#9 - The Ghost at Dawn's House

Timeline: 
This book takes place as soon as the previous one ends. They have two weeks of summer left before 8th grade.

Plot:
This book is seriously so lame.

Dawn is obsessed with her old house, and she thinks there is a secret passage in it somewhere. She invites the club over and they search for one, and they end up sneaking around and scaring each other. They don't find one that day.

Then one day Dawn is reading in the barn and she falls through a hole in the floor. She is in a secret passage, which she follows and it leads to a door in her room. She finds a few things in the passage, and decides not to tell anyone.

Basically the rest of the book is her telling people about it, and then taking that person into the passage and they end up finding something that wasn't there before. Then Dawn reads an old book and decides the book was written about her house and it is proof that it is haunted.

Blah blah blah...some more people, some more scaring....then Dawn discovers that Nicky Pike has found the passage and he is the one who has been going in there. Dawn tells the club about it, they have a slumber party and they all sneak around and scare each other again.

Takeaways:
It took me forever to get through this book, and it took me even longer to work up the interest to write about it. Dawn is such a moron in this book. On the night she tells Jeff about the passage and they go through it, she seriously gets so freaked out she calls her mom home from a date. If I were Dawn's mom, I would tell her that she has no right to babysit children if she is scared of a fucking ghost.

They mention in this book a couple different times that Mallory is so amazing and she is probably going to make a great babysitter someday. Now, I get this is foreshadowing and all, and Mallory does end up being a baby-sitter, but now as an adult I am like...Mallory is 11. That is one year older than my nephew, and that kid can barely take care of himself, let alone babysit other humans.

At the end of the book the girls are talking about how they only have a few days left before school starts and they want to do all these things...bike ride, picnic, etc...but one of the items is "have a massive gossip fest"...who are they gossiping about? Each other? The kids they babysit?

Best character:
I'm going to go with Mallory, since she convinces her parents she is old enough to babysit even though she is barely out of diapers. Also, whenever she is babysitting her siblings with Dawn, Dawn is too obsessed with the secret passage to really babysit so Mallory has to do everything.

Worst character:
Obvi, I am not a huge fan of Dawn in this book. Also, her mother goes on a date and takes him to her PARENTS' house - which is where Dawn calls her and tells her to come home because you know - ghosts. So Dawn and her mom both share the worst character award for this book.

#8 - Boy-Crazy Stacey

Timeline: 
This book takes place at the beginning of August, before their 8th grade year. At the end of the book, Stacey mentions there are two weeks before 8th grade starts.

Plot: 
MaryAnne and Stacey are mothers helpers for the Pike family during a two week trip to Sea City. The entire BSC is separated during this two week period, with Dawn in California visiting her dad, Claudia on vacation in the wilderness somewhere with her family, MaryAnne and Stacey are with the Pikes, and Kristy is in Stoneybrook bonding with her new family.

During the two weeks, Stacey becomes a bit of a prude whore. She meets a lifeguard, Scott, and thinks they have fallen in LUV. (She spells "love" as "LUV" during the entire book. It's not stupid at all.) Anyway, this lifeguard is 18 years old and clearly he knows Stacey is obsessed with him, so he uses her as a errand girl. Stacey thinks that because she is running and grabbing him sandwiches and sodas all day, that he LUVS her back.

Anyway, since she is spending all her days chasing sodas for Scott, MaryAnne is PISSED at her. She is making MA do all the work and it is irking her off, even though she has met another mother's helper (a boy) to help her with her mother helping.

MaryAnne and Stacey kind of make up and spend a night on the boardwalk (where the hell is this Sea City place?) and Stacey sees Scott kissing another girl on the beach. She loses her goddamn mind, calls in sick the next day and mopes and pouts until she meets another guy, and then she kisses him in and falls in LUV again.

