“You’re ALL our favorite sitters”……BSC Mystery # 2: Beware, Dawn!

Memory Reaction

Well, I remember how this one ends, and that it connects to the book where Kristy sits for Susan, the girl with autism. I was still really into the mysteries at this point, so I definitely liked it. It’s a relatively realistic mystery, the kind that made me jealous of the BSC for having such exciting lives. (As opposed to when they caught bank robbers and counterfeiters, and made me roll my eyes in disbelief).

Now, I WAS old enough to notice the blatant continuity issues with this book. They introduce a “Sitter of the Month” contest, which is never mentioned again. I hated when stuff like that happened. In fact, I still hate it when I see stuff like that happen in books or on television shows. How hard would it have been to say it was a favorite sitter contest, without doing the “of the month part?” They must have known they were not going to continue it.

Revisited Reaction

The kids of Stoneybrook have decided to have a “sitter-of-the-month” contest. This isn’t really explained in detail, so I’m not sure how big a contest it’s supposed to be. But, it seems like a bunch of neighborhood kids have just decided to have it on their own, and it’s just for the members of the BSC. Which is really kind of lame. Not to mention unbelievable – these kids are different ages and don’t all live near each other. So, how do they just get together and run this contest? How do they all even know each other? Mrs. Newton is supposedly helping run the elections, but I still don’t buy it.

But, either way, there IS a contest. The girls all agree not to “campaign” or get competitive about it. But, they all do anyway, although not in a totally obnoxious way. Then, at a sitting job, Dawn gets an anonymous phone call and hears someone creeping around outside. She also gets a “threatening” letter signed “Mr. X,” which just says, “watch out, I’m coming to get you.” At first Dawn thinks it’s Alan Gray, and actually calls his house to see if he is home. However, his mother tells her that Alan’s at a basketball game in Stamford with his father, so Dawn figures he’s innocent. She isn’t totally sure what to think, but decided to keep it a secret from the BSC, so it doesn’t make her look like a bad sitter. Meanwhile, the other girls all have similar experiences, but don’t tell each other. Then Dawn lets the name “Mr. X” slip to Mary Anne. They still aren’t sure if they want to tell the rest of the BSC, but then Dawn slips again (she is the worst secret keeper) at a BSC meeting. It turns out everyone has had a similar experience, except Kristy.

Then when Dawn’s sitting for the Newtons, Jamie lets it slip that Mel Tucker, this neighborhood kid, is planning to come by and do a “secret check” as part of the baby-sitter contest. For those of you who don’t remember, Mel is the jackass who turned an autistic girl into a circus act. We see him again at the start of this book, and he’s making fun of James Horbart for being Australian.

Dawn figures out this probably means that he is probably Mr. X. So, she and the other girls come up with a plan to catch him in the act. She spreads a story that she’s sitting for a cousin at her house. The assumption is that when Mel hears, he’ll try to scare her with the secret passage. She and the rest of the BSC wait until he gets there, and then surround both entrances to the passage and catch him in the act. Then of course, they talk to him and find out why he did it. It turns out he was mad because Dawn told Mrs. Hobart that Mel was teasing James, and she told Mel’s mother. Kristy and Dawn bring Mel home, and they tell his parents what he did. Then the parents tell us how Mel is all sad and that’s why he bullies people. Oh, and the reason Kristy never had any experience with him is that all her jobs had been in her neighborhood – too far away for Mel.

Then, all the girls tie as best sitter in the contest. Which never happens again, so it is really badly named.

High/Lowlights

• Awe, Johnny Hobart reads Highlights magazine.

• Dawn’s sitting for the Hobarts and Jamie Newton’s playing with James and Mathew (the eight- and six-year-old), while Johnny (the four-year-old) is reading the magazine. But isn’t Jamie four too? Why is he old enough to play with the other boys, but not Johnny?

• Dawn says she sympathizes with Mallory, because she also wanted to be 13 when she was 11. She also says how she hated waiting to get her ears pierced. But, I don’t remember it like that. When Mal and Jessi got their ears pierced, Dawn just called her mom and got permission to do it as well. It didn’t seem like she had to wait or beg her mom for permission.

• Apparently Ben Hobart called Mallory a “bonzer Sheila.” Which, we’re told is a compliment in Australia. Are their any Australians reading this that can confirm if people actually say this?

• Kristy agrees to bring back presents for her little siblings when she goes to the mall. She says they’ll be little gifts (like a hair ribbon). She apparently does this all the time, which seems like a bad idea. Things like that are why Karen’s such a spoiled brat.

• I remembered this part as soon as I started reading it: When Dawn hears about the sitter-of-the-month contest, she’s sitting for Kristy’s siblings. She comes up with the idea of playing that stupid “Let’s All Come In” game of Karen’s, with David Michael playing all the “cool parts,” aka guests named Bruce Stringbean and Daryl Blueberry.

• Dawn makes a point of saying how fast Stacey counts the money when they all pay dues. But how impressive is that? Stacey presumable counted the money last week, and she knows if they spent any money. So, all she has to do as add seven. That’s not exactly challenging math.

• Jessi lets Becca watch a scary movie while she is sitting for her, because she wants to get her vote for “sitter of the month.” Then Becca has a nightmare, and Jessi actually gets in trouble for it. I kind of like that, these girls are always shown to be such perfect sitters who never do anything wrong.

• Mal apparently called one of her teachers “Mom.” In class.

• Dawn actually suspects Kristy is Mr. X, because she doesn’t get any letters from him. She figures that Kristy is doing it to win the sitter of the month contest. It’s nice that she has such a high opinion of her friends.

• Dawn even tells Kristy she suspected her….and Kristy doesn’t care. She figures everyone else suspected her too. Um, does she really think her friends have such a low opinion of her?

• Charlotte Johansson is reading Muggie Maggie. I remember reading that. This book is full of nostalgia.

• Claud tries “campaigning” for Charlotte’s vote. Like there is a chance Charlotte won’t vote for Stacey?

• It’s kind of mean to trick a kid like Mel by trapping him in the secret passage. I know he’s a jerk who was messing with them, but the girls are older and (theoretically) more responsible.

• Dawn tells us that all the kids in town know about the secret passage, and they think it’s cool. And judging by Mel’s entering it, they also know how to get into it. Why would Dawn’s family not find some way to lock it? Theoretically, one of these “kids” could break in and do actual damage to the house.

• Dawn starts a letter to Jeff like this: “Dearest Little Bro, What’s up? What’s fresh? Everything’s cool back here in Stoneybrook. What’s happening out there in sunny Cal?” Seriously? Who talks like that?

• The end with Mel is sort of lame. Mel’s all in tears and says he was mad at the BSC for telling Mrs. Horbart he was still making fun of James. Apparently his parents told him he’d have to see a shrink if he kept bullying other kids. But Kristy and Dawn explain to him how that’s not bad thing, and I guess it is supposed to be a little PSA or something.

• I don’t remember…did Mel get in trouble when he was taking money for Susan? Cause I don’t remember if Kristy ever told his parents in that one, and it seems like a worse crime than calling James a “Croc.”

• The kids all just show up in Claud’s hallway to announce the contest winners. There are like, over a dozen of them just hanging out the doorway to her room during a meeting. Are we supposed to think the Kishi’s just let all these little kids in and wander upstairs?

“Now way could I do my homework and not feel like a moron in this house”….BSC #49: Claudia and the Genius on Elm Street

Memory Reaction

I was so glad to find this book, because I lent my original copy to a friend, and never got it back before she moved. I owned almost every book, and all of them over about #30. But there was always a big hole in my shelf for this one and it drove me crazy. But I guess that is karma. But as a result, I remember wanting to reread this book more than I remember actually reading it. The only specific thing I remember is how the little kid is practicing for some crossword competition and is always using a dictionary. It always seemed like cheating.

