“For years, my parents have watched me go off to school wearing unusual clothing and accessories”…..BSC # 3: The truth about Stacey

Memory Reaction

I must have read this book, because I read everything up to about book 90. But I have no recollection of it. The back of book description about a rival agency sounds sort of familiar though. I think it is one I didn’t own, so didn’t read it multiple times.

Revisited Reaction

I am not sure why this is called “The Truth About Stacey.” We already knew that Stacey had diabetes, so that is not some big reveal. Maybe the reveal is that her life is….complicated. I hope you were sitting down for that. Maybe it was a little more shocking before it was pounded over our heads in ever Stacey book.

The plot is actually about some 8^th graders (Remember, this is early enough that the BSC was in 7^th grade) opening another baby-sitting club called the Baby Sitters’ Agency and taking the girls clients because they are older and can stay out later. The BSC is upset, and Stacey had no friends besides Kristy, Claud, and Mary Anne, so she is willing to do anything to keep the BSC around. Including blow jobs. The BSC tries to recruit new members to compete, but they end up recruiting moles from the BSA, who make them look bad. But, it turns out the girls in the Baby-Sitters’ Agency all suck at sitting and do things like bring over their boyfriends, smoke, and let poor Jamie Newton wander around by himself outside (with no mittens). This last offense convinces the BSC to talk to Mrs. Newton, who calls all the other parents in town, and they decide to stop using the BSA. Then, the BSC has a showdown with the BSA where they prove they are better sitters because of all the trivia they know about their clients.

Meanwhile, Stacey is annoyed at her parents because they are dragging her to some new doctor who they claim is a “holistic doctor,” but Dr. Johanssen tells her is basically a quack. Stacey is pissed her parents won’t listen to her, but also won’t let Dr. Johanssen talk to them. Her solution is to have Dr. Johanssen get her an appointment with a legitimate specialist, so he can tell her parents that her regular doctor is doing a perfectly fine job. Dr. Johanssen goes along with it, but writes a letter telling her parents that Stacey went to her confidentially, otherwise she would have told them. Amazingly, this idiotic plan works. And, while in NYC, Stacey makes up with Laine, who she hadn’t spoken with since moving to Stoneybrook.

High/Lowlights

• Kristy wants to be available to sit for Jamie when Mrs. Newton goes into labor….cause it couldn’t possible happen in the middle of the night or when they are in school.
  

• Stacey actually realizes about the middle of the night thing, and the girls all realize they were born in the middle of the night. I feel like this happened in another book, because I remember Mary Anne being all pouty about not having a mom to tell her this stuff, only it was different than in this book.
  

• Kristy pretends her name is Candy Kane and that she needs a sitter for her brother while she goes out with a high schooler named Winston Churchill. The head of the BS Agency buys it, so you know they are not dealing with geniuses.

• The description that Stacey gives of finding out she had diabetes is just like what is in that BSC Remember Super Special 11. Which I do remember. Impressive of that ghostwriter to have researched.

• So, Laine apparently never knew about Stacey having diabetes until this book. So, she had no idea why Stacey was in the hospital all the time the previous year? Well, no wonder she didn’t no how to act around Stacey. And if Stacey’s parents are friends with Laine’s parents why didn’t they tell their friends about it ?

• A bunch of kids are making fun of Charlotte, and Stacey asks her why the kids in her class don’t like her. What a dumb question. Sometimes, kids pick on other kids. It sucks, but it’s true.

• So, Mrs. Newton DOES go into labor while the girls are in school and drops off Jamie at Mrs. Thomas’s office. Apparently, the adults were smart enough to have arranged this in advance without counting on twelve-year-olds.

• So, Mrs. Newton called the Agency because she thinks the BSC isn’t old enough to take care of a newborn. But she will still use them, when it is just Jamie or when Lucy is a little older. I have one problem with this. What kind of person is hiring baby-sitters when they gave birth a week ago? Seriously, if you have a newborn, I think you can skip PTA.

• Stacey’s parents have let her go to school with: “the dinosaur on my beret, red sneakers covered with beads and glitter, leg warmers covered with footprints, plastic butterflies in my hair. For two weeks in New York, I even wore red lace gloves with no fingertips.” Now, Stacey thinks the weird thing is a sandwich board to recruit new BSC members.