Takeaways:
There is so much ridiculousness in this book.
1. The BSC is going to be separated for exactly two weeks, but they all act like they are going to be gone for months and months. They seriously cry during their last "party" (which is everyone sitting in Kristy's room). Like cry. Actual tears.
2. When they get to Sea City, Stacey thinks the house is old fashioned and the room given to her and MaryAnne "isn't her taste." Rude, Stacey.
3. When Stacey meets Scott, she introduces herself as "Stacey McGill. Thirteen years old. Formally of New York City." Okay, Stacey, we get it. You're from New York, and that makes you better than everyone else.
4. When Stacey and MaryAnne are on the boardwalk, before Stacey sees Scott making out with that girl, she is trying to decide on a present for him, and seriously considers getting him a tshirt that says "Stacey + Scott = LUV". Like...she thought she was in a real relationship with this guy! WTF!

This book is where I learned about sunburn remedies. MaryAnne gets fried on the beach and all the Pike kids bring her different things to help her feel better.

At the party before they all leave, Kristy tells MA and Stacey to write "Club Notebook" entries via postcards every day they are gone. Annoying. But then Dawn is all "Well I might babysit at home, so I will send entries too." First of all, stop babysitting on vacations. Second of all, no one cares about your California kids, Dawn.

Best character: 
I've got to go with Mr. and Mrs. Pike this time. They have been taking their huge family to this Sea City paradise for years and years, and normally it's just them in charge. I'm glad they finally wised up and brought along a couple of babysitters so they could do their own thing. Because they are literally never with their children during this entire book. Which I suppose would be the best way to be on vacation when you have eight fucking kids.

Worst character: 
Obviously Stacey is a complete moron in this book, so she wins. 

#7 - Claudia and Mean Janine

Plot -
This book was really hard for me to get through, and even more annoying to write about. Claudia is SUCH A B WORD.

The book takes place right after Kristy's mothers wedding (so like mid June) and seems to wrap up at the end of July. Claudia is at home with her super genius sister, Janine, and her grandmother, Mimi. They are playing games and drinking Mimi's special Japanese tea. Everything is awesome until Janine kicks their ass at some trivia game and Claudia loses her shit, and then Mimi gets annoyed and Claudia yells at her, too. Mimi goes to her room and promptly has a stroke,

Mimi is in the hospital for like a week, and her stroke really takes a toll on her. She has to relearn everything, from words for simple every day objects, to using her hands for daily tasks.

Meanwhile, in the Baby-sitters Club world, they have decided they don't enjoy summer vacation and instead choose to have a playgroup for kids in the mornings. Claudia, however, has to drop out because when Mimi gets out of the hospital she needs constant supervision. Claudia volunteers to sit at her house with Mimi and help her get better.

Claudia and Janine fight through the whole book, but it's mostly just Claudia being extremely rude. Then they have a little coming to Jesus meeting and seem to make up.

That's really about it. I don't really know what this book has "mean Janine" in the title, because Janine is not mean in it. Claudia is mean. Janine is just ignored and misunderstood.

Takeaways -
When Mimi had her stroke and went into the hospital, I LEGIT started crying.

I can't stress enough how rude Claudia is in this book. Like when her parents are trying to figure out who will take care of Mimi in the mornings, Janine starts to talk, and Claudia just butts in and interrupts that she will do it. But then Claudia gets mad that she is the one who has to give up her mornings and Janine doesn't do anything.

When the baby-sitters are at the playgroup (which is at Stacey's house), they decide to give Kristy's dog Louie a bath. For some unexplained reason, Stacey's family has a huge tub in their garage that they fill with water and then dump the dog in. Why the fuck do they have this huge tub? They came from New York - I highly doubt they had it there. They don't have animals. I need to know why they had this thing in their garage.

Also I would be so pissed if I sent my kid to a playgroup and he/she came home soaking wet, smelling like a gross old dog.