Revisited Reaction

The BSC has another new client, Rosie Wilder. Rosie needs a regular sitter for a few weeks while her mom is taking care of her sick mother. Rosie’s mom is a typical stage mom and has Rosie over-scheduled for all sorts of concerts, lessons, auditions, etc. Rosie even does some professional acting, in fact, Claudia recognizes her from a carpet commercial. Rosie also does well in school and can play multiple instruments. She’s preparing for what is supposed to be a big crossword competition, but actually seems a little lame.

Anyway, Rosie’s also a bit of a brat and asks her sitters questions that make them feel stupid. I know that’s not hard with Claudia, but this is a little more so than normal. Claudia asks Janine to come over and help tutor her. This works okay at first, but then Rosie insults Janine’s intelligence and she takes off. Note that Rosie doesn’t know things that Janine doesn’t….she just thinks that a high schooler should be able to answer the questions she has. All the girls from the BSC try to bond with Rosie, but she surprises them by saying she likes Claud best.

Claud realizes that Rosie’s actually a secret artist. Claud’s thrilled about this and encourages Rosie. She doesn’t understand why Rosie won’t tell her parents. But when the Wilders do find out and start to think of how to foster another talent, Claud realizes that Rosie just wants to paint/draw by herself. She also finds out that Rosie doesn’t like always be performing, or prepping for performances. She just wants to be a normal kid. This is the excuse for her being such a brat. Claud encourages Rosie to talk to her parents, who eventually let her cut down her activities to only a few – including art. We also find out that Rosie is obnoxious because kids at school make fun of her, and I guess were supposed to think that the situation will improve when Rosie is not so miserable and overscheduled. But that part isn’t really mentioned specifically.

Meanwhile, Claudia has been working on a series of paintings of junk food. Kristy gets the idea that Claud should have her own art show in her garage to show her paintings to the neighbors. Claud lets Rosie show some of her paintings there as well, so everyone is happy and the Wilder’s are okay with Rosie being an artist. Claudia even manages to sell three paintings – to Watson, Ms Besser (the teacher who helped the girls with the fundraiser for the Zuni kids), and Janine.

High/Lowlights

• When Mrs. Wilder calls, Claudia just puts her hand over the phone and tells the other girls about the jobs. But…isn’t that against club policy?

• Claudia leaves a note for Mrs. Wilder and Rosie corrects her spelling. Which seems somewhat less obnoxious than when Karen Brewer insisted on writing “Crushers” on her softball “uniform.”

• I can’t think of anything more boring than watching people solve crossword puzzles. I certainly can enjoy doing them, but watching other people do them? And yet, the contest – which is after school – has three kids solving crossword puzzles on a big blackboard in front of an audience. On that is full of elementary school kids.

• Not only is it boring, but the school’s crossword puzzle contest is also kind of dumb. Rosie previously won a contest within her class, then within her grade. Now, she’s about to go to the school finals where a kid from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades compete to see who solves a puzzle first. So there are only three of them, and I’m kind of surprised the school would make such a big deal about something only three kids were involved in. Also, they each have a different puzzle that is appropriate to their grade level. Now doesn’t that make the contest a bit unfair?

• It turns out that Rosie didn’t end up using the dictionaries in the crossword competition. She was just using them when practicing, I guess to learn words.

• The tag line on the cover of the book is, “How could a seven-year-old make Claudia feel so dumb?” Well, my question is, how can anyone NOT make Claudia feel dumb?

• It’s actually kind of nice of Kristy to come up with an idea just to help Claud show her art. She’s almost always trying to twist things into advertising for the club.

• Rosie’s main technique for solving crosswords (before the competition), is to ask whoever is around the answers. Then, she insults them when they don’t know the answer. “You passed third grade? Really?” seems to be her favorite.

• Stacey’s sitting for Rosie when someone comes over to see Rosie audition for this televised talent show. So, it’s Stacey, Rosie’s agent, and the producer of this show. Which, seems inappropriate. Doesn’t a parent/guardian need to be there? I don’t think an agent would count in that situation. And wouldn’t most professional acting auditions occur at a theater/studio/wherever? Not just in someone’s living room?

• The other ridiculous thing about the audition is that Rosie has a scene prepared, but needs someone to read the part of the father. And, so they make Stacey do it, and she is completely horrible. She keeps reading the stage directions and stammering. But I don’t understand why they would pick Stacey to read. If you believe that the audition happened at Rosie’s house, and that they didn’t know she would need a scene partner, wouldn’t the agent have been a better choice?

• At Claud’s “art show,” mostly just neighbors show up, which is fine. But some random dude who was driving by and saw the sign, decided to stop and check it out. Then he starts trying to have a serious discussion with Claud about her art. I guess he was just being nice/interested, but it all comes across as a little weird.

• Mr. and Mrs. Wilder are a little pissed when they catch Rosie doing something as worthless as drawing. But when Claudia tells them she’s good, they start thinking of all the ways they can work it into their schedules.

• The book is called “Claudia and the Genius” on Elm Street, but Rosie doesn’t seem particularly smart – at least not book smart. Yes, she does well in school, but not exceptionally so. Not that she’s dumb, but I wouldn’t use the word genius. She is just involved in a lot of activities, and is forced to spend all her time practicing and studying.

• Jessi tells Rosie that she saw her in a carpet-cleaning commercial that had a bunch of cartoon monsters (acting as dirt). Rosie makes a point of explaining that the monsters were not really there when she filmed it, they were added later. Does Rosie think Jessi doesn’t know that? These girls may believe in ghosts, but certainly not monsters.

• Mary Anne outfit: “She wore a loose-fitting open shirt over a teal turtleneck with off-white chinos and white sneakers.”

• Claudia suggests that Edward Allen Poe is the author of The Owl and the Pussycat.

• Claudia refers to her art show as a “multi-media extravaganza,” but really, they are all paintings. Which does not quite fit the definition of multi-media.

• The job for Rosie is Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, from after-school until 8:30. Now, correct me if I’m wrong but that conflicts with a BSC meeting. Yet, no one ever mentions this, or references how Claudia would have to skip a meeting to go on the job.

• This book is kind of anti-climactic, because after we spend 90% of the book setting up Rosie’s issues with her parents, the resolution is almost a throwaway line. Basically, Rosie just tells Claud that she talked to them and they are cool with her cutting down on her activities. No fight, nothing. I mean, Mr. Wilder talks about how commercials are going to pay for Rosie’s college, and Mrs. Wilder’s whole life is about being a stage mother. And they barely react?

“If only I were thirteen instead of eleven. Life would be a picnic.”...BSC # 29: Mallory and the Mystery Diary”

Memory Reaction

I was so jealous of Mallory when I read this book. I know, that sounds crazy. But this was another book where one of the girls discovered some secret in their attic/basement/house. I think technically, Mallory discovered the secret in Stacey’s attic, but it still seemed cool. I don’t really remember what the specific mystery was, just that they resolved it by finding a painting in the attic that was painted over another painting.

Also, this book is where I learned what a séance is. Clearly, the schools just were not doing their job with that.

Revisited Reaction

Mallory and Claudia are helping Stacey unpack after moving back to Stoneybrook, and they find an old trunk in the attic. Stacey and her mom don’t want it, so Mal brings it home with her. Now, the trunk is locked and Mal refuses to let anyone break the lock off, because it is so pretty. But when Vanessa threatens to talk all in rhyme until she finds out what’s inside, Mal gives in.