• Stacey tells the other girls that Jamie told her about hating his new baby-sitters, but not that she told him to tell his parents. Isn’t it like, the most important part? They KNOW the other girls are bad sitters, the important part is getting the parents to stop using them. Weird.

• Stacey takes TWO jobs without consulting the other girls. Once when Dr. Johanssen calls her at home and then once when she just picked up the phone at Claud’s and got excited because Mrs. Newton wanted her to watch Lucy (while she was home, so it is not so unbelievable). But really. Don’t they kick people out of the club for stuff like that?

• Stacey’s mom calls her “Stacey Elizabeth”……Is her name not Anastasia” yet

• Her dad is upset at the appointment, cause they don’t know what the doctor might have cost. When your twelve-year-old is making doctor’s appointments behind your back, the first worry should not be the cost.

“I was going to have to study my surfing slang……”BSC Mystery #12: Dawn and the Surfer Ghost

Memory Reaction

I think I liked this one because I read it a million times. But just thinking about it makes me think more of a Scooby Doo plot than anything else. I must have a thing for crazy, over-the-top plots. I read all the BSC Mysteries in middle school, and I watched Passions when I was in college. Both were equally ridiculous, but I got great entertainment out of them.

Revisited Reaction

So, Dawn is back in California and has taken up surfing. Cause, you know, that is what people in California do. She meets some guy, Thrash, (who is about twenty) who is some big shot surfer and claims she finds him “interesting.” She won’t admit to having the hots for him, but you can tell she totally does. Anyway, Thrash disappears right before a big surfing contest he was favored to win. His board washed up on shore mangled, so people assume he died. The police don’t really care cause Thrash is basically a surfing bum, but they do acknowledge the board may have been tampered with.

Then people start seeing someone surfing late at night, think he looks ghostly because of the fog, so they call him the surfer ghost. The “ghost” can do moves no one except Thrash could do, so Dawn becomes convinced that Thrash was murdered and his ghost is out for revenge. She thinks that the proof of this is that people are having “accidents” while surfing. Her California friends don’t believe in ghosts (since they have brains) and they don’t like mysteries, so she is trying to solve this on her own. Eventually, Sunny starts to help her.

Dawn realizes that some guy who works at the beach snack bar is Thrash with his hair cut short and dyed black. She confronts Thrash, who tells her he is hiding out and wants to get revenge on the person who tampered with his board. He also tells her that he has been the one surfing at night, the accidents are just accidents, and there are no such things as ghosts. Dawn tells him that two wrongs don’t make a right and convinces him to go to the police instead of getting revenge on his own. Which he does (of course) and the other guy is caught. Thrash wins the contest and Dawn comes in third in the beginners division.

Subplot: We are forced to hear about the Arnold twins through “letters” that Dawn gets. One of them sprains her ankle and they become attached at the hip and annoy everyone until the BSC saves the day. Yawn. I would rather have more of Dawn talking about ghosts and surf action.

High/Lowlights

• Dawn says she likes the We (heart) Kids Club because everyone eats healthy food and she doesn’t have to feel like an outcast for turning down snacks. This is one page after saying she is an individual who doesn’t care what people think.

• Even Dawn’s school in California is a cliché. She says how it has tropical gardens and courtyards and hummingbirds all over.

• I think the ghostwriters had a database of descriptions they just reused over and over. Every book that mentions the Arnold twins has the same paragraph on their history.

• Sunny tells Dawn that maybe Thrash isn’t really dead, that he faked his death and now the living Thrash is the “ghost.” Dawn responds by telling Sunny she is watching too many movies. Because someone faking their death is less believable then an actual ghost?

• Stacey sits for the Arnold twins four times in one week. That is a hell of a lot of sitting jobs.

• Every time Thrash talks about Australia he uses the phrase, “Down Under” before it. I don’t know anyone who talks like that.

• The police set up this whole sting operation, where there are cops dressed as surfers ready to run after the bad guy when Thrash walks on the beach. But why couldn’t Trash have just told the police who it was and have them go to the guy’s house? Why the big show? I guess it is more dramatic, but it is a little unbelievable.

• Would a 13-year-old be in the same competition is a twenty year old? I mean, she is not in the same division (beginning v. expert), but wouldn’t there be an age grouping as well?