Best character -
MaryAnne wins this category. There is this little girl, Jenny, at the playgroup and all of the teenage babysitters decide she is a pain in the ass and try to stay away from her, and MaryAnne is the only one mature enough and nice enough to deal with her. Also, MaryAnne offers to babysit Mimi one morning when Claudia can't, and Mimi is pretty terrible to deal with. MaryAnne sees that maybe everyone needs to back the fuck off of Mimi for a hot minute, and let's her watch Wheel of Fortune for awhile instead of going through flashcards.

Worst character - 
It's probably pretty obvious I am choosing Claudia for this one. Janine is not that bad, bitch. Back off.

#6 - Kristy's Big Day

Plot
Kristy's big day is actually her mom's big day, as she is marrying her love Watson Brewer. But of course, in true BSC style, there are some trials and tribulations that come along with this blessed union of souls.

The wedding is originally planned for September, with each of the kids being invited to be in the wedding. However, then Kristy's mom (who has an "important job with an important company") (whatever the hell that means), is told she has to go overseas for work during the weeks before, after and during the wedding. Also, they have a buyer for their house who wants it, like, yesterday. So everything gets moved up and they are getting married and moving in two weeks.

To pull this off, aunts, uncles and friends are coming to town to help, and they bring all their disgusting kids with them. So what are all these kids going to be doing when the adults are busy preparing for the biggest second marriage wedding of the century? Baby-Sitters Club to the rescue! They set Kristy's house up almost like a day care, and they watch the 14 kids all day for 5 solid days.

Everything goes fine, and at the end of the book Kristy's mom marries Watson and they all live happily ever after. Kristy makes them a family tree thing as a gift to show the two families coming together as one. (I often tried to duplicate this as a child to illustrate my stepfamily.)

Takeaways
First off, this book took place during the last few days of school and during the first two weeks of summer vacation. The girls just got done with 7th grade.

There are a couple of things that just don't make sense to me:
1. Why do Watson and Elizabeth HAVE to be married before they can move in together? Why don't they just sell the house, move in together, and postpone the wedding to like October? You both have been married before and you have children - the jig is up. Neither of you are so innocent that you can't engage into some sin-living.
2. Or, if they are, like, really against living in sin, why not just justice of the peace it, to make it legal, and then have a bigger wedding later in the fall?
3. Basically I don't understand at all why this wedding had to be pushed into a two week period, especially when it was "on the bigger side". Are you honestly telling me everyone they wanted was just completely free, not only on a weekend that is only two weeks away, but also for the entire WEEK leading up to it (for all of those aunts, uncles and friends who miraculously just took an entire week off work at the last minute to come set up for a wedding).

As a kid, I would always skip chapter two of these books, which was when whoever the narrator was would explain each of the girls and how the club works. However, I will suffer through each and every Chapter 2 for the sake of this blog. In this one, when Kristy was explaining Stacey, she was talking about how much Stacey likes shopping, and she must get that from her mother, who "has time for that kind of thing". What a passive aggressive dig at stay-at-home-moms Kristy.

Their last day of school is JUNE 19th. What the hell - why does any school last until JUNE 19th?! I thought Glenwood keeping us in school until like June 5th was pure torture and a form of child abuse.

When the shit hits the fan and all hell breaks lose on this wedding, Elizabeth says that, without any prior notice, Karen and Andrew's mom and step-dad are going to Europe and the kids will have to stay with Watson. Who the hell plans an overseas trip that quickly? Or did they know they were going and just didn't tell Watson...hmmm...maybe that divorce wasn't as amicable as Ann M. Martin made it sound.

This was always one of my favorite BSC books, because I loved the way the girls organized the kids. They split them into groups and gave each group a different shape and color, like the blue birds and the pink hearts. Each kid got a name tag with their shape/color, and their group babysitter wore the same shape/color. I thought that was so cool when I was a kid, although now as an adult I would never be okay with kids running around with nametags on (hello, kidnappers, just call the kids out by name and then throw them into your van).

Best character

Stacey wins this one, because she admits Mary Poppins is her favorite movie, even though she is "so sophisticated, being from New York and having permed hair and all".