The trunk is mostly full of old clothes, as well as a diary. It was written by a twelve-year-old girl named Sophie in 1894. In the second half of the year, Sophie’s mother died giving birth to a little boy. Soon after, Sophie’s “Grandfather Hickman” accuses Sophie’s father (Jared) of stealing a portrait of the mother (his only daughter). Grandfather Hickman never approved of Jared and uses the missing painting as an excuse to write the whole family out of his will. In her final entry, Sophie vows that she will find the real thief, and writes that if she doesn’t, she’ll come back and haunt her house (that Stacey is now living in).

Mallory believes this, because not only does she believe in ghosts, but she thinks that some one would still care about something they wrote as a twelve-year-old when they die years later. She asks Stacey if she has seen signs of ghosts, but Stacey has only heard a few noises that she attributes to the “country.” So, the BSC tries to solve the mystery the old fashioned way. But they really have no way to go about this, so then they try having a séance. Shockingly, that doesn’t work either.

Meanwhile, there’s a subplot involving Buddy Barrett, who’s having trouble reading. Because they can’t see a problem and not get involved, the BSC offers to tutor him, and Mal gets the job. It starts off bad, but Mal gets him to improve by letting him read comics and Encyclopedia Brown mysteries (which makes me all nostalgic). This gets Buddy excited about reading, which makes him better at it, etc., etc. But more importantly, this leads to Buddy wanting to see the diary. He also asks to search the trunk, and finds some more papers at the bottom. Amazingly, this includes a “confession” where Grandfather Hickman confesses that the portrait was never stolen; he just had it painted over because looking at it depressed him. And he was too embarrassed to tell anyone, so he said it was stolen. Grandfather Hickman was a bit of a jackass.

Mallory guesses that the confession and the diary ended up in the same trunk because Grandfather Hickman owned both houses, and someone in the family must have been throwing different things from different places into the trunk for storage. So, they guess that maybe that same person moved paintings to Stacey’s. They search Stacey’s attic again to see if they can find the missing portrait, and of course, they do. Even though the damn thing’s painted over. They are able to figure out what it is, due to a chip in the paint. It’s all pretty most contrived. I mean, what are the chances that a) the diary and the confession, which were written years apart, by different people, and in different places, end up in the same trunk; b) That the trunk itself ends up in the same place as the painting, which had been hanging somewhere else; and c) That the painting they are looking for is not only chipped, but chipped in a spot that makes it clear what is painted underneath? It’s so ridiculous it is distracting.

High/Lowlights

• Mal writes in her journal that she feels like she has been eleven for a decade. Imagine how she’ll feel after another 100 books or so?

• The title is kind of a stretch because the book isn’t really a mystery, and the girls certainly don’t solve anything. They read the resolution on piece of paper that tells them everything they needed to know. And they need Buddy to do that, because Mal was apparently incapable of looking at the bottom of the trunk herself.

• Buddy has trouble reading Green Eggs and Ham. Now…I know people read at different levels, but when I was eight, I was reading BSC books. So, if Buddy’s still struggling with Dr. Suess, shouldn’t someone have noticed the problem a lot sooner?

• Kristy gets inspired to explore her own attic after Mal’s discovery. We’re told that Watson’s mansion has an entire 3rd floor that isn’t being used, and THEN an attic/fourth floor that runs the entire length of the house. That means the place really must be huge. If all the people in Kristy’s house have their own bedroom, it has got to be at least ten rooms, plus more on the third floor and fourth floors?

• Is it my imagination or are there always more outfits than usual described in Mallory books? She does a run through of the whole club (except Kristy, who was in jeans and a turtleneck – shocking stuff).

• Jessi: “A long, heart-covered sweat shirt over her dance leotard and a pair of pink pants that…were held up at the waist with a drawstring.”

• Mallory: “Boring old jeans, but a top that I liked a lot – a big white long-sleeved T-shirt that said I (heart) KIDS across the front.”

• Mary Anne: “She was wearing a very cool short printed jumper over a striped shirt…the jumper was white with a small red print, and the shirt was white with narrow, widely spaced stripes.”

• Claudia: “Jeans, a plain white blouse, a pink sweater, white socks and loafers. She said she’d gone back to the fifties for the day.” She should do that more often.

• Stacey: “A short-sleeved blue-and-white jumpsuit with cuffed pants. Parts of it were striped, parts were solid. On her feet were high-topped sneakers laved only halfway up so that she could roll the tongue down of the shoe.”

• Dawn: “Her outfit was fairly normal – pants and a baggy sweat shirt – but on her head was a small straw hat.” A straw hat? WTF?

• It is ridiculous how much of a difference Mallory supposedly makes with Buddy in a couple weeks.

• How come everyone in BSC land has an attic that you get to by going up a flight of stairs? I always had the kind that pulled down from the ceiling.

• Buddy Barrett’s teacher is a bit of a jerk. He sends a note home to Mrs. Barrett explaining that Buddy’s having trouble reading. In it, he suggests that Mrs. Barrett spend “quality time” with Buddy reading. Because it can’t be his fault for not being a good teacher. And he’s completely justified in critiquing how a single, working mother spends her time.

• Kristy only agrees to have a séance if she can be the “channeler.” Mal wanted to do it, since it was her idea, but goes along with Kristy because, “that’s the sort of thing that happens when your friends are older than you.” I think it is just the sort of thing that happens when your friends are bossy and controlling. And when you let them walk all over you.

• Kristy gets all dressed up with clothes Karen found in their attic to play the channeeor. And she gets all into it, pretending to have spoken with Sophie. Which seems really out of character for her.

• Poor Mal is disappointed because she thought a séance would really work. When my friends and I played with a Ouiji board, none of us thought it was actually going to work, we just thought it would be fun.

• Stacey’s worried about going in her attic, and Claud asks if she’s afraid of the “boogeyman.” And Stacey says yes, because “they didn’t have the boogeymen in New York.” Which seems like an odd answer. I would think being from New York made her too “sophisticated” to believe in the boogeyman.

• Mallory tells Stacey that if her house isn’t haunted, it must mean Sophie cleared her father’s name. Kristy’s actually the voice of reason and tells Mal it might also mean there’s no such things as ghosts. But then she turns around and asks to be the channeler/leader of the séance.

• It is kind of sad that even though this is a Mallory book, the mystery is really about Stacey’s house.

• Dawn’s apparently jealous of someone else having a ghost, because she tries to tie the Sophie mystery to Jared Mullray, the ghost that supposedly haunts her secret passage. Her reasoning is that Sophie’s father’s name is Jared, but that really shouldn’t mean anything since that Jared lived in her house, not Stacey’s.

• It turns out that “Grandfather Hickman” is actually Old Hickory, who is some famous ghost in Stoneybrook, and his grave is the site where Cokie and Co. tried to scare BSC once. Which is kind of a ridiculous coincidence. I mean, what are the chances that the diary Mal reads is connected to a semi-famous person?

• I don’t think they actually tell us the story of Old Hickory in that book. It turns out he was some rich guy who left all his money to a long-lost nephew, but demanded that no fancy tombstone be set up (because it was a waste of money). But the nephew had one made anyway, and so Old Hickory haunts the cemetery. It seems like a lame reason to haunt somewhere.

• Mary Anne and Dawn are all excited at the end because their parents go out to celebrate their “25th date” as adults. Which I guess is foreshadowing to the next book when they get married. However, isn’t 25 dates a kind of lame thing to celebrate? It also doesn’t seem like a long enough time to be on the verge of marriage.

