“Everyone in Stoneybrook is shocked”…….BSC Mystery # 4: Kristy and the Missing Child

Memory Reaction

I remember reading this book, and yet I don’t remember reading it. I know I owned it, because I owned the first tweny or so mysteries, but it clearly did not make an impression on me. It is probably a book that went in the “never re-read pile.” Until I got too old to read them, I liked the later mysteries better – even though they were unrealistic, they had stuff happen. My friend and I used to wish we lived by more crime, so that we could solve a mystery like the BSC. I know, we were lame.

Revisted Reaction

This book isn’t really a mystery. I mean, I guess you could call a missing child a mystery. But this book is not like looking for a missing person on Without a Trace. We already know the kid who is missing and know he will be alright. So, it is just boring.

Anyway, after a Krusher’s game Jake Kuhn tells Kristy he is allowed to walk home by himself (which is true). So, they say good-bye and walk in different directions. Later that day, Mrs. Kuhn calls and says Jake is missing. At first, Mrs. Kuhn is not at all worried when she can’t find Jake, she just assumes her ex took him and gets annoyed. She must have a realization later on though, cause she does call the police. Then she spends the rest of the book freaking out and making other people watch her daughters, because she is too stressed about Jake to take care of them. But she does keep telling people that she thinks her ex was behind it.

Meanwhile, Kristy and the rest of the BSC decide that they know better than Mrs. Kuhn, and that her ex could not have taken Jake. They start search parties to look for him, which (of course) involve a bunch of kids. Eventually (as in about 48 hours later), they find him at a construction site. Well, really Matt Braddock finds him, but he is with a group of people Kristy is leading. Jake had been walking through a house that is being built and fell into the basement, but couldn’t climb out since there were no stairs.

Subplot: Mary Anne is failing Home Ec. She recovers when she thinks she invents Jello Jigglers. It is kinda funny, because Mary Anne doesn’t get real involved with looking for Jake, because she is busy doing Home Ec stuff. Good thing she has her priorities straight.

High/Lowlights

• Mr. Kuhn is fighting to get joint custody of his kids…while he moves to Texas. I bet moving to a different state looks great to a judge.

• Jake is all about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Remember when they were cool? My favorite was always Leonardo.

• Oh, THIS I remember. Mary Anne and Kristy sit around outside making noises by blowing on grass. I think I actually tried to imitate them when I was little, but couldn’t get any noise to happen.

• Gold lamé high-tops? Wow. I have no words for that.

• How come David Michael is just a klutz, but Jackie Rodowsky is a walking disaster?

• I really don’t understand the deal with Charlotte Johansson being a cheerleading for the Krushers. She is so not the type.

• Kristy’s grandmother makes chocolate chip cookies with extra chips and less walnuts and people are surprised they are extra good. Personally, I have never made chocolate chip cookies without adding extra chips.

• So, while Jake is missing his sisters (Patsy and Laurel) end up at the Pikes. Mrs. Pike makes spaghetti, but five-year-old Patsy refuses to eat it. Mal makes her a hot dog, which all the kids end up wanting. And Mrs. Pike just lets her huge pot of spaghetti go to waste. No wonder her kids are annoying.

• The BSC talk about how their parents all say nice things about Mr. Kuhn, so he couldn’t have taken his own son. I love how they think they know better than the man’s ex-wife.

• While Kristy is at an emergency BSC meeting at Claud’s, the police show up to talk to her (because she was the last person to see Jake). Janine just leads them up to Claud’s bedroom to talk to Kristy. That seems…. inappropriate.

• Mrs. Kuhn just sort of blows Kristy off when she tells her about the BSC having an emergency meeting to help Jake. Which would be funnier if Kristy doesn’t end up being there when they find Jake.

• Patsy and Laurel eat popcorn with maple syrup and garlic. Not mixed together, but that still sounds disgusting.

• This is weird. Kristy wants to make an announcement at school to recruit volunteers to search for Jake. So, she goes to Mr. Taylor’s office (the principal) and then talks about how nice SHE was about it. The use of “Mr.” seems to suggest HE would be an appropriate pronoun.

• Claud makes a flier saying “Mising sinse last nihgt – help us fine him”

• Bart was with Kristy when they last saw Jake, but the police only talk to Kristy. Huh.

• I remember this too: Stacey saying she would find Charlotte Johanson in a “nanosecond” if she went missing. It was where I learned what nanosecond was.

• The recipe Mary Anne keeps screwing up for Home Ec? Jello. How do you mess up jello?

• I bet Haley Braddock gets really tired of hanging out with her little brother and translating for him all the time.