Worst character

One of the kids, Emma, messes up the clothing bags on the last day of the week. Each of the kids had brought along a bag with a complete, nice outfit for them to be dressed in for the rehearsal dinner. But that little bitch Emma snuck into the room and swapped a piece from each bag into another bag. Not cool, Emma. Why did she think that was funny?

#5 Dawn and the Impossible Three

Plot:

Dawn is pretty new to town; she's from California. I tell you this right off the bat, because a good portion of this book is her bitching about the weather. We get it, Dawn. It is always beautiful and sunny in California, and Connecticut sucks. Get over it.

Anyway, so Dawn is the newest baby-sitter, and she is eager to be liked and please the BSC, especially Kristy, who is pretty butt hurt that Mary Anne has a new best friend. Dawn ends up taking on a new client, The Barrett's and she ends up seriously having to, like, mother these children. Mrs. Barrett, even though she is breathtakingly beautiful, is a disaster. Her house is seriously disgusting; her children are fucking filthy. So Dawn swoops in, cleans her house and mothers her children. The kids start calling her and showing up at her house, and then all hell breaks lose when Dawn is babysitting one day and Buddy goes missing. It ends up being his dad, who was pissed because Mrs. Barrett wasn't doing her part of the custody arrangement (shocked face), and so he sweeps by and takes Buddy to teach her a lesson. As soon as he figures out that Buddy was with a baby-sitter, he brings him back. But it was too late - Dawn called the cops and the entire town of Stoneybrook had dropped everything to search.

After that, Dawn talks to Mrs. Barrett and Mrs. B agrees to get her shit together. Also, Kristy and Dawn have a bonding moment in Dawn's barn, and Kristy names her the Official Alternate Officer of the club. The end.

Takeaways:

This book takes place around Memorial Day. Dawn's mom has a BBQ (which, like an hour before it's supposed to start she has no food for - so they have to go to the grocery store and buy EVERYTHING, even a grill. WTF Mrs. Schafer?!) Also, to note, the girls are in seventh grade, so I am guessing they are getting to the end of their seventh grade year.

At this BBQ, Dawn's mom and Mary Anne's dad are like, canoodling and acting all lovey dovey. This was pretty scandalous, because Dawn's parents hate him for not having money as a teenager.

When Dawn is trying to win Kristy over, she invites her to her house. Kristy agrees, and then asks if they can "play in the barn". It just seems weird that Kristy would call it "play" - hang out would be a better word I think? I just think baby-sitters are too old to be "playing" in a barn.

When Dawn first meets Buddy Barrett, he shoots her with a finger gun. She tells him she doesn't allow any kind of gun play while she is there. To this day, when I see little kids playing with any kind of guns, I think it is so weird and I think back to this book.


Best character:

Dawn's mom is my favorite character in this book, and let me tell you why - when Buddy is missing, everyone is searching and Dawn takes a moment to herself where she sits against the wall, puts her head down and starts crying. Dawn's mom shows up at that moment and is, like, so comforting to Dawn. It melted my heart.


Worst character:

I think Mrs. Barrett wins this one, because she is just the worse. She doesn't tell Dawn anything about her children; she never tells them where she is going, and she doesn't tell her that Marnie is allergic to chocolate so Dawn almost gives her some. Also, her house is a fucking pigsty, and I'm sorry, but that's just not okay. AND she has a babysitter, like, all the time. If you have full custody of your kids and their dad wants to see them, why not let them go with him once in awhile? Instead of hiring a baby sitter every other day?

Also, Mallory in this book is the worst. A bunch of the Babysitters and their charges are having a picnic, and they are playing this "Bzzz" game where you poke someone and say Bzzz....and I don't know what it really means. An insult of some sort. Anyway, at lunch, Mallory fucking Bzzzing one of her brothers - bitch, you are going to be in the BSC in a few books, you need to grow the eff up. Also, she is the one who stops Dawn before she gives Marnie chocolate. When Dawn is like "wtf Mallory, you'll get your brownie in a minute", Mallory gets all teary eyed. Again, grow the eff up, Mallory.

