The Fabulous Five in Trouble

by Betsy Haynes

With the members of the Fabulous Five growing apart and going their separate ways, Katie Shannon comes up with the idea of having a super slumber party to bring them all back together again

171 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1990

About the author

ABOUT ME

Maybe it's because my feisty grandma chased tarantulas around with a broom when we lived on an oil lease property when I was a baby that made me love danger and adventure. And maybe it was my father's spending nights as a trombonist with the bands of his day and his days spent drawing sketches that sparked my artistic side. Do you suppose that because my mother stood only four feet ten inches tall that I feel like a giant at five feet? And I'm sure my FBI (Full Blooded Italian) step-father, his seven brothers and sisters and their families are responsible for my LOVE of Italian food. That's who I am. Who are you?

My First Book, Peppy The Frog That I Wrote In The 2nd Grade

I'll always be a child at heart. Whenever I close my eyes, wonderful, funny, awful, embarrassing memories of middle school/​junior high come flooding back to fill the pages of my contemporary novels. My childhood friendships and rivalries with old enemies all find their way into my books. I've even spied on my own kids for story ideas.

Unlike most kids who can't wait to grow up, I've gotten younger--at least my stories have. I've stepped into the world of 7 to 10 year olds.

I and my husband, Jim, live in Texas on Lake Lewisville north of Dallas. We are owned by our greyhound, Miller. Our favorite things to do are traveling the world and boating.

Reviews

[Tiffany Spencer]

The Fabulous Five In Trouble
This one got a little long so I’m gonna attempt to shorten it. Katie decides to throw a slumber party because the Fabulous Five haven’t been getting along. It starts off badly. They order pizza but it gets there late and so it’s cold. Beth wants to see Ghostbusters, but they end up watching Gorilla’s in the Mist. They all argue over there issues (which are). Jana is stressed about feeling suffocated by Pink, but she still worries about what to get him and her dad for father’s day. (She also tries to tell Katie that she’s seen his bike over Shawnie’s and has heard from Funny (who was told by Tammy) he’s been over there more and more lately. Beth is stressing over the end of the year dance and over extended herself to be on all the committees. Christy is feeling pressured by her parents to always make top grades and get into a good college. Kate thinks none of them have the kind of pressure she has by always trying to decide the right thing for Teen Court. Melanie is just worried about test in general and whether Shane or Scott will ask her to the dance.

So, they turn in early. The next morning, Jana is in Katie’s body. Katie is in Melanie’s body. Melanie is in Christy’s body. Christy is in Beth’s body and Beth is in Jana’s body. (They’re in the bodies of the one they came down on hardest at the slumber party). Let’s start with Jana (as Katie). Even tho shes in Katie’s body, she still has Jana’s cold. So, for a while her mom (Katie’s) makes her stay in bed. She sneaks out for a minute to go to her own place but sees her own self getting ready to have Randy over for a date (this is really Beth). She again sees Tony’s bike over Shawnie’s a couple of times and decides to break up with him. But when she *does* confront him it turns out he’s been doing yard work for Shawnie’s father to buy a coursage to give her when he takes her to the dance. So, in the end Jana has to make it right with him and ends up giving him a hanging noose.

Katie (as Melanie) is approached by Mona whose been out sick and asks her to give her the questions and answers to the history test. Dekeshia also asks her for some tips to get the new guy Don to notice her. In the end, the teacher does find out they cheated but Monda takes the blame and says she looked at Melanie’s paper and Melanie didn’t know anything about it. Dekeshia gets angry because Katie doesn’t think much of Melanie’s rules and tells Dekeshia to be straight forward and honest. But in the end when it turns out they all shared a dream, Dekeshia goes to the dance with Don. Katie sees how caring Melanie is and how people seem to always come to her when Jeffy bumps his head and she has to entertain him so he won’t fall asleep.