• Jake is pretty cheerful at the end, especially for someone who has been stuck in a dark hole with no food/water for two days. Even more especially, when you consider that he seems to have a broken leg.

• Kristy almost wears a dress in this one. “It’s blue, with a drop waist and a full skirt.” But she changes her mind and wears jeans.

• At the end, there is some awards ceremony that the eighth graders have where they give out “silly” awards. It is kind of random.

• Mary Anne gets an award for “Most Improved Home Ec Student.” That sounds seriously embarrassing. She makes Logan go on stage with her to get the award. Didn’t Angelina Jolie do that at some award show back before she started collecting children? Only with her brother, not her boyfriend.

• Kristy gets an award because she helped find Jake, but they don’t tell us the exact name. But when they give it to her, Bart kisses her in front of everyone. How sweet.

“I’m the first to admit it – I’m a junk food addict”…….BSC # 7: Claudia and the Mean Janine

Memory Reaction

I have this really vivid memory of Claudia, Janine, and Mimi eating waffles for dinner in this book and thinking that was the coolest thing. I also remember thinking Claudia was so smart because she came up with a code to talk to Mimi after her stroke with blinking or something. It is weird the stuff that sticks with you.

Revisited Reaction

There are sort of two plots in this one. The main action is that Claudia’s grandmother, Mimi, has a stroke. Claud feels guilty because she argued with her right before Mimi had the stroke and thinks it is her fault. Mimi recovers, but has to have a lot of therapy because she has problems using her right hand and with her speech. Claudia volunteers to help out with the therapy, and she ends up dropping out of working at the play group that the BSC is running.

Meanwhile, the “subplot,” which is really a pretty major thread, is about Claudia’s relationship with Janine. They fight a lot, because Claudia thinks her parents like Janine more than her and finds it hard to relate to Janine. Meanwhile, Janine doesn’t really make much effort to talk to Claud, and you can tell she doesn’t really feel like she can relate to Claudia. It is sad, but when I read this as a kid I NEVER related to Janine at all, but this time, I kept feeling bad for her. You can tell that when Claudia insults her for being a geek, Janine is hurt and starts lashing back at Claud. This is probably before the ghostwriters started writing anything, and Ann Martin actually does a good job of making her and Claudia realistic, fairly complex characters. Much better than later books when everyone is essentially a cartoon.

By the end, Mimi starts to make some improvements and Claudia and Janine have a heart to heart where they agree to both try harder to get along.

High/Lowlights

• Let’s start right with an outfit: “Black jeans, a giant blue T-shirt, and a snake bracelet that I wore above my elbow” – wow, that sounds semi-normal.

• Janine IS kind of annoying. She says things like, “How does your agency plan to function once your founder is residing in a different district?”, instead of just asking, “what do you plan on doing when Kristy moves?”

• They offer to pay Charlie a dollar each way when driving Kristy, and he says it is too much, he’ll only take fifty cents each way.

• They charge three dollars per kid per morning for their play group (which is three hours). It is a “bargain” for their clients. I REALLY wonder what their regular rate is. I know this was the eighties, but I hope they were charging at least a few bucks an hour.

• Forshadow alert: Mallory comes to the playgroup for free as their “helper”

• Mimi calls small pizzas “tiny pizzas.” Claud tells her to call them “Mini Pizzas” and Mimi says she can’t say that because Mini is a mouse. That made me laugh for some reason.

• What kind of person would willingly play Trivia Pursuit with Janine? You know she’ll win. Especially against Claudia. That is like the Yankees playing baseball against a little league team.

• Claud’s “code” with Mimi is actually really lame. She happens to notice Mimi blinking and is all, “blink once if you can hear me.” You would think the doctors would have tried that. Don’t they do stuff like that on Grey’s Anatomy? Not that Grey’s is any more a beacon of truth than the BSC, but still. You would still think the doctors would try it.

• Claudia is so dumb. She lets it slip that she has a Nancy Drew book in her room, and Janine says she won’t tell their parents about her having a copy of the “Nancy Drew Serial” in her room. Claud is all, “I don’t keep cereal in my room.” Idiot.

• Stacey outfit: “knee length lime-green shorts, matching green high-topped sneakers, and a large white T-shirt with a gigantic taxicab on the front.” I never realized how sophisticated taxi’s were. I guess because of the NYC connection?

• Dawn was wearing a “New York” outfit: “Striped pants with suspenders over a red shirt.”

• Claudia is annoying too….she asks Janine a question, then gets annoyed because Janine answers it instead of asking about Mimi.

