Mary Anne, on the other hand, was born to her mom and her dad, but she has no brothers and sisters. Then, when Mary Anne was really little, her mom died. (Mary Anne doesn't really remember her mother.) After that, it was just Mary Anne and her father, on their own. Mr. Spier loved his daughter, but he was pretty strict with her. I think he

wanted to prove that he could raise a perfect child all by himself. He made Mary Anne wear clothes that he chose for her, he made her fix her hair in braids, he wouldn't let her talk on the phone, after dinner, and so forth. Then everything changed.

In January of seventh grade, Dawn Schafer moved to town. Her mother had grown up in Stoneybrook, so after she and Dawn's dad decided to get a divorce, she moved back here from California. And Mrs. Schafer and Mr. Spier began to see each other, and finally got married. Mary Anne and Dawn, who were already close friends, became stepsisters. The Spiers moved into the old farmhouse Mrs. Schafer had bought, and suddenly Mary Anne had a much bigger family — a father, a stepmother, a stepsister, and a stepbrother. (I'll tell you about Jeff, her stepbrother, in a few minutes.) Oh, and Tigger, her kitten. This was quite a change, but Mary Anne likes her new family — most of the time.

You must be curious about Dawn by now, since she's Mary Anne's sister as well as one of her best friends. Let's see. Dawn and her younger brother, Jeff, were born in California. They lived there until the divorce. Then they moved to Connecticut with their mom. As you can imagine, this was sort of a shock for them, moving clear across the country — and leav-

ing mild California for a snowy Connecticut winter.