Melanie (as Christy) finds herself being pressured to study for an honors history test by Mrs. Winchell. Instead, she tries to sneak out with John, but gets sent back up to her room. She has to lie to John and tell him she feel on the stairs and hurt her ankle. But he discovers the truth when she limps on the wrong ankle. (She cleverly thought of putting gravel in her shoe but put it in the worng one). Eventually she has to tell him the truth and he says she should have just been honest. She fails the history exam the first time, but really decides to study hard and ends up making 100 after convinceing her mom and teacher she was sick. She now has a better appreciation what Christy goes through and decides to use some of her study methods.

Christy (as Beth) realizes what she has to go through at home and why she’s so dramatic. No one listens to her and her siblings are constantly at each other’s throats. She tries to organize Beth’s room but ends up throwing away some of her notes. It turns out there the list of who’s on what committee. She ends up pissing off Ketih because as Christy she doesn’t know he joined every committee to be with Beth. So, she ends up having to make up with him. She tries to tell him she’s really Christy but it just doesn’t come out. In the end she even has to yell FIRE to get her brothers and sisters attention. A classmate whose over the whole dance gives her the lists.

Then Beth (as Jana) starts to realize she prefers the loudness of her own home to the quiet in Jana’s. Before no one paid her any attention, now Pink and Jana’s mom pay her TOO much attention. Randy gets mad at her for pushing him away on their date. HE gets mad at her again beause she forgets who she is and goes up to Keith and gets a little too close to him. So, she has to kiss him passionately to make it to him. Then after seeing some of Jana’s letters, Beth realizes she hasn’t been a good friend to Jana. When they wake up she apologizes and tells her she’ll help her find Pink and her father a father’s day gift.

My Thoughts:
I remembered having this Super Edition and was surprised to see it wasn’t the only one in the series. The cover immediately brought back memories and I remembered pretty much this whole book. I could relate to a lot of the stress the Fabulous Five went through in this one.

In Jana’s case, my mom once dated this man who was always over and the space started to feel too small. Jana lives in an apartment. This was in a HOUSE that you might consider moderately big. So yes, even in a house with “what seems like” a considerable amount of space you can STILL feel SUFFOCATED! I could also relate to being paid too much attention too which also makes you feel crowded. What I did not get is why Jana constantly worries about her father in these books, because honestly this guy seems like a JERK and he never gives Jana a thought. If he does it’s half ass or he treats her as an after thought.

What I could relate to (well maybe not so much now) is I use to try to always do the right thing or the “church thing”. If not my conscious would bother me and I’d try after a while to make it right. If someone in my life wronged me, I’d be the one to make it right. If my family had events even if it was something I really did not want to do I just said yes to keep the peace. And with this did come A LOT of stress! Sometimes it even gets to the point where you just don’t even want to do the right thing anymore if you do it for so long and then you don’t see the pay off in it.

Now in Beth’s case, I’ve been there too. Technically I do have siblings (a brother and a sister) but even tho I’m a whole lot older than I appear to be, people treat me a whole lot younger than I appear to be because I don’t look the age I am. This means they have a tendency not to take me seriously. Thus they don’t really listen to what I say and I can not tell you how FRUSTRATING that can be. Beth often feels in the shadows and I DEFINITELY get that. So much to the point that a WHOLE LOT OF TIMES I just want to move and start over someplace else!

Those were the three Fab Five members I *got*. Not so much Melanie and Christy. Even tho my mother was a teacher I don’t think there was ever as much pressure with her for me to be an honor student or study when I wanted to go out. I do remember tho me trying to sneak out a time or too so like Mrs. Winchell I think I can make the comparison of having a strict parent. I don’t remember either someone coming to me and asking me to help them cheat on a test or helping them get someone’s attention. But I thought this was a good book because in the end they all have a better understanding of what one of them went through. I often wish the people in my family could be in my body so sometimes *they* would have a better understanding instead of just using the *tough love* method of just telling you to live with it and that’s life or either you don’t know how good you have it. Other people have it WAY worse.

Rating: 7 I really liked the message of you just never know until you live life in someone else’s shoes what they’re going through.

[Amber Hennessey]

It's a really good book I remembered bits and pieces of it when I read it years and years ago ;)