• How do you braid a dogs fur? Stacey FRECH BRAIDS Louie’s fur so he will look nice when they move to Watson’s. And they put bows and nail polish on him….because apparently they want him to look girly.

• Mary Anne outfit: “jean skirt, a pink and white stripped blouse , and loafers with no socks.”

• Claudia’s outfit for Lucy Newton’s christening: “A big, loose white shirt with black splotches all over it, and white pants that came to just below my knees. My shoes (and I might point out I had a fight with mom over permission to buy them) were dainty gold sandals that laced partway up my legs. Then I put my pink flamingo earrings and a pink bracelet that said Claudia in heart shaped beads. Finally, I braided my hair in four long braids, tied a ribbon around the top of each, and fastened the ends with butterfly clips.” It sounded okay until she got to the shoes.

• Janine thinks Claudia is everyone’s favorite, and as we all know, Claud thinks Janine is everyone’s favorite. I guess that is supposed to be irony or something.

• Claud says Janine is turning green from looking at her computer. Wow, green computer screens. What a flashback.

• At the end, the book sets up the first Sea City trip. Remember when the books were like that, and the beginning of one actually picked up where the last one left off? It is kind if like the first season of Alias.

The trip was truly a dream come true…..BSC Super Special # 1: Baby-sitters on Board

Memory Reaction

Every time I read this book, I could not figure out when it was supposed to take place. It was summer vacation, but it couldn’t be that first summer when the girls had actually just finished seventh grade, because I think they actually say they are already in eighth grade in this book. But early into eighth grade (the first time) Stacey moved away and Mallory joined the club, and this takes place before then. So, in BSC land, there was either an extra summer between books ten and thirteen, OR they went on this great vacation the same summer that Stacey and Mary Anne went to Sea City the first time.

That is the only thing I can think of when I look at this book. I still have my original copy, which I read so many times that the cover fell off years ago. I probably could tell you anything about the plot, but the first thing I think of is that I don’t know when it takes place and it still bothers me.

Revisited Reaction

The set up is the original five girls, plus the Pikes and Kristy’s family are on a 4-day cruise to the Bahamas and a 3-day trip to Disney World. Mr. Pike won the trip through his company and invited Stacey and Mary Anne to come as mother’s helpers. You would think if someone won a vacation for their “entire family” there would be some kind of limit, to prevent the sponsors from having to pay for twelve tickets. But whatever. Watson hears about the trip, and his inferiority complex kicks in, and the next thing you know the entire Thomas/Brewer clan is tagging along. He invites Dawn and Claudia, just because. Anyway, as a “thank you” everyone is writing a trip diary, and that is what we are supposedly reading in the super special.

Of course, each girl has her own little adventure.

Kristy: Meets an old guy named Mr. Staples who is taking the trip because his wife recently died and his kids thought it would help him move on. It is kind of sad. Kristy bonds with him a little though and keeps telling him he should meet her grandmother. Also, she and Dawn fight a lot because Kristy is a slob and Dawn is neat. But they make up at the end. Obviously.

Claudia: Starts getting letters from a secret admirer and is all excited. Then she meets a guy in person, and starts hanging out with him. She likes him, but still wants to know who the secret admirer is. By the end she finds out he was the secret admirer but was too scared to tell her. The guy lives twenty minutes from Stoneybrook, so they actually could keep up a relationship, but he is never mentioned again. It still made me think life in 8^th Grade would be super exciting.

Stacey: Does NOT fall in “luv” on this vacation. I am shocked. Actually, she does meet a boy, but he is a seven-year-old in a wheelchair. She, Claire, and Margo Pike hang out with him and his parents a lot. The kid is having risky heart surgery after the trip and (of course) is okay afterwards.

Dawn: Meets a boy she has nothing in common with. Finds him attractive anyway. Fights with Kristy. Blah, Blah, Blah.

Mary Anne: Meets a girl her age named Alex who is a pathological liar. Mary Anne thinks she has found a true friend because Alex tells her she is an orphan, only she (Alex) was lying. Mary Anne is pissed when she finds out, and Alex begs her for forgiveness. It turns out she lies a lot because her parents are famous singers and she likes attention. Mary Anne doesn’t really forgive her at the end. Good for her, why should she forgive a stranger for messing with her?

Mallory: Is not actually in the BSC at this point, but gets some chapters anyway. She does her lame Harriet the Spy thing. It is boring. She also is allowed to wander around by herself at Disney World. At age eleven. That is ridiculous.