#4 MaryAnne Saves the Day

Plot
This book was rough to get through - the BSC basically breaks up and they are all working as individual units. It's bad.

But let me start at the beginning. The girls are still losing their fucking minds about Mrs. Newton's new baby (named Lucy, which I know is secretly because Ann M. Martin loves I Love Lucy) (it's super sad that I still remember that, right?) so when Mrs. Newton calls the club and Kristy answers, she is so excited she just accepts the job without offering it to any of the others. Everyone gets PISSED. And they start screaming horrible things at each other, and they all storm out.

MaryAnne mostly gets called a baby during the brawl, and this is just unfair. Yes, MA dresses like a baby and has a baby room, but that's all because her father is way over controlling and won't let her grow up. I mean, also MA is a huge cry baby, but that's on her.

They are in this ridiculous fight for over a month, and they are running the meetings separately, meaning one sitter sits in Claudia's room and answers all the calls and takes all the jobs. It is no way to run a baby-sitting club, I can assure you of that. Claudia and MaryAnne kind of make up, but then Claudia overhears Mimi and MaryAnne getting all chummy and Claudia loses her shit. Fight back on.

Anyway, during this time Kristy is a huge b word and very blatenly kicks MA out of their usual lunch table. Stacey and Claudia are sitting with their boyfriends, so MA is on her own until this nice, new girl named Dawn Schafer asks to join her and then they become tight. So tight, in fact, that they are hanging out at each other's houses and they discover their parents used to date in high school. AND they are so tight that when MaryAnne is babysitting for Jenny Prezizioasdioio (I am not going to try to spell her last name correctly) and Jenny gets a high fever and needs to go to the hospital, it's Dawn she calls to help her. After MA is a BA at getting Jenny taken care of, her father sees how mature she is and allows her to start staying out later, redecorate her room and start dressing more normally for a 12 year old girl.

Anyway, the girls cause a huge scene at Jamie Newton's birthday party and MA is like, enough is enough. She calls an emergency meeting, and they all make up cause they can't remember why they are mad. Then MA throws a BSC party, but she invites Dawn too...and then the girls invite Dawn to be a member too! Fuck yeah!

Takeaways
This book takes place in February-March. Still following a normal timeline.

I remember when I was a kid reading this book, I thought it was so weird that MA and Dawn's parents would still be into each other after like 15 years had passed. Oh....little Jen, you're cute.

The Prezzasoios's are, like, the weirdest family. Mrs. P and Jenny dress to the nines every single day, even if it's just to stay at home. Mr. P. wants to just be in jeans and a tee, living life like a normal dude. I guarantee had the series lasted a little longer, Mr. P. would be guilty of putting his p in a new Mrs. P who is a little more laid back than original Mrs. P.

The things these girls say to each other during their flights are ridiculous. Oh, I forgot to mention that at one point, Dawn realizes that MA is using her to make the other members of the BSC jealous. So then they get into a fight too. To which, MaryAnne yells at Dawn to trip down the stairs. WTF, MaryAnne!

When Dawn meets MaryAnne, however, MaryAnne says all of her friends are out sick. So she lied. But even when it got ridiculous and MaryAnne and Dawn were only hanging out with each other and it was clear MA had no other friends, Dawn still just went with it. It reminds me of new couples, and when they get together and the girlfriend only wants to hang out with the boyfriend all the time. It's like, bitch, where are your friends? You had to have had people in your life before this relationship started. If I suddenly started a serious relationship right now, you better believe I would still need to hang out with my friends without my bf around.

Best character
I have two for this week: First, MaryAnne. She is kind of a badass. She sticks up for herself with the girls, with her dad, with Dawn, and she handles the Jenny P. going to the hospital thing very well. Totally saves several days.

Second, MaryAnne's dad. He clearly has some high standards when it comes to his daughter, and when she starts whining in the beginning of the book he's just like "Stop. No whining." and that was it. But after MA proves herself as a mature, responsible person, he lets her have her way.