“He was the cutest boy I’d ever seen……”BSC # 10: Logan Likes Mary Anne

Memory Reaction

It is so weird what sticks with you. I mean, I can’t remember what I wore last week but I can remember that in this book Mary Anne got her “famous city” skirt. It is embedded it my brain as clear as anything. There are other things in this book that stand out too, like that Logan, aka, the Cam Geary look-alike was introduced and Mary Anne freaked out because at the dance because her shoe flew off while she was dancing and almost hit the principal.

Revisited Reaction

So, the girls start eighth grade for the very first time. But as we all know, certainly not the last. On the first day of school Mary Anne sees Logan, the new boy, and gets a major crush on him. Meanwhile, the BSC does some extra advertising and ends up so busy they can’t handle all the jobs. Luckily for them, it turns out Logan is a baby sitter. He comes to a meeting and goes on a test job with Mary Anne, where they get to act all cute and nervous around each other. But when he is at Claud’s for the meeting, everyone acts all awkward cause Logan is a boy, and you can’t say things like “bra strap” in front of boys. Logan decides not to join the BSC because of the awkward factor, but he asks Mary Anne to a dance. They have fun, they go out again, and go on to become the super couple of the BSC-verse.

At some point, Stacey tries to throw Mary Anne (of all people) a surprise party. Mary Anne runs out because she hates being the center of attention, but they all make up and she and Logan bond even more. Then she gets herself a cat so she won’t have to make new friends if her bitchy friends ever turn on her again (seriously, that is her reasoning). Oh, and they make Logan an associate member to take care of the extra jobs without having to have a boy at the meetings.

High/Lowlights

• This is the first time Stacey and Claud start eating lunch with Mary Anne and Kristy. Remember in the really early books when they all had separate friends?

• Mary Anne gets a bra in this book. We don’t see the scene, she just talks about going shopping and buying one. It must have been embarrassing to have your dad take you to get your first bra – even if the saleswoman helped her. I wonder what her dad did while the saleswoman was helping her.

• No, Alan Gray didn’t steal the record book to torment Claudia and Kristy. He stole it because he and Trevor something-or-other wanted to ASK THEM OUT. Considering that both girls said yes, I think that makes it the opposite of tormenting.

• I can’t believe Charlotte Johnassen would suggest giving anyone a surprise party. Charlotte makes Mary Anne look outgoing.

• Wow, this outfit is so vivid in my head: “A full white skirt with the words Paris, Rome, and London, and sketchy pink and blue pictures of the Eiffel Tower, the Tower Bridge, and other stuff scrawled over it.” Mary Anne wears it with a pink sweater to the dance, and then later gets a blue shirt to go with it.

• Her outfit is nothing like what anyone else wears to the dance. Which is weird because the BSC helped her pick out the outfit. You would think they would get something similar to what they are wearing.
• Claudia’s dance outfit: “short, tight-fitting black pants and a big white shirt that said BE-BOP all over it in between pictures of rock and roll dancers. She had fixed a floppy blue bow in her hair.”
• Stacey’s dance outfit: “White T-shirt under a hot pink jumpsuit”
• Dawn’s outfit: “Green and white oversized sweater and stretchy green pants.”
• Kristy’s outfit: “A white turtleneck shirt under a pink sweater with jeans.”

• Logan gives her an orange flower, and Mary Anne is worried it clashes with her sweater. BTW, do guys give flowers in eighth grade?

• Dawn and Kristy are talking about whether Mary Anne and Logan will kiss, and Kristy says, “ew”… “Looking disgusted.” I know everyone matures at different times, but still. To be disgusted about kissing at thirteen?

• Mr. Spier thinks about whether Mary Anne can get a cat for a total of two minutes. Because it is not a small decision or anything.

• Dawn eats a piece of Mary Anne’s birthday cake…. then complains about how she just wants to brush her teeth. Dude, if you don’t want any, save it for the people who do.

• Mary Anne doesn’t know how to dance, so she imitates Logan. It is kinda cute, but then the traumatic shoe flying off thing happens. So, she sits on the bleachers and refuses to come down while Logan dances with other people. But he still likes her.

• Want to here what Mary Anne learned in Sea City: “It’s nice to know boy’s are alien’s from the planet Snorzak or something” ….? No they are from Mars.
  

• Oh, I remember the hanging the picture of Cam Geary in her locker with gum too.

• Mary Anne dresses up when Logan comes to the meeting, including putting on earrings…. but since when does she have pierced ears? Do they mean clip ons?