Byron: Has a lot of chapters for someone not in the BSC or any sort of spin-off. They are all about how the triplets, Nicky, and David Michael are obsessed with treasure hunting. They think they find a treasure map in the Bahamas and it turns out to be machine diagram. They sort of do find “treasure” though, because Byron finds a bracelet that Dawn had lost. So, they are sort of satisfied.

Karen: She breaks a bunch of rules and is generally annoying and obnoxious. She gets lost at Disney World and is unfortunately found again.

High/Lowlights

• I never realized until this reading….Sam and Charlie are barely in this book. They are mentioned as going, and then hardly ever again. It is weird.

• The contest Mr. Pike wins is for naming a product through the company he works for….isn’t he a lawyer in later books? That doesn’t seem like the type of contest a law firm would be having.

• Kristy lets Karen wander around the cruise ship by herself. They are at the pool, and Kristy lets her go back to the cabin by herself to get her earplugs. I can’t imagine letting a six-year-old wander around a cruise ship by herself. Especially one like Karen who might decide to hang off the edge or something. When Karen gets herself a manicure and soda, she doesn’t even get in trouble.

• When Karen gets her manicure (which had to have taken awhile), Kristy just sits by the pool worried about her. Shouldn’t she have called Watson or someone or started looking for her?

• I totally remember this Claudia outfit: “I put on my new blue-and-white bikini and over that, a pink sundress with spaghetti straps at the shoulders and big blue buttons down the front. Then I accessorized. I tied a pink-and-blues scarf around my waist, knotting it in the middle, added my snake bracelet and feather earrings, wound my hair up on top of my head, and finally put on these white sandals with long laces that you crisscross up your legs and tie in a bow.”

• The Pikes sleeping arrangements are like this: Mr. and Mrs. Pike in one room, Stacey, Claire, and Margo in another, Mary Anne, Vanessa, and Mallory, in a third, and all the boys in the last one. Does something seem wrong with that picture to anyone else?

• It kind of sucks for Mary Anne and Stacey that they have to baby-sit on this trip while Dawn, Kristy, and Claud get to hang out and do whatever. At least in the later books they are either all baby-sitting or all on vacation.

• Dawn borrows an outfit from Claudia to hang out with her date in Disney World: “a white tank top under lavender overalls, lavender push-down socks, lavender high-top sneakers, and a beaded Indian belt, which we looped droopily around my middle. In my hair we put lavender-and-white clips that looked like birds. I thought they were just any kind of bird, but Claudia swore up and down that they were birds of paradise.” Birds of paradise? Really?

• Seriously, letting an eleven-year-old run around Disney World alone? No fucking way. I can see letting her hang out on a ship alone, but Disney World? No way. I don’t care how responsible you are.

• Wow, Karen is a brat. She is at this breakfast where all the Disney characters show up and she tells them it is her birthday so the whole room sings happy birthday to her. Watson actually yells at her, but then doesn’t follow through with any punishment. Wimp.

• You know the book is from a long time ago when Michael Jackson is referenced as something cool.

• The end of the book there is this scene where Alex tells Mary Anne why she lies all the time and Claudia finds out that her “boyfriend” is also her secret admirer and they both find out the two are siblings. It is probably supposed to be this big climactic moment, but it is actually just really boring.

“Oh, go choke on an alfalfa sprout”……BSC # 60: Mary Anne’s Makeover

Memory Reaction

This is one I read so many times, that even though I probably have the book memorized, I probably don’t remember what I really thought of it as a kid. I always loved it though. It seemed like a slightly more “mature” plot, and was one of the books that made being thirteen seem like it was going to be like the greatest year of my life. Maybe if I had gotten to do it over and over again like Mary Anne, I would have eventually done it better.

Revisited Reaction

This is one of the books that highlights how bitchy 13-year-old girls are. In other words, it is one of the more realistic portrayals of teenagers. At least, it is when you are comparing it to books about 13-year-olds who like to throw parties for little kids. The drama starts when Mary Anne sees a picture of a short haircut that she likes and the rest of the BSC laughs in her face. But, in a rare moment of boldness, she decides she wants to surprise everyone with the cut anyway. She gets the cut, plus some make up and new clothes and everyone (minus the BSC) tells her she looks great.

Then, all her really awesome friends find out she dared to cut her hair without their permission and tell her they hate it. Not in so many words, but they tell her not to worry, it will grow back, and ask her what she was thinking getting it cut when they told her not to. Mary Anne doesn’t really want to deal with their bitchiness, so she starts hanging out with Logan a lot and even stops going to BSC meetings. THEN the girls get pissy with her for spending time with her boyfriend over people who are treating her like shit.