• It’s really kind of unbelievable that these girls believe in ghosts. They’re always being described as super mature, but then they go and freak out about ghosts.

“If I’d known what was going to happen at our club meeting the next day, I would have thought that a snake on the loose was nothing at all”…..BSC # 22

Memory Reaction

I think I sort of stole my original copy of this book from my cousins’ house. They had it on a bookshelf in their basement, and I started reading it while I was there. My aunt told me I could bring it home to finish reading, and I never gave it back. I don’t think they minded though. My cousins were both boys so I don’t even know how the book ended up in their house in the first place.

In terms of the actual plot, I remember that a snake gets loose and a hamster has babies, but that is really it.

Revisited Reaction

Jessi has what she calls a week off coming up – even though she still has school - because the Braddocks (who she sits for regularly) are on vacation and her dance school is closed. At first, she is looking forward to the time off, but she ends up taking a pet-sitting job for the animal-crazy Mancusis. This is the couple with multiple dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and a snake. Kristy didn’t want the BSC to accept a job like this, but Jessi talked her into it.

So, for a week Jessi goes to the Mancusis and takes care of the animals. At one point Claudia brings over Jamie Newton and Nina Marshall and Mary Anne brings over the Perkins girls to see the animals. It is fairly dull except for the point where Mary Anne lets the snake get loose, and she and Jessi freak out a little. But super-girl Myriah Perkins helps find it.

Throughout the week, Jessi notices that one of the hamsters is acting “strange,” as if hamsters actually do anything anyway. But this one keeps sleeping in the corner instead of with the other hamsters, and it tries to bite Jessi. She finally takes it to the vet, and finds out she’s pregnant. The hamster ends up giving birth on Jessi’s last day on the job, and the Mancusis offer her a hamster. They also extend this offer to the BSC, but Mallory is the only one who takes them up on this. These hamsters end up being referenced regularly in future books.

The subplot is actually the (relatively) more interesting one. Kristy’s being more bossy than usual and it leads to some arguments with the older girls. The girls are also annoyed that she won’t just trust them to read the club notebook, and instead she asks them about it every day. Mallory and Jessi try to stay out of the fight, because they’re wimps who think that being President of the BSC actually gives Kristy power over them. And because they think the eighth-graders won’t stay their friends if they don’t think they can walk over them. Which makes me wonder why Jessi and Mal consider them such good friends.

The fight eventually leads to Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn insisting on new elections (Stacey is in NYC at this point). I’d completely forgotten this whole storyline, until I got to the part where they discuss new elections – when I remembered how it ended. Jessi and Mal are nervous about whom to vote for, because again, they’re wimps. But Jessi eventually decides to “listen to her heart” and votes for everyone to stay in the same roles. It turns out everyone else agrees, because the vote is unanimous to keep Kristy’s President, Claud’s VP, etc. Even Mary Anne votes for herself to stay as Secretary, Dawn votes for herself to stay as Treasurer, Claudia votes for herself to stay as VP, and all of them vote for Kristy to stay as President. They all make up and Kristy swears she’ll stop being so bossy and annoying about the notebook. But, I’m fairly sure she still asks this in later books.

High/Lowlights

• You can tell this book is early, because Jessi only says she might become a dancer someday and that Mallory might become an author someday.

• When giving the club backstory, Jessi says that Kristy or her brothers usually watched David Michael after school, and when they couldn’t, Mrs. Thomas made a bunch of phones calls. But isn’t what happened really that Kristy and her brothers had a day to watch them, with another sitter working on the other days? And the sitter cancelled, which led to all the phone calls and Kristy’s whole idea?

• Jessi says that Shannon and Logan were made associate members to help fill the void left by Stacey moving. But, that’s not true either. Someone better make Jessi study her BSC history before they let her narrate another book.

• Kristy says she hates the idea of pet-sitting because of her very first sitting job through the BSC, where she ended up sitting for a couple dogs. Which is good continuity. So, one point for the ghostwriters.

• During one argument, Mary Anne, Claud, and Dawn point out that Kristy doesn’t really do anything for the club besides come up with ideas….which they all do in addition to actual responsibilities. They actually have a pretty good point there.

• In the early books, they have pretty good continuity about Jessi having a regular job for the Braddocks, but that seems to stop later on. Was there a point where they actually mention her stopping, or did they just forget about it?

• The reason the Mancusis call the BSC is that their pet-sitter canceled at the last minute. When she hears this, Mallory is all, “that’s so irresponsible.” Way to be judgmental, Mal.

• It’s kind of wrong that while Jessi is sitting she lets all the neighborhood kids come and visit. She doesn’t let them feed the animals or anything – because it’s “her responsibility - but still. I’m sure if the Mancusis wanted little kids running around their house, they would have had their own children instead of running a zoo.

• The snake gets loose because Mary Anne took the cover off his cage to get a better look. That seems like something Mary Anne would never do in a million years.

• Of course, six-year-old Myraih Perkins knows that snakes are cold blooded and would most likely be found on the porch (where it is sunny).

• Jessi goes to the Mancusi’s before school, and then again right after school, and doesn’t finish until it’s time for the BSC meeting. That’s gotta be about three hours a day. I’ve never had pets, but it seems like an insane amount of time to spend taking care of your animals.

• Claud outfit: “This one consisted of an oversized, short-sleeved, cotton shirt with gigantic leaves printed all over it, green leggings – the same green as the leaves on her shirt – bright yellow push-down socks, her purple high-tops, and in her hair a headband with a gigantic purple bow attached to one side.” If it weren’t for the purple sneakers and headband, that seems semi-acceptable. At least for the eighties.

• Jessi outfit: “An oversized shirt – a white sweatshirt ballet shoes on the front…with jeans and regular socks and regular sneakers.” Jessi outfits are just not as fun to describe.

• “New elections” is probably a silly term, since they never even had real elections to begin with. They all just chose what they wanted.

• Hey, amazing coincidence. Kristy’s sitting for Jack Rodowsky, who’s running for a class “office” at this school. He wants to be the person who gets to feed the class rabbit. But he’s worried they will vote for the girl who can walk down the hall without falling. I can understand why he would be worried about that.

• Kristy tries to “help” Jackie, by telling him how to appear neater and more responsible, and Jackie actually calls Kristy out on being bossy. Interesting, because he was never able to do that with Jessi.

• Mary Anne asks Jessi and Mallory what they think of new elections – but then says their positions won’t change. If I were them, I would say, why not? Just cause they can’t sit at night doesn’t mean they can’t collect dues or anything.

• At one point, Mallory’s name is written with a lower-case “m.” So, maybe I’ll take back the point I gave the ghostwriters. I mean, don’t you learn in kindergarten to capitalize a person’s name?

• When she is at the vet, a kid in the waiting room has a white cat and she tells Jessi he’s deaf. Apparently, this happens a lot with white cats. That must be true, or else Ann Martin knew at least one white cat that couldn’t hear. Because I am pretty sure that in the Mallory mystery there is a deaf cat.

• Jessi hangs around at the Mancusi’s house the day they are supposed to return, because she wants to be there to tell them about the hamster having babies. But I’d be really annoyed if I got home from a long trip and was totally exhausted, only to have some random kid there.

• I can see people thinking Mary Anne’s the perfect secretary and Kristy the perfect President, but saying Dawn’s the best Treasurer is sort of random, since it was really Stacey who was perfect for that job.

• Jackie ends up losing his election, so Kristy talks to his mom and offers to hook them up with one of the Mancusi hamsters to make him feel better. I guess it’s good that she talked to his mom first, but it’s sort of a rude thing to ask out of the blue like that. Especially since she says it will be good for Jackie. These girls need to learn how to not butt in.