Worst character
I have two for this week, too.

Fucking Kristy. The baby-sitters all get in a fight, but the other three girls show up for the next meeting anyway. Cause it's the right thing to do. but Kristy - KRISTY SKIPS THE MEETING. Not cool, Kristy. You're supposed to be the leader, the glue of this club. NOT COOL, KRISTY.

And then, just this one interaction with Stacey puts her back on this list, again. While they are fighting, Stacey basically says she doesn't need any of the girls because, and I quote, "don't forget where I'm from." Fuck you, Stacey, and your high rise apartment in the city. Go back there if you are so cool.

#3 The Truth About Stacey

First of all, I must apologize for taking such a long break between books. September was a bit bananas for me. But I'm back at it. 

Plot

Stacey is a diabetic. There, I said it, that's the truth. She is an only child, and her parents can't have more kids, so when their only child gets diagnosed with this dangerous disease they go off the rails with their over protection. They have found a new doctor in New York who practices holistically, and they book a five day appointment with him. Stacey doesn't want to go; finds a better doctor and when they are in New York she confronts her parents and they end up working everything out. 

Also subplot A: There is a new rival club in town, The Baby-sitters Agency. They are older than the girls and their clients start to hire them. It sucks. The girls come up with all these plans to save their business, but the agency pretty much implodes on itself bc they suck at babysitting. The kids tell the BSC what sucky sitters they are, and they encourage them to tell their parents. The agency ends up shutting down. 

Subplot B: Stacey's ex New York best friend Laine quit speaking to her when Stacey got sick, and Stacey didn't ever tell her what was wrong with her before she moved to Stoneybrook. Stacey's parents told Laine's parents who told Laine, and Laine and Stacey end up making up. 

Takeaways

This book took place in mid-November through early December. 

Mrs. Newton is ready to pop the baby out, and the girls come up with several different plans for how they are going to help out when she goes into labor. This just seems so ridiculous to me. Why did the BSC think that they were going to have to save the day? Didn't they think that the Newtons had family? Or would take care of it themselves? The Newtons never asked for their help, and ended up using Kristy's mom anyway. 

Also on that topic - after the baby is born, the girls all go over with gifts and Stacey comments that Mrs. Newton still looks fat. What the actual fuck, Stacey! What a horrible thing to say. Well I mean, she doesn't say it to Mrs. Newton but still. What a bitch. 

When the rival agency opens up, the girls come up with all these plans to make themselves the better baby sitting service. One of their ideas is to do housework while they are sitting. Isn't this a thing anyway? When I was a kid, I always tried to make sure the house looked better when the parents got home than when they left. Maybe that was just something I came up with on my own? But I swear I read it in a BSC book, because basically my entire childhood was based off these books. Maybe it will come up later - I am only on book three, after all. 

Laine and Stacey become tight again at the end of this book, and Stacey says if she ever comes to Connecticut she will make her an honorary member of the club. Oh Stacey, you innocent flower. I hate to be the one to tell you that Laine becomes a giant b word soon. 

Best character 

I don't even know who to pick in this book. I'm leaning to towards Claudia because she is just kinda cool and not really worried about the rival agency throughout the book. 

Worst character

There are some shit characters in this book. Stacey's parents obviously suck, and they are so stupid about Stacey's disease. I still can't get over Stacey calling Mrs. Newton fat, so there's that. Plus Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Johansson just, like, ditch the BSC and start hiring the Agency sitters, which is a dick thing to do. Plus the agency itself, of course, are aholes. 

 

#2 Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls

The second book in this series can really only be described as a real life thriller. I was happy, then mad, then scared, then frustrated, then happy. I went through a rainbow of emotions. So let's just dive into it.

Plot
The basics of this book are this: It's around Halloween time, and the girls are gearing up for the Halloween Hop, which is a dance for Stoneybrook Middle School that will take place from 4p-6p on a Friday afternoon. This reminded me of dances at Glenwood Middle School, and how, when slow dancing with my first boyfriend I told him that he couldn't dance very well and he got mad and stormed off the dance floor (gym floor). I broke up with him the next day.