Throughout all this, we keep hearing about how there are all these rumors going around school that some random high school likes Mary Anne and wants to go to a dance with her. She thinks the BSC started them, and meanwhile the BSC believes them and thinks less of her, once again proving what horrible friends they are. The rumors turn out to have been started by Sabrina Bouvier, who actually ends up at the dance with the guy. I think this is all in there because Mary Anne said early on Sabrina was being nicer to her that Dawn and Kristy, so when she finds out Sabrina was spreading rumors about her, it was to show how great the BSC is. Even though they were just as bitchy. But anyway, the girls all make up at the end, although Mary Anne is the one who has to basically grovel for their forgiveness. She actually apologizes to them for getting her hair cut.

The lame subplot is about how Carolyn Arnold is trying to build a time machine and is taking money from kids to send them on trips. But she ends up giving them the money back and everyone has fun pretending, so it is all good. And they get in some good Back to the Future references, so those chapters aren’t totally a waste. Actually, who am I kidding? I love any time travel stories, even pretend time travel ones in the BSC.

High/Lowlights

• This doesn’t seem like a (pre-makeover) Mary Anne outfit: “teal-colored stirrup pants and a bulky ski sweater with a colorful snowflake print, over a pink turtleneck.” It does, however, sound like something I would have worn in fifth or sixth grade. Man, that is embarrassing to admit.

• Claudia apparently can look good in weird combinations, like “A slouch hat, a sequenced vest, an oversized button-down shirt, stirrup pants, and lace up boots.”

• The dress Mary Anne wears to the dance: “A fiery red, off-the-shoulder crepe dress, with shirred sleeves, a fitted bodice, and a skirt that flared to mid-calf.” Would you think less of me if I said I wanted that dress?

• Other post makeover clothes include: “An oversized, indigo cable-knit sweater; and a pair of floral print Lycra leggings with a French terry top.”

• Dawn’s first words when she sees Mary Anne’s hair (a good ten minutes after Sharon tells her it looks good), “I can’t believe you got your hair cut.” Then she tells Logan about it after Mary Anne specifically says she wants to surprise him. Bitch.

• Seriously, who tells someone who just got a haircut, “well, it will grow out” unless that person doesn’t like it themselves. Unless, it just looks so hideous that you have to tell them. And since Cokie Mason tells Mary Anne her hair looks “fantastic,” I think we have to believe it does.

• Ha. When Claudia writes in the club notebook after sitting for Carolyn, she says, “I don’t understand time travel. Can someone explain it for me in easy terms?” Idiot.

• Mary Anne has a mean streak. She finally confronts Dawn, who tells her she has a boy hair cut and clown makeup. So Mary Anne tells her to “go choke on an alfalfa sprout.”

• Dawn’s dress for the dance: “It was made of black velvet, with a sheet bodice trimmed with beading and lace, and a flared, above knees skirt.”

• Dawn goes to the dance with Pete Black. So, now he has dated Claudia, Stacey, and Dawn? Am I missing anyone?

• The boys all wear tuxes to the dance. In 8^th grade? Really? I guess it is possible they have a formal, but you would think that would be at the end of the year or around the holidays (that was when my school had our biggest dances). This book takes place in January.

• There is this weird thing at the end, where Mary Anne is describing what people are wearing to the dance and she starts using last names. Like, “Kristy Thomas took off her heels,” and “Claudia Kishi was wearing a lame outfit,” and “Stacey McGill had a slinky gown.” What other Kristy, Claudia, and Stacey would she be talking about?

• Logan is lame. If he could use a time machine, he would go back to the first time he saw Mary Anne because “he liked that feeling.” Okay, that is sweet, but what thirteen-year-old boy says that?

• Dawn says one of the reasons she was upset about the haircut, is Mary Anne went to the mall with her dad, and Dawn misses her dad. And Mary Anne apologizes. It is not her problem if Dawn misses her dad, SHE shouldn’t not spend time with her own father because of how Dawn feels.

• After weeks of not talking, Kristy and Dawn finally tell Mary Anne they like her hair. Great friends. I can see why Mary Anne was so eager to make up with them.

"Wishes do come true".......BSC #48: Jessi's Wish

Memory Reaction

This is another book where Jessi gets a “special issue” to deal with. This time, it is a little girl with cancer, which about as depressing as the BSC ever gets. Actually, I remember the girl coming back in a later book, and really liking her then. I probably just liked the character, because even when I was eight my tolerance for the “special issues” books was not really high.

