“And you’re the president of the Baby-sitters club, so you have experience”…. BSC # 53:

It didn’t occur to me to do a Halloween book last week, but Kristy for President came in a batch of books I got on e-bay recently, so I decided to post it for Election Day.

Memory Reaction

Is it wrong that this book is what taught me that light blue looks good on television? Actually, I am not even sure if that is true, but I know this book made that claim. I also remember that Kristy used K+ as a campaign slogan…. which I didn’t get. I mean, I get that they were going for a logo, but I don’t think it has a lot of meaning. If her name started with an “A,” I can see using A+ as a logo. But it doesn’t really work for the K.

Revisited Reaction

The BSC talks Kristy into running for 8^th Grade President because she has “good ideas” about running the school. Her main ideas are that the cafeteria should serve better food and the kids should get to pick the play they do each year. What radical thinking. She is running against Alan Gray, Grace Blume (Cokie’s sidekick), and Pete Black, and she thinks they are all horrible candidates. Of course, the BSC is all into helping her campaign. At least the 8^th graders are – Jessi and Mal are busy trying to get Mal elected 6^th Grade Secretary. This is almost a sub-subplot, because we don’t see any action, we just hear Jessi and Mal reporting on it. Which is sort of sad for them.

Unfortunately, once she starts campaigning, Kristy starts to feel a little pressed for time. She has to call off a Krusher’s practice, she fails a test, and she is even late to a BSC meeting. She is all worried about what to do, but finally decides to drop out of the race. Once she does, she decides Pete is the lesser of three evils, and votes for him. Pete wins, Kristy has time for the BSC, and Mal gets to be 6^th Grade Secretary. So, happy endings all around.

Meanwhile, Jamie Newton spends the whole book desperately trying to learn to ride a bike. Whenever he has sitters, he makes them help him ride a bike. They get sick of it, but finally a neighborhood kid agrees to help Jamie and he relaxes a little.

High/Lowlights

• At an assembly, Alan Gray and his friends start walking out, and everyone follows them, thinking it is a fire drill. Which is kind of funny. Then, the BSC are all, “That Alan Gray! Who would follow him anywhere?” Even though they all just did. Idiots.

• Stacey outfit: “A black skirt and tights that were two colors: one leg was red and the other was black. Her shoes were shinny black and laced up to the ankles. She was also wearing this enormous black turtleneck sweater with red flecks in it, and one round red earring and one square black one.”

• Claudia outfit: “Lime green bicycle pants, a long, long, bright pink shirt, and a cropped lime green striped shirt over that. She was wearing black high top leather sneakers with pink butterfly barrettes clipped to the laces. She had two feather earrings in one ear (lime green of course), and a tiny pink heart in the other.”

• Kristy turns down a sitting job for Jamie Newton because of a Krusher’s practice. But isn’t Jamie on the team? So would he need a separate sitter? I mean, I guess the job could be for longer than the practice, but it still seems a little odd not to mention that.

• Kristy talks about how doing Mary Poppins as a school play is babyish. But, isn’t that Stacey’s favorite movie? Also, don’t they do Peter Pan as a play in aSuper-Special, and get excited about it? They both seem pretty equal in terms of age-level.

• Claudia is suddenly all about marketing in this book. She is Kristy’s campaign manager and suggests the K+ logo, and all these ideas for “branding” and good places to hang posters. I can actually see her in advertising later on…except for the fact that she is dumb.

• If the hot lunch is so bad, why does Kristy get it every day?

• Janine sees the posters Claudia designed, and gives Kristy the same marketing spiel Claud did. Then the two freak out about having a similar thought. Which is just more proof that those two have the most realistic sibling relationship.

• I have to say…last week I watched Desperate Housewives and there was this whole plot about Mike being upset that Susan’s boyfriend taught his kid to ride a bike. Now, I don’t have kids so I don’t know how realistic this is, but I am guessing most parents consider bike riding an important milestone. But we have already established that the parents in Stoneybrook suck.

• Jessi and Mal have a sitting job at the Pikes after a BSC meeting. But I thought those two could only sit at night if it is at their own house. So, why is Jessi suddenly able to sit at the Pikes that late?

• Want to hear one of Claudia’s “conservative” outfits? “White jeans, red shoes with big bows, a tropical jungle shirt with each button shaped like a piece of fruit and her hair pulled to one side over her shoulder with a banana barrette.”

• Kristy owns things that aren’t jeans? Claud gets her to wear black pants and a sweater for a campaign speech. Kristy complains she looks “preppy,” but she should just be glad Claud didn’t make her look “cool.”

• These kids spend a lot of time on their elections. They have a meet the candidate’s day, multiple assemblies with speeches, and a debate in front of the whole school.

• I like Mal’s slogan better than Kristy’s: “Time to let Mal keep the minutes.” Short and to the point.

• Alan Gray’s version of a campaign speech: Telling everyone to stand up, then telling them to sit down, then telling them he is obviously a good leader since they all listened to him.

• Kristy is offended that Grace is treating the election like a popularity contest. Um, student council elections are all about popularity. At least in middle school. Not that I think that is good, but it is kind of true.

• Some kid asks Kristy about her “platform.” And she answers him seriously. Who asks about platforms in eighth grade?

• Kristy thinks Grace and Pete are being frivolous and making unrealistic promises when they talk about dances and pep rallies. Because school lunches are much more serious and easier to change?

• Why would Mr. Newton agree to just take the training wheels off his four-year-old’s bike, when the kid barely knows how to ride?

• These girls totally ignore poor Lucy Newton. They keep just sticking her in a playpen in the yard while they help Jamie with the bike. Dawn even leaves her there while she goes inside to get a band aid for Jamie. Wasn’t it bad enough when she did this with dogs?

• Mary Anne keeps defending Pete Black when Kristy complains about him. It is so noticeable it is distracting.

• For some reason, I thought Kristy threw her support to Pete when she quit. But she just gives a dramatic speech about why she is quitting.

• Stacey: “Purple capri pants, soft black flat ankle boots, black-and-white striped socks, and a black-and-white checked sweater, only the checks were all different sizes.”

• Claudia: “On the green hat ribbon was pinned a “Kristy +” button. Her tights were orange, and her dress was tie-dyed every color you could think of. She was wearing feather earrings, and she’d drawn a star on her face next to her right eye.” Orange leggings should not even be legal.

• Kristy jokes about being the lead in the next play, but they all roll their eyes because she wouldn’t have time. Even thought she totally does end up doing that later with no conflict. Aah…continuity.