• The trial job is for Jackie Rodowsky, which is Jackie’s first appearance in the series.

• Has anyone else read the Remembering Super Special? I keep thinking about it, because the Logan chapters basically tell this book from his perspective. It reveals that Logan only offered to help the BSC because he had the hots for Mary Anne. And he couldn’t remember Stacey’s name, even though she acts like know each other in this book.

• I don’t know why, but I always thought of Cam Geary as like 16 or 18, not the same age as the BSC girls. But in this one they mention him being around 14.

• No, Mary Anne. In June you will NOT graduate and go on to high school. I am very sorry to tell you that you will be stuck in 8^th grade for almost a decade.

“I had more friends in Stoneybrook than I did in New York"…..BSC # 28: Welcome Back Stacey

Memory Reaction

This is another one of those books that is so clear in my head I could probably summarize the whole thing without reading it. I think I was glad Stacey was moving back to Stoneybrook because it meant the whole BSC was together. But I also thought Stacey was annoying in this book because all she did was whine about her parent’s splitting up and she wouldn’t talk to them for days. I know she SHOULD be upset about that, but I didn’t want to read about it. I even vividly remember how Stacey wore some crazy outfit to try and compensate for feeling so bad.

Revisited Reaction

This is one of those books where the title gives away the end. The conflict in the story is supposed to be about whether Stacey will choose to come back to Stoneybrook or not, but since the title of the book is “Welcome Back, Stacey!” she obviously comes back. Way to reveal a spoiler, cover people. I always hated when books did that. It is like when websites puts a TV spoiler in the heading of an article so you can’t avoid reading it.

Anyway, Stacey’s parents are fighting a lot and have decided to get a divorce. Stacey is angry and upset and in denial, the usual. They tell her she gets to pick who she wants to live with: her dad who is staying in NYC, or her mom, who is moving back to Stoneybrook. That is kind of a tough decision to put on a kid. So, Stacey ponders it and debates it, and makes the BSC trademarked pro-con list, and decides to return to Stoneybrook and the BSC.

High/Lowlights

• So, this is interesting. Stacey talks about going away to summer camp, which she did in one of the super specials. Now, that was after she moved to NYC. So, explain to me how she moved away from Stoneybrook at the beginning of eighth grade, went to summer camp but is still in eighth grade.

• Well, Laine apparently dresses “sophisticated” too. “She was wearing this amazing black pants suit. It was made from stretchy cotton. The bottoms were cuffed, and the top was short-cropped. She was wearing a leopard-skin leotard under the top.”

• After she hears about her parents, Stacey tries to dress cheerfully to help her mood: “Short red pants with purple suspenders over a bright yellow and black sweat shirt. On my feet, I put on my purple push down socks and a pair of red high top sneakers.” That is the ugliest combination of clothes I can imagine.

• Stacey talks about how three kids in her class have had parents split up “this year” and the other kids all got special treatment in school. Man, I wish I went to her school. When my parents got divorced no one let me show up to school late or not do my homework.

• Stacey considers Judy, the homeless woman who lives on the street by her building, a “friend.” Stacey tells her that her parents are splitting up and wonders if Judy is being sarcastic when she replies “crying shame.” I hope she was – why would a homeless person care about some rich girls parent’s breaking up?

• Stacey wants to get her parents back together, but she comes up with really lame ways to do it. Like going to the movies together then making sure they sit alone together. Obviously, none of these work.

• Stacey gets all worried at the last minute cause she thinks her mom won’t be able to mow the lawn and her dad won’t be able to do laundry. Way to stereotype.

• Her parent’s have all these fights over who gets the car, paintings, stereo, etc. Now, wouldn’t valuable stuff like that actually be worked into the divorce agreement? Stacey is all, “Mom and Dad were arguing and I settled the fight and decided who got the cordless phone.”

• So, of course the BSC and all the kids in town have a banner for Stacey when she arrives. These girls love their banners.

• Claudia outfit: “She was wearing a long, oversized black and white sweater, skin-tight black leggings, pink and black socks, and black ballet slippers.”

• Stacey mentions how it takes her and her mom a whole week to finish unpacking. That sounds ridiculously fast. Last time I moved it took me months to unpack everything.

• Mallory gets in on the clothes action: “a sequined sweat shirt, a short skirt, and pink leggings.” She had to buy them herself. But if she was allowed to wear that once, why not any other time?