Revisited Reaction

So, Becca is involved with some club at school where they do a bunch of volunteer work. One of the advisors is taking a leave of absence and Jessi volunteers to help out in her place. Apparently, an 11-year-old is fully qualified to take the place of a teacher advisor. She does baby-sit, you know. I also don’t know how Jessi has time to do this when she is always talking about how busy she is with ballet, but I guess we are not supposed to think about that.

Since the BSC is too much of a clique to do anything alone, Jessi gets the rest of the girls to agree to all do volunteer work for a month instead/in addition to sitting. They are not really clear on that part. Of course everyone thinks that is great and claims they are going to keep volunteering but none of it is ever mentioned again.

But the real story is that while helping out at the club, Jessi meets a fourth grader Danielle, who is friends with Becca and has leukemia. She is back at school after being in the hospital for months, and pretty much is portrayed as a cliché cancer patient: she wears a shirt that says bald is beautiful, she has a wish to graduate elementary school, she is super-optimistic about life despite having cancer and living in the hospital. Danielle bonds a lot with Jessi, who helps her to go to Disney World by contacting a Make-a-Wish-Foundation rip-off (I guess they couldn’t use the name). But, at the end she ends up back in the hospital, so no miracles or happy endings this time. Which, is kind of sad, but realistic.

High/lowlights

• What kind of 11-year-old complains about not having to take care of their siblings as much (because of Aunt Cecilia)?

• Jessi wants to help out the Kids Club, which is cool. But why make it a BSC project? Why do they all have to volunteer? I HATE when they do that. I guess it is somewhat realistic, but I don’t think all teenagers are that bad about it. And it is good that they are volunteering, it is just lame that they do everything in packs.

• Don’t all teachers get paid to help with clubs and stuff? The club Becca is in makes a point of saying how the teacher advisor's are volunteers. I know several teachers, and when they are teacher advisor's they get extra money. It is often WHY they do it. That is not to say there could not be exceptions, but still.

• Kristy is kind of annoying. She goes on about how there are so many different things she could have done to volunteer, because of how talented she is.

• Here is where the other girls volunteered –

• Kristy: Some after-school center for kids whose parents work. Claudia: Helping out at an art class. Karen was in the class, so don’t think she got off easy. Stacey: volunteering at a diabetes clinic for kids. Mary Anne: Helping a family who have a brain damaged little boy. Dawn: Helping at a center for kids who are physically disabled. Mallory: Working at some playground where kids can go after school.
  

• I find it amazing that there are all these places where kids can go after school when their parents work. (see: Kristy and Mallory). Isn’t that what the BSC is for?

• Shouldn’t Charlotte be a year a head of Becca? They are the same age and Charlotte skipped a year in school. Hence, not the same grade.

• Jessi hears about kids with cerebral palsy at the foundation Dawn is volunteering at, and starts mentally comparing who is more unfortunate….them or the girl with cancer. Yeah, that is a fair comparison.

• Okay, so this book is from 1991. Keep this in mind when you read this next part. Kristy talks to a fourth grade boy asking how to spell “Leonardo” and “Donatello.” She is amazed at what he could possibly be working on where he needs to know how to spell such advanced words. She finally asks him if she if he is writing about famous artists, and (as I am sure you can guess), the kid tells her it is a story about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Because that is what fourth grade boys were into back then. Kristy has a little brother, she should know that.

• Danielle writes a bunch of postcards from her three day trip to Disney World….how does she write one while the plane is landing. Don’t they make you put up those tray tables? And aren’t planes kind of shaky while landing? And I get that she is sending postcards to be nice, but isn’t she going to beat them all home?
  

• Jessi calls the family to find out about Danielle being back in the hospital and only talks to her six-year-old brother. That is informative.

• Four cents from this book went to the real Make a wish foundation. Apparently that raised enough money to send a real kid to Disney World. At least something good came out of this book.
  

“And it looks like the work of the Phantom Caller”…. BSC # 2: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

Memory Reaction

This was one of a few books I didn’t own, so didn’t reread it six-thousand times. I do have a vivid memory of it though. Not of reading it, but of how in fourth grade this book was on a shelf in the back of my classroom at school that we could read whenever we finished all our other work early. That happened to me a lot, and there were no other BSC books there, so I picked it out a lot (well, whenever the other girls in my class didn’t beat me to it). However, I don’t think I ever read it after that year. So, I remember it sitting on the shelf more than the actual plot.