Anyway -Claudia is obsessed with this quiet poet, Trevor Sandbourne. Meanwhile, Kristy is still getting super annoyed daily with Alan Gray, Stacey is still uber-obsessed with Kristy's brother Sam and MaryAnne doesn't seem to have any feelings whatsoever for the opposite sex. The girls are sitting around one day talking about boys and MaryAnne sees in the paper that a thief has been breaking into homes in the towns surrounding Stoneybrook. He (I assume it's a he, and so did they) would call the house and not respond if someone answers. I guess he would just kinda scope out the house after that, and then he would rob them while they were gone. The girls drop fucking everything right that second and have an emergency meeting of the BSC, where they come up with a battle plan in case something Phantom Phone Caller-y happens when they are babysitting. Claudia's neighbor ends up getting robbed a few weeks later, and everyone loses their fucking minds. Mary Anne even has to quit babysitting for awhile because her dad freaks out.

Kristy and Claudia start getting the phone calls when they are babysitting, and then one night everything comes crashing down when they are both babysitting at the Newtons (those bitch cousins were in town today, and this time Claudia was not letting Mrs. Newton get away with only hiring one babysitter). The culprit however, is not a Phantom Phone Caller/thief - it is ALAN GRAY, who wants to ask Kristy to the Halloween Hop. Kristy accepts, and then the next day Trevor calls Claudia and admits he was also stalking her and asks her to the dance. Stacey goes to the dance with another boy, Pete Black, and MaryAnne stays home and plays dolls. The Phantom Phone Caller gets caught, but he says he never robbed any houses in Stoneybrook so that thief is still at large. The end.

Takeaways

• Claudia sucks at school, so every single night one of her family members has to sit with her to make sure she does her homework. Claudia is 13. She seriously can't be trusted to do her homework by herself? Also, at one point Mimi is going multiplication flash cards with her, and they are, like, really elementary problems like 8X7. Don't kids learn their multiplication tables in like second grade? WTF, Claudia?
• When the girls are sitting around talking about boys, they are sitting on a blanket in Kristy's front yard. Then MaryAnne reads about the thief and Kristy calls an emergency meeting of the club. So they all get up together and move to Claudia's bedroom. Why couldn't they just hold the meeting right there? 
• Kristy baby-sits for Karen and Andrew, and that dang cat Boo-Boo gets out and ends up in Morbidda Destiny's yard again. Morbidda knocks on the door later, bitching that the cat had killed a mouse and left the remains on her porch. She actually hands Kristy a bag with the mouse's remains. Are you kidding me? I know that MD isn't actually a witch, but she is definitely a bitch. 
• When it comes out that Alan and Trevor are the culprits, both Kristy and Claudia agree to go to the dance with them anyway. Kristy spends a great majority of this book bitching about Alan, and then agrees to go to a dance with him? Hmmm. 
• MaryAnne babysits for David Michael one night, and she gets so scared that she sets up booby traps at each other the doors, Home Alone style. I LOVED this as a kid, and as an adult I admit I have set up some booby traps myself when I get scared at home alone. 
• Janine and Claudia have a bonding moment at the end of the book, where Janine admits to Claud that she hides junk food in her bedroom too. I love this. I wish Claudia and Janine had gotten along better in this series; they were both geniuses in their own special ways. 

Best character
I'm going to go with MaryAnne this time. She is badass as hell, setting up all her booby traps in the Thomas house. Also, she don't give a fuck that all her friends are going to the dance and getting all hot and bothered for seventh grade boys. She does what she wants.

Worst character
Stacey really annoyed me twice in this book. First, she calls Claudia whining that she doesn't know a lot of people yet. Um...you moved to town like two months ago and you are already in a club, have three best friends, have a date to the Halloween Hop and you have a crush on a high schooler. STOP WHINING STACEY. Second, she gets all butt hurt when Kristy is talking about Sam going on a date with some other high school freshman chick. Like, sitting there pouting butt hurt. Then Kristy like backtracks her words and is all apologetic. GIVE ME A BREAK, STACEY. He's not your boyfriend.