“All in favor of disbanding the Baby-sitters club raise your hand”….. BSC # 100: Kristy’s Worst Idea

Memory Reaction

This is a book that came out after I stopped reading the BSC series, so I don’t exactly have a memory of reading it. I do have a memory about seeing the book come out, and I may have told this story before. ButI had read book # 99, and saw in the back of the book that the next one was about the club possibly breaking up. I guess I thought it was going to be the last book in the series….and that it was ending with everyone going in separate ways. It just seemed like a horrible end, so I never bought the new book. My thinking was that I’d rather pretend they just went on as a club forever. When I found out later that the books did continue, I decided I didn’t miss them, so there was no need to start again.

Revisited Reaction

The book starts out at the end of summer/beginning of school. Kristy’s just gotten back from a family vacation in Hawaii, and she insists on holding a meeting on Labor Day. The other BSC members are a bit resentful, and not because they didn’t get to go on this latest vacation with the family. They’re annoyed because they were supposed to do things with their families that day. They complain a little, which is the first step towards Kristy deciding to disband the club. That’s right, Kristy of all people, decides that her great idea had never been that great.

The first step in this path is that Jessi has a new ballet class that’s going to meet on Fridays….during BSC meeting. Jessi asks if they can change meeting days to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Which just sounds wrong to me. The rest of the club thinks this is fine, but Kristy pretty much freaks out. She thinks if they change the meeting time, the club will never be the same. But ultimately, they convince her. A few days later Mallory reveals that she was invited to join a special writing group that meets Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:00, and she asks to change Wednesday’s meeting time to Tuesday. I don’t know why they can’t just excuse Mallory and Jessi from these meetings, especially since Mal’s group would only be for six weeks. But these girls aren’t exactly known for being logical. However, Kristy does not want to change a second meeting time.

We also find out that while Kristy was away, Abby acted as club president and the girls had some festival/event thing. Since it went well without her, Kristy is feeling a little insecure and decides she wants to do her own event, “The Fall into Fall Festival Block Party.” The other girls act like teenagers for once and say they don’t want to put time into another project. This, of course, pisses Kristy off. It gets worse because now that the girls are in eighth grade (again), they all have a lot more homework then the last twelve times they were in eighth grade. Maybe the teachers think this is the way to finally get students to pass? Meanwhile, Abby and Mary Anne get to a meeting late, Claudia and Mary Anne get into a fight….basically everyone is just generally slacking off a bit, at least in Kristy’s eyes. And they seem to think it just isn’t fun anymore.

During all this, Kristy’s still trying to have her festival and get the club back on track. Then, Jackie Rodowsky has an accident and falls out a tree he was climbing, while Kristy’s sitting for him. He’s okay, but has a sprained ankle and Kristy blames herself. This is the straw that breaks the camels back. When the girls get into an argument at the next BSC meeting, Kristy suggests disbanding. The other older members slowly agree – only Jessi and Mal want to stay together. But, a majority vote to end the club, so that is what they do. Claudia leaves a message on her answer machine announcing this to parents, but says individual members will still sit. I’m apparently really pathetic, because part of me was still a little sad to read about this.

Kristy regrets the decision the next day, and is hoping other members do too. But, everyone seems perfectly happy. Claudia, however, is annoyed because parents keep calling her house upset, and saying how disappointed they are that the club broke up. I guess because, without easy access to baby-sitters, they may have to actually spend time with their kids. The horror. Especially for Watson. The parents do call some of the girls for individual jobs, but some of their regular clients start asking other teenagers in town to sit as well. However, Kristy refuses to take any individual jobs because she’s still upset about what happened to Jackie.

Then, Jackie has another accident. And the girls all rush to the hospital to see him, although it seems a bit out of character for them to do that. Anyway, when they get there, Jackie says he hurt himself while riding his bike to Kristy’s…..because he wanted to apologize for getting hurt and making split the club up. Seeing Jackie gets Kristy to start feeling a little better about the original accident, and gets her to agree to take a sitting job with the Pikes. While there, Mallory accidentally closes a door on Claire’s hand, and then feels horrible about it. But Kristy’s all, “it was an accident, you did nothing wrong.” Which makes her realize that Jackie getting hurt wasn’t all her fault either.

So, she calls all the girls to Claud’s house to talk about getting back together. It turns out that they all miss it some….the only one who needs convincing is Claudia, who’s worried about school. But, they convince her to agree. Since some of them are a little hesitant about jumping into the deep end of BSC-land, they rejoin for a one month “trial period” with the plan to keep meeting permanently if they all still happy.

High/Lowlights

• The cover shows all seven girls in Claud’s room fighting. I like to think that was done on purpose as a callback to the cover of Kristy’s Great Idea.

• This book takes place right after Super Special #13, which apparently has most of the BSC going to Hawaii on a school trip (which is ridiculous), with Kristy going with her family later on. I’ve never read it, so I’m not sure if the events they reference in this book actually happened in the Super Special, or if they are just adding random backstory. It’s a bit disorienting not knowing everything that happened previously.

• Kristy says that she’s tired from the long flight back from Hawaii “yesterday.” She mentions that that Hawaii is two hours behind California in time. However, this is only true in the winter. Hawaii doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time, so in the summer, it would be three hours behind California. That should be a pretty easy fact to check, ghostwriters.

• Kristy says that Mary Anne left multiple messages on her answering machine, almost in tears because no one was answering the phone (when the family was supposed to be back). I don’t really buy Mary Anne being that worried. She’s sensitive, yes, but she’s smart enough to know that flights sometimes get delayed.

• Janine’s annoyed that the Kishi’s left a family barbeque early so Claudia could host the BSC meeting on Labor Day. I mean, if Janine thinks you shouldn’t be working, it’s a big deal. Also, I can’t believe that parents as strict as the Kishi’s would leave early to accommodate the club. But then….they’ve let the girls meet there without Claudia. So, I guess it makes sense.

• Jessi isn’t at the meeting, because her family acted like real parents and didn’t let her leave a family party early to accommodate a club.

• She was wearing, “a bracelet of dyed, braided shoelaces, along with a blousy ruffled shirt that looked like it once belonged to Captain Hook; mismatched high-top converse sneakers; and baggy, pinstriped men’s suit paints, gathered at the waist with a bungee cord.” I guess I don’t have to tell you that Claud looked “totally cool” in this outfit. Although, I think it seems a bit impractical to be wearing during a Labor Day barbeque.

• Kristy wants to have apple picking at this fall festival she is planning. And since there are no apple trees in Stoneybrook, she wants to tie them to trees with strings. No wonder the other girls aren’t into her idea.

• Kristy also wants to have “maple sugaring.” I can’t believe she knows what that is, let alone that she expects to do it.

• When she sees it’s causing an argument, Mallory actually says she won’t bother joining the writing group. Way to give up part of yourself for your friends, Mal.

• Kristy wants some neighborhood kids to help her hang apples from trees (to practice picking them). Hannie Papadakis says she won’t climb trees to do this because it is dangerous. And of course later, Jackie gets hurt climbing a tree. I am just going to pretend they meant that as foreshadowing instead of it being a happy coincidence.

• How does Cokie Mason keep passing classes? I remember in a book where she does a group project with Mary Anne, Cokie’s final speech is cribbed directly from some book. And in this book, Cokie reads answers in class that are copied from a book. If Kristy and Mary Anne notice this, how come teachers don’t?