Revisited Reaction

The girls hear about some “Phantom Phone Caller” who calls houses to find out if anyone is home and then breaks in. He is hitting some houses in a town a few miles away from Stoneybrook. Since it is a really early book, they haven’t become master detectives yet and act like the little girls they really are, and just get scared. At one point, Mary Anne’s father even tells her she can’t baby sit until the guy is caught. So, they come up with all sorts of dumb plans to protect themselves – inventing a code in case they need to call the police, making burglar alarms out of pots and pans, and coming up with a system where they bring the club record book to school so they can memorize where everyone is sitting.

Claudia starts to get some creepy phone calls while she is baby-sitting. This basically consists of the phone ringing and then no one being there when she answers. The same thing happens to Kristy. This IS the Phantom Callers M.O., so the calls actually could be classified as creepy – although the caller’s whole point in making the calls is that he only robs houses where no one is home. So, as long as they answer and prove someone as home they should not have to worry too much. Stacey and Mary Anne (before she stops being able to sit) don’t get phone calls, but still creep themselves out while sitting.

It all comes to a head when Kristy and Claudia are at a joint job for the Newtons. They hear someone outside and Claudia calls the police. It turns out it is Alan Gray. He had been stealing the club notebook and calling her/spying on her because he wanted to ask her to the Halloween dance at school. Surprisingly, Kristy says yes, despite complaining about Alan being annoying for the whole book. Mostly because she is so surprised he likes her. And I guess I do remember her and Alan going to some dances early on before Bart showed up.

No one thinks to ask about the phone calls Claudia had been getting, but a couple days later, Trevor, the boy of the moment that Claud likes, calls and tells her that he had been doing the same thing as Alan. Then he asks her to the dance and she is thrilled. Meanwhile, the real phantom caller is caught a few days later.

High/Lowlights

• “Today, for instance, I’m wearing purple pants that stop just below the knees and are held up with suspenders, white tights with clocks on them, a purple plaid shirt with a matching hat, my high-top sneakers, and lobster earrings. Clothes like that are my trademark.” I wouldn’t brag about that being your trademark, sweetie.

• This early, Claudia says that clients still call them all individually. Wow, later on, that would be cause for a Kristy to put a hit on someone.

• Kristy and Mary Anne wear kilts and plain blouses? Okay….

• Would the end of fifth grade be that long ago, if they are at the beginning of seventh grade now?

• The girls are worried that if the Phantom Caller broke in to a house they were sitting at, he would be listening on an extension when they called the police, so they come up with a code where they call another BSCer and ask about hair ribbons, and then THAT girl calls the cops. But none of them can remember it. It is hysterical, because it is not that hard. The entire code is:“Have you seen my red ribbon?”

• Why would anyone give Karen a book called “The Witch Next Door”? That is just encouraging her to be annoying.

• Stacey is baby-sitting Charlotte (who is seven at this point) and suggests watching MTV. MTV? With a seven-year-old? She also says they’ll be able to hear music on it. Remember when that was true?

• I guess I don’t need to worry about Stacey corrupting Charlotte. The Johanssen’s don’t have a cable box yet, so they can’t watch MTV.

• Mary Anne comes up with a bunch of crazy burglar alarms that you would see on Home Alone when she is sitting for David Michael. Then the dog sets them off. The Kristy and her family come home and set one off and laugh at her. Even Kristy laughs at her, when you know Kristy has been just as scared as Mary Anne about the Phantom Caller. Nice friend.

• Janine admits she hides candy all over her room too. That seems….out of character.

• Claudia is so scared when she is sitting that she tries to convince Nina Marshall to stay up late to keep her company. This poor three-year-old is like, “no, it is my bedtime.” Great baby-sitter.

• I feel like this is opposite land. Stacey and Claud wear jeans and sweaters to a Halloween dance and Kristy wears a plaid jumper and red turtleneck. They couldn’t talk her into anything else. Seriously, I feel like I got a joke copy or something.

• Kristy is always talking about how annoying Alan is (in this book and in later ones). Well, they basically reveal Alan teases her because he likes her (as though that is not obvious). Kristy seems to forget that in later books, but doesn’t she wonder if he annoys her so much because she essentially dumps him when she meets Bart?

• They talk about how successful the BSC is becoming because they have each earned about fifteen dollars in the past couple weeks. How much do they charge that they earn that little money?

“I thought it would be so easy to find the car and help the police”…….BSC Mystery # 7 : Dawn and the Disappearing Dogs

Memory Reaction

I picked this book out of the library because I think it is the first one where the girls meet that lame cop who they become friends with. The one who actually takes their advice all the time in later books. I don’t have any idea what they do to gain his respect in it though.

