lauren's Big Mix-Up.