• When Claudia tries to point out that they don’t really have to have meetings, parents could leave messages with the times they need, and get a call back…Kristy freaks out. She’s all, “remember when meeting times were sacred?” I am not sure that it is that healthy to have club meetings like that be sacred.

• When Kristy’s playing with Archie Rodowsky, who’s driving around in a little play car. She plays the part of a gas station attendant and fills his “tank” for $10…..it would be so nice if that was an accurate price.

• Abby says Jackie has a “Sadim touch” – Sidam being “Midas” backwards, since everything Jackie touches breaks instead of turning gold. I was thinking it was actually a semi-smart nickname, but I found out it actually a real-ish term.

• How come Watson and Kristy’s mom bothered adopting Emily? In every scene she’s in, Nannie is the one taking care of her. She is even feeding her breakfast in a scene where Watson and Elizabeth are both present and cooking for the other kids. I can understand needing help, especially since they both work, but Nannie does everything.

• This book is similar to other BSC books, in that Kristy talks about having elaborate breakfasts in the morning, even on school days. They were always describing these in the series. I don’t remember my family ever sitting around the table and eating fresh bacon and eggs on school days. Who has time?

• This scene’s kind of funny. The day after the club breaks up, Mary Anne tells Kristy, “I’m so upset.” Kristy thinks she’s talking about the BSC, but really Mary Anne’s just upset because the cafeteria is serving some diluted pesto sauce at lunch.

• The parents reaction to the BSC splitting up seems a bit much – Mrs. Arnold cried, Mr. Papadakis wanted to pay them a retainer to stay together, and Mrs. Wilder (another parent) wanted to give them a counseling session. I mean, are baby-sitters that hard to find?

• Claudia says she is “D – E – D. Dead” because she doesn’t understand her homework. Which make me think of this and this.

• Claud also misspells Mary Anne’s last name. How long have they known each other? Spier isn’t even that hard to spell either.

• Two other SMS students tell Kristy that the BSC had a monopoly on baby-sitting and they’re glad the BSC is split, so they can have a chance at jobs. And Kristy’s all, “we just wanted to be good sitters, not the only ones in town.” Which, isn’t exactly consistent with her behavior over 99 other books. I’m glad someone pointed out they weren’t always fair to other potential sitters.

• Kristy actually makes fun of (in her head) one of these other girls for not thinking to change Lucy Newton’s diaper when she was crying. She actually gets all condescending when she gives these other girls tips. But then she find out the other girl got paid more than the BSC did. Karma’s a bitch, huh?

• Stacey and Claudia see the Newtons at the mall, and Jamie won’t say hello because he’s mad they don’t sit for him anymore. Is any four-year-old that into his sitters?

• Cokie Mason even gets a sitting job for another BSC client….the Hsu’s. And she makes them go shopping with her. Which of course, infuriates Kristy.

• So, Jackie gets admitted to the hospital, Dr. Johansson calls Charlotte, who tells Stacey, who tells the rest of the (former) BSC. And they all rush to the hospital. I don’t understand why. I mean, I know they like Jackie, but even when the club was intact they wouldn’t all run to the hospital like that.

• Shea Rodowsky on adverbs: “It’s a verb from an advertisement, like ‘brush teeth’ or ‘eat Wheaties.’”

• Shea Rodowsky on pronouns: “Like the New York Knicks. A name of a pro team.” This is what happens when you have Claudia tutor someone.

• This book must be really late, because they girls joke about running the club by fax or even using the net. And Kristy is all…"be serious." But things like this do now exist. Although, they don't seem to include 13-year-olds.

• However, the BSC mentioning the internet is just wrong.

• But speaking of the series not ending....am I the last person to find out about a new BSC prequel? This is what happens when I get too busy to go online too much.
  

“I couldn’t believe it. It boggled my mind. It flipped me out just to think about it”…………..BSC Mystery # 6: The Mystery at Claudia’s House

Memory Reaction

My strongest memory of this book is not about the plot, but about the cover of the book itself. Because while the first five mysteries had blue covers, this one had a purple one. And then following this book, the mysteries alternated colors…similar to how the regular books did, only with darker tones. But having those five blue covers in a row looked so weird on my bookshelf.

In terms of the story itself, I’m sure I liked it, since it was back when the mysteries were semi-realistic. Now, I wish I could say that as a kid, I solved the mystery before Claudia did. Because I remember that the secret was that Janine had a boyfriend, and thinking about it now, it seems obvious. But I am not sure it would have been obvious to my eleven-year-old self.

Revisited Reaction

Claudia notices that Janine’s acting “strange” lately. She’s been wearing makeup and different clothes, coming home late, and got caught lying to Mr. and Mrs. Kishi. She actually gets grounded for going to eat pizza when she said she was at the library (the rebel!). Claudia also suspects that Janine’s been looking through her (Claud’s) room. Then, an even weirder thing happens. Janine asks Claudia to give her a makeover. Some genius she is.

Despite all this, Janine refuses to say what’s going on or why she’s acting strange. So, Claudia decides to be a bratty little sister and spy on Janine until she finds out what the story is. And when she can’t figure out what’s going on, she decides to recruit an eight-year-old to help. The kid is Derek Masters, who’s back in Stoneybrook for a few weeks while his show is on hiatus. Since he guest starred on a kid detective show, Claudia thinks he can help solve the case of the weird Janine (which would have been a more interesting title). Since Derek doesn’t ask Claudia for fashion tips, I guess he is smarter than Janine, so it’s not so wrong for Claudia to ask him. But, in the end, he doesn’t help Claudia figure anything out.

While tailing Janine, Claudia sees her meet a strange (but hot) guy, and she can’t figure out who he is. He must be really hot, because Claudia keeps telling everyone over and over. When she sees Janine and the guy a second time, Janine is getting into his car. Claudia’s worried that he’s some kind of cultist/criminal and tells her parents. They confront Janine, and we learn that Janine’s been acting weird because she got a boyfriend and was embarrassed to admit it. He’s super-smart too and apparently hated when Janine wanted to wear makeup, so she goes back to being her boring old self. But with a hot, genius boyfriend. And the Kishis all meet the guy and like him, and he likes them. Go, Janine.

The sub-plot is kind of mixed in with the rest of it, because it surrounds Derek. When Derek isn’t helping Claudia with the “case,” he’s dealing with the fact that he will have to kiss a girl on the next season of his show. To hide the fact that he’s scared, Derek tells Nicky and the Pike triplets he has kissed lots of girls. So, they try to get him to demonstrate (on Vanessa, Becca, and Charlotte). But he can’t go through with it, and eventually fesses up. But, none of the characters really care, so I’m not sure why I should.

High/Lowlights

• This book is awesome because not only do we get a ton of Claudia outfits, but we get Claudia making over Janine. And we get Claudia making fun of Janine’s clothes.

• Claudia outfit: “lace leggings, purple tie-dyed T-shirt dress, and purple high-tops.” This is the type of outfit I always wanted to wear when I read these as a kid.

• Claudia says she’s embarrassed to write in the club notebook because of her spelling mistakes. As she should be.

• Mrs. Masters says she’ll be needing a lot of sitters while the family is in town, because she and Mr. Masters are busy “managing Derek’s career.” Although, we also find out he has a separate agent. Does this mean neither of them work and they just live off Derek?

• Does it really make sense that the Masterses would keep their house in Stoneybook to come back to on hiatuses? I know a lot of kid actors go to regular school between movies, but it seems harder to do with a TV show. Especially since most TV shows would be on hiatus in the summer.

• What kind of TV show has eight-year-olds kissing people?