Revisited Reaction

Dawn starts this one off by telling us how she doesn’t like animals and doesn’t get why Mary Anne and Kristy spend so much time with their pets. Then she gets a job pet-sitting for the Mancusi’s – these freaks who have no kids, but about twenty different animals – while they are out of town. One of their dogs, Cheryl, disappears while she is tied up outside. At first, everyone kind of assumes that she just got loose, but then the BSC reads that there are a lot of missing dogs in town and think there is a dog-knapper. A few days later Shannon (Kristy’s dog, not the person) disappears as well.

Dawn remembers that she saw a green car driving slowly near the Mancusi’s house, so the BSC rides around on their bikes until they see the car. Then they go to the police station with the license plate number and the cops laugh at them. It is great; they totally make fun of them. But one cop does take the plate number and says he’ll run the plate. When Dawn goes back a few days later, he laughs at her again, and tells her it belongs to some rich guy in town. The BSC still think he is involved though, because Mary Anne has seen the guy at some new pet store that she and Dawn think is “weird.”

Meanwhile, Kristy and Bart are putting together some all-star “Krashers” team to play a softball team a few towns over. Of course, the whole BSC goes. While there, Dawn just happens to see Cheryl with some woman, so she calls the cops. They show up, the woman with Cheryl says she just bought her at the new pet store. So, the cops go to the store and figure out that the pet store is stealing dogs to sell to customers. The rich guy is involved because he is losing money in the real estate market, and stealing dogs is the best way to make up for that. Somehow, Dawn gets all the credit, even though she just got lucky and happened to spot the dog. But everyone gets their dogs back and the BSC starts earning their “street cred” with the Stoneybrook PD.”

High/Lowlights

• Who did the Bashers play before Kristy started her team? We only ever hear about them playing each other. When they play this new team Bart finds, they make it an all-star combined team (hence, the “Krashers” name).

• No offense to anyone with a lot of pets, but anyone who owns over say, twenty animals is just ridiculous. Three dogs, five cats, a room full of bird cages, a snake, an iguana, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, and tropical fish? All in one house? I wonder what they are compensating for?

• How are Claud’s school clothes any different than her regular ones? “A blue minidress with white polka dots, white leggings, and earrings that looked like white polka dots.”

• I think tofu cury sounds pretty good….Mary Anne thinks it smells like the garbage disposal backed up.

• I seriously love the scene when Dawn tries to give her info to the cops. She made the BSC write “reports” of when they were looking for the green car. So when the cops laugh her off she gets all upset, and tells them she has been working hard trying to give them clues and tries to hand them the reports. The cops are just like, “yeah, we don’t need more paperwork.”

• The cop only agrees to take the plate number from Dawn to get her to shut up. Then Dawn believes him when he says he’ll let her know what he finds out.

• David Michael is upset about Shannon, so he holds Kristy’s hand, “like a much younger kid.” How much younger than seven can you get?

• Oh, this is awesome. David Michael is worried that they put their phone number wrong on the “Shannon is missing” flier, and that whoever finds her won’t be able to call. Kristy tells him that they were very careful, but David Michael picks up a flier and points out all Claud’s spelling mistakes. Ha!

• Kristy is late for a meeting because Shannon disappears, and Dawn keeps thinking about how she has to step up and start the meeting because it is her job to take over as alternate officer. But shouldn’t Claud at least get to take over for Kristy? Isn’t that what a Vice President does?

• Mary Anne goes on for over a page about how weird it is for a pet store to be closed on a Saturday, so you know it is going to be an important clue.

• Dawn freaks out because her mom went out on a Saturday….when she just knew the cops were trying to call her and tell her she had solved the case. I am sure the cops are going to be calling teenagers. Besides, wouldn’t they have answering machines?

• Yes, Kristy. As long as you are in pairs, you will absolutely be safe solving a mystery. Nothing bad could ever happen as long as you have another 13-year-old girl around to protect you.

• When they go to the softball game in the other town, there are hot dog vendors, pretzel vendors, etc. Isn’t this supposed to be on the level of a Krusher/Basher game? Where are they getting the money? All the Krusher/Bashers ever have is bake sale type stuff.

• The “Krashers” won the game. I am shocked.

• The dog theft thing is a really lame crime ring. They have a pet store as a front. Someone comes in and asks for say…a great dane and they go out and steal a great dane, then sell it for a couple hundred dollars. Using the car of the richest guy in town, no less. Then apparently that makes them so much money they can make back money for this rich guy AND keep up a shell of a store without even have to keep their store open on weekends (which you would think sends up major red flags with regular employees and customers).

• So, Dawn is more of an animal lover at the end. Lame.