Girls of Canby Hall #29 A Roommate Returns and #30 Surprise!

In Girls of Canby Hall #29, A Roommate Returns, Shelley comes back to Canby Hall for a visit.  She has landed a role in a Boston play, and she is convinced that this is the beginning of her acting career.  The play flops, and Shelley is out of a job.  Shelley mopes around and acts like her life is over, annoying everyone including the reader.

I did not like this book.  I found everything to be boring.  Shelley is awful.  Everything about the book is awful.  I had to skim a lot of the book in order to get through it.  Series do indeed decline towards the end.

In Girls of Canby Hall #30, Surprise!, Beau shows up unexpectedly at Canby Hall.  Of course Jane hasn't told Cary that she met somebody in Texas, so Beau's appearance threatens Jane's relationship with Cary.  Even worse, Gigi decides to try to steal Cary away from Jane, mainly just to hurt her.

On page 50, we learn that the girls "would cluster around the big-screen TV to watch Sixty Minutes."  I laughed.  It sounds hilarious that the Canby Hall girls eagerly watch a news show.  I actually think they more likely would gather around to watch a sitcom or a soap opera.  I sometimes really wonder about the authors of these books.

On page 54, Toby's face gets very red while she is on the phone, and she reflects that she is "grateful that video phones never caught on." Oh Toby, you have no idea.

On both pages 65 and 101, a character "could care less."  What was wrong with the people who wrote this series?  What was wrong with the editors?  Probably the series did not have editors.

On page 76, Gigi and Yolanda are just like Lettie and Ina from the Dana Girls series.

"Oh, Gigi, that would be too funny."  Gigi looked into Yolanda's admiring face.  Sometimes she was a pain, but she was always loyal, and no matter what scheme Gigi thought up, Yolanda went along with it.  Gigi was pretty lucky to find someone like Yolanda in this school full of drips.

Gigi leaves the room and comes back on page 78.

Gigi came back into her room.  Yolanda was still sitting on Gigi's bed where Gigi had left her.  Just like a faithful puppy, Gigi thought.

Every series book villain needs a toady.

I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the last part dragged for me.