• Why is it that when they talk about some girl on Derek’s show having black hair and blue eyes, which is an unusual combination, I know that it matches exactly what they say in earlier books?

• Even more embarrassing, when I was in high school I was obsessed with Dylan McDermott, and he made me think of how the BSC books said it was so unusual to have black hair and blue eyes.

• Another Claudia outfit includes, “this pair of black-and-white-checked stretch pants,” which she pairs with a black shirt with white polka dots. “The dots next to the checks made [her] feel a little dizzy, but [she] decided that the total effect was just what [she] was looking for.” Now, that outfit, is one I’d never want to copy.

• Just two pages after Claudia puts on this checked and polka-dot ensemble she makes fun of Janine for wearing orange nail polish and blue eye shadow together. Let me repeat that….the girl who wore an outfit knowing that looking at it made people dizzy, is putting down another person’s fashion statement.

• The rest of Janine’s outfit includes: “a gray kilt, a pale-blue-button-down shirt, and a gray crew-neck sweater.” Now, I actually have worn outfits very similar to that. It makes me feel old and boring.

• When Mallory and Claudia are sitting for Mal’s family, the Pikes leave a half-hour early. So, Mal was on her own with all seven kids. And yet, her parents won’t let her pick out her own clothes?

• Claudia refers to all her black blouses and all her white blouses being dirty. All of them? How many does she have?

• Another Janine outfit: “Navy-blue crewneck sweater, worn over a white blouse with a Peter Pan collar. Pleated knee-length gray wool skirt. Gray knee socks. Brown loafers.” Not that exciting, but not offensive to the eyes or anything.

• In one chapter, the ghostwriter wrote “crewneck sweater” as “crew-neck sweater” and in another as “crewneck sweater.”

• Claud’s new outfit for Janine is actually pretty decent, since Janine was insisting on nothing too dramatic. It’s a black skirt, a white shirt, and a blue-and-green sweater, with some boots instead of Janine’s typical loafers.

• Janine totally freaks out when Claudia puts mousse in her hair. She has no idea what it is or how to get any. It’s kind of funny, but I’m not sure how realistic it is. Even if Janine wasn’t that into fashion, I would think she’d be aware of the existence of hair product and drug stores.

• So, the BSC’s sitting around talking about what Janine’s deal is, and they’ve got some typical guesses like she’s running for student council, or impressing a teacher. Then, Mallory suggests she has a boyfriend, and everyone laughs at what a silly guess it is. Then, Claudia sees Janine with the hot guy. And instead of saying, “I told you so,” Mal is all, “maybe he’s a spy and Janine is handing information to him.”

• Yet another Claudia outfit: “A royal-blue sweatshirt dress.” It’s not really detailed enough to make fun of, but based on her record I’m going to assume it looked awful.

• One afternoon Claudia’s having a Devil Dog as a snack and Janine’s eating rice cakes. Now, this is supposed to be showing how different the two of them are, but way back in "Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls," Janine said she hides junk food in her room too.

• And another one of Janine’s post “make-over” outfits: “a gray wool skirt (one of her old ones, which she’d hemmed to a much more interesting length, a pink oxford shirt…and [Claud’s] red sweater….her fingernail were still orange.” Claud thinks the pink and red and orange clashes a little, and I would have to agree. But really, if Claudia wore that, all the BSC members would swear she looked totally cool.

• When Janine gets caught lying about eating pizza, Claudia tells us how if she had been caught in a lie she’d have told her parents she went to get pizza after the library. I’m kind of surprised a kid’s book gives tips for lying to your parents.

• When Kristy goes on a sitting job for the Masterses, Todd (Derek’s brother) doesn’t remember her. So, Kristy explains that she used to baby sit for him. But, did he? Cause I thought Jessi had all the Masters’ jobs in his first appearance. Kristy had a regular sitting job during the vampire movie, but that was later.

• When Claud does Janine’s makeup, Janine looks in a mirror and is surprised she’s looking at her own reflection. This is similar to the makeover Kristy got at summer camp. Now, I’ve had makeovers where other people did my make up, and I’ve never had a problem recognizing myself in the mirror.

• So, Derek is helping Claudia find out what is going on with Janine. They have this idea to get Janine to confess the secret she’s keeping by acting out a mock courtroom, complete with a speech about why lying is bad. The excuse for this is that Derek needs help with his homework, and Claudia is too dumb to do it herself. I am pretty sure this was the plot of a Brady Bunch episode.

• And….of course, the lying speech didn’t work. It just makes Derek admit he has never kissed a girl and is scared to. Shocking! I can’t believe any one could pass seven without being kissed. Anyway, Claud and Janine just tell him to admit the truth to the Pike boys (since they are the only ones who seemed to care). But, I think this ending happened on the Brady Bunch too.

• I have to give Claud some leniency for not realizing the guy Janine was meeting was her boyfriend, since the first time she saw them, the pair shook hands when they greeted each other. Janine admits later that at that point, they hadn’t reached the kissing stage. But they do by the end, and Janine is all happy about it. Again, go Janine.

• Claudia tells Janine not to correct all of Derek’s grammatical mistakes, because he is just a kid. And Janine says, “I will try to resist the impulse.” Which just totally cracked me up.

• Janine’s pretty pissed at Claud for tattling, which is one of the few times we actually see “mean Janine” being mean. But she gets over it and the two are friendly again by the end.

“What’d you do? See Meatballs or something and think camp would be the coolest, funnest place in the world?”…….BSC Super Special # 2: Baby-sitters’ S

Memory Reaction

I don’t remember a lot about this book, but I do remember a lot of the plot surrounding Mary Anne and Logan. Seriously, it is burned into my brain that Mary Anne gets in trouble for sneaking out to see Logan, and when she gets banned from something for three days and is all, “oh how sad.” Then her counselor tells her how she once snuck out to see a boy. Then Logan gets in trouble for starting a food fight, and he gets a similar punishment, and is all, “oh how sad.” Then his counselor tells him he started a food fight once too.

I think I only remember that because it seemed so unbelievable that they would have such similar experiences and it felt out of place. I mean, it was done to be funny (or something), but the BSC books did not usually go for plot devices like that.

Oh, and this book may or may not have been one of the reasons I begged to go to camp when I was thirteen.

Revisited Reaction

While watching the Parent Trap, the girls in the BSC decide it would be fun to go to camp. They all end up signing up for two weeks at Camp Mohawk. Stacey’s living back in NY at this point, but the rest of the girls talk her into going as well. In addition, the BSC inspires some of their siblings and clients to go, and there ends up being 23 people from Stoneybrook. Seven from the BSC (including Logan), six of Mallory’s siblings (Claire was too young), Karen, David-Michael, Becca Ramsey, Charlotte Johanssen, Haley and Matt Braddock, Buddy Barrett, Shea and Jackie Rodowsky, and Nancy Dawes (Karen’s friend).

The older BSC members are going as CITs, or “Counselors in Training.” This is an excuse to get them to baby-sit while off at camp. Basically, they help the counselors with the kids, but have some free time, and get to do things like attend a dance and movie night with the boy’s camp. Mallory and Jessi are too young to be CITs, but on their applications they write about how much they like baby-sitting, and so they get to be “Juinor CITs.” This means that they are regular campers, but get the “special project” of helping some 8-year-old girls prepare a dance number for Parents’ Day.

All the older girls end up assigned to different cabins so they have their own little adventure.

• Kristy: Is assigned to Becca and Charlotte’s cabin and has to deal with the fact that Charlotte is crazy-homesick. She also has to deal with her co-CITs, who insist on giving her a makeover for the big dance. They do, she’s actually impressed with how she looks in make-up, but was happy to take it all off after the dance.

• Claudia: Falls in “LUV” at first sight with some guy CIT she saw when some boys visit her cabin to officially invite the girls to the CIT dance. She moons over him until the movie night when they finally talk. He’s totally into her as well, and they get to spend two evenings together (a movie night and the dance) before going home.

• Stacey: Gets poison ivy, a cold, impetigo, pinkeye, and a ton of insect bites. She ends up spending several days in the infirmary. That’s what happens when you take a city girl out of Manhattan.

• Mary Anne: Her fellow CITs don’t believe she has a boyfriend, so she writes this flowery note to Logan for them to “find.” When they read it, they talk her into sneaking out at night to walk around the lake to see Logan. She gets caught, but earns the respect of the other girls. However, she is embarrassed that Logan saw the note, since it wasn’t the type thing she usually gave him. But he seems to like it anyway. She earns their respect again when another CIT asks to pierce her ears. Mary Anne tells her to go ahead and do it, but the other girl can’t go through with it.

• Dawn: Is intrigued a camper that is quiet and bookish. Then, on an overnight camping trip in the woods, her cabin gets lost and ends up back at camp 24 hours late. And the quiet girl saves the day, of course.

• Mal and Jessi: Get a total of three chapters between them, even though most of the other girls get three or four each. They have the same story, which is: Their cabin mates are really bitchy to them because they think Mal and Jessi are babies. A couple of them are racist on top of that. But Mal and Jessi cast Charlotte and Becca as twins in the dance/skit they are preparing and this magically gets a couple of them to apologize.

• Logan: He gets teased by his fellow CITs when they hear about Mary Anne sneaking around the lake. He even starts a food fight over it. But his friends come around when they meet Mary Anne at the dance.

Stacey asks everyone to keep a diary of their experiences so she can have a complete record of the trip….and this is the traditional framework for how the Super Special is written.

High/Lowlights

• So, Camp Mohawk is one camp, owned by a couple – The Means. It has a boys’ camp on one side of a lake (where Mr. Mean’s in charge) and a girls camp (where Mrs. Mean’s in charge) on the other. We find out that both camps have cabins, a mess hall, an infirmary, an arts and crafts cabin, etc. This seems really impractical to me, because it they’re paying twice for the same staff/services. Why not have one of all the general stuff and just have separate sleeping cabins?

• The campers at Camp Mohawk range in age from 6 to 11, but you have to be thirteen to be a CIT. I guess all twelve-year-olds who want to attend are just screwed?

• There are two adjoining cabins for each age, with six campers, two CITs, and one counselor on each side. Has anyone been to camp where the cabins were that small? The one I went to had about twenty kids in each, and some age groups had more than one cabin. But, every camp book I’ve ever read had cabins with really small numbers of people – I guess to make the story easier to follow.

• Also, what are the chances that every single age group would have the same number of campers (for both genders).

• The number of cabins also means that Camp Mohawk has 144 campers and 48 CITs, at any one point in time. This means that the Stoneybrook crew accounts for about 10% of the customers. I wonder how the camp survived before that? Seriously, the camp has that many new customers from one place and it doesn’t affect their total attendee-number?

• Dawn is a CIT for one of the 11-year-old cabins, but not the one Mal and Jessi are in. And Dawn’s campers all seem like cool, friendly, girls, while Mal and Jessi get stuck with the bitchy racist ones.

• The only two BSC members who are in the same cabin are Jessi and Mallory, so we end up with almost no interaction between all the girls. The only chapters where they talk to each other are in the first couple chapters, and then the chapters about the CIT dance.

• Apparently, there’s one person at Camp Mohawk with an actual Mohawk….a counselor named “Mohawk Jo”. She actually showed up at camp with it dyed red and blue, so when Mrs. Means complained, Joe washed out the dye and just had a normal Mohawk. However, Mrs. Means thought she had won some battle because the color was gone. Kristy describes this as “smart.”

• This book sucks in terms of outfits, because everyone has to wear the camp uniform – shirts, shorts, socks, and sometimes sweaters that have a teepee on them. But we still get several instances of people describing their whole outfits they way they normally describe Claud’s outfits. If I thought the ghostwriters were smarter, I’d call it satire.

• For example, this is Logan’s outfit: “I put on my teepee shorts and polo shirt and tied my teepee sweater casually around my shoulders. Then I put on my teepee socks and my Reeboks.”

• Stacey points out that the Mohawk Indians are part of the Iroquois Nation….who lived in longhouses, not teepees. I can’t imagine how it feels to be thirteen and see a continuity error in something.

• In this book, Emily Michelle exists and Mimi is still alive, which puts this book somewhere between Kristy and the Mother's Day Surprise and Claudia and the Sad Good-Bye in the BSC chronology.

• Mallory puts up with a lot with her siblings. Since Margo gets carsick, Mal carries a barf bag onto the bus, and sits with sick Margo on the drive up.

• Claudia writes a letter to Mimi that starts with, “Hi, Who are you?” I mean, poor Mimi has enough problems with language after her stroke, and Claudia goes and writes something like that?

• The bathrooms are apparently in separate cabins. That seems a little….not smart. I know camping is roughing it, but what if a six-year-old wakes up in the middle of the night and has to pee?

• Mallory makes armbands that label her and Jessi as “Juinor CITs.” Even Jessi knows it’s just going to make them look like more of an outcast. But she puts them on anyway, because she wants to be a good friend.

• Not only does Stacey get sick, but she’s the CIT assigned to Karen’s cabin. Poor girl.

• Mrs. Means gives a talk the first night of camp about how Lyme disease has only recently become a problem. And that makes me feel old, because I remember hearing about Lyme disease when I was pretty young.

• Is it wrong that this book is how I learned what the term “oreo” meant?

• Kristy makes a point of telling us how she feels different from her fellow CITs because, despite having to wear a uniform, she brought the wrong shoes and stands out. The shoes in question are a pair of blue Velcro “ponies” instead of laced white sneakers. And on the cover, they make a point of showing Kristy in blue shoes…but ones with laces.

• At the dance, everyone starts cutting in on each other. This happens in several of the BSC books, and I don’t buy 13-year-olds doing that.

• In Stacey’s cabin, the adjoining cabin does this traditional prank where they “Christmas” the other cabin – put Christmas decorations, powder snow, and stockings with token gifts. They say that no one knows which Age 6 cabin will Christmas each other when, but if one cabin hasn’t heard about it, don’t they kind of know they’ll be the “victim.”

• So, on the last day of camp, all the parents come and watch a show. Then we hear that the Pikes are driving around to the other side of the lake to pick up the boys. So….do they not have a show on the boy’s side? Or is it later so parents can go to both of them?

• Kristy’s co-CIT is named Tansy, who claims her name means tenacious. And Kristy is all, “I looked up my name in a baby-name book and couldn’t find it.” And I have to call bullshit on that, cause I have the same name and have always been able to find it in name books. It doesn’t have an interesting meaning, but it’s there.

• As soon as I started reading this scene, I remembered it: Claudia finds an inch worm and puts it on her co-CIT’s bed to “see how she would react.” Then when the other girl screams, Claud is all, “Oh, I guess that’s how!”

• I remembered this too: Claudia going to the canteen with her campers, and them being amazed at the HUGE pile of junk food she got.

• They make a point of explaining how no one can remember/pronounce the name of the lake at the camp….and every single time the lake is mentioned, it’s spelled differently. Like, Dekadonka, then Deckasaga, then Dekanawida, then Demidonkey, etc. I’m sure I didn’t notice that as a kid, but I think it’s hilarious.