#1 Kristy's Great Idea

Spoiler alert: Kristy's great idea was to start The Baby-sitter's Club.

Okay, so I think the format of these book reviews will go as follows:

• A plot synopsis. I will also take note of what time of year the book takes place, because any BSC fan can attest to the fact that the typical calendar year was not followed well in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. 
• Takeaways from the book
• Best character 
• Worst character

If you have any suggestions or ideas for a different way to do this, please let me know. This blog is for you, BSC fans, so any and all ideas are welcome! 

This book was (obviously) the beginning of the series. From researching the BSC, Ann M. Martin (#legend) was given a job to write a four-book series on a group of girls who baby-sit. Thank God this thing took off, and gave us the gift that is the BSC and its many spin-offs.

                                    

Plot

The girls are just finishing seventh grade. Kristy lives with her mom and three brothers, Charlie, Sam and David-Michael. Charlie and Sam are in high school, and David Michael is only six so he needs babysitters every afternoon because Kristy's mom is some business lady with a very important job. Kristy and her older brothers take one afternoon each, and then there is a babysitter for the two other afternoons, but she seems shady as shit because during this book alone she cancels twice and Kristy's mom is searching for a sitter. 

One afternoon Kristy's mom makes a ton of phone calls to find a sitter and never does. Kristy ends up having to take DM on a sitting job with her. During all her phone calls, Kristy is sitting there feeling sorry for her mom, and for DM who was feeling like a giant pain in the ass. With a little bit of brainstorming by Kristy, the Baby-Sitters Club is born. 

Kristy asks her best friend and neighbor, MaryAnne, to be in the club with her, and then they recruit their other neighbor, Claudia. Even though Claudia is kind of outgrowing Kristy and MaryAnne (They are still young and short and immature looking, while Claudia is exotic and beautiful and likes boys now and is starting to wear a bra), she is super fucking pumped about the club and suggests they ask the new girl, Stacey, to join too. They do, and Stacey accepts, and the girls are off and running with their idea. They elect officers (Kristy as president, Claud as VP, MaryAnne as secretary and Stacey as treasurer) and start advertising. 

They all get their first sitting jobs and things are going well for what seems like about a month. Then Stacey starts acting super shady, not eating and sneaking off to New York (where she came from) all the time. Kristy confronts her and they all get into a fight, but then they make up and have a slumber party and everyone feels very warm and fuzzy.

Takeaways

The book starts off with Kristy jumping up and screaming "Yeah!" when the bell rings at the end of the school day. This pisses her teacher off, and he makes her write a 100 word essay on the meaning of having decorum. When I was younger, I thought this word was one I was going to have to remember since adults clearly used it. I have never heard it used again.

Right off the bat, I got super annoyed that Kristy was in a skirt and was carrying a purse. No, she wasn't. My girl Kristy does not wear skirts unless forced, and it is very uncharacteristic for her to be carrying a purse. Are there a lot of seventh grade girls who carry purses, anyway.

So Kristy's dad took off before the book started, and her mom has been dating a very rich man named Watson Brewer for about four months. Watson seems like a cool cat, but Kristy is having none of it. Watson brings the entire family dinner (chinese) one night, and Kristy refuses to eat it. She basically acts like a snotty little bitch, and then gets sent to her room. When she marches up the stairs, before she slams her bedroom door, she screams to Watson, "I'm sorry you're such a terrible father!"

Woah, woah, woah Kristy. There is a line, and you crossed it. As a step-daughter myself, I have never delivered a blow that low. And Watson has illustrated no qualities of a terrible father. In fact, he is dating and presumably falling in love with a woman who has the baggage of FOUR children. One of which is kind of a little bitch, and I ain't talking about David Michael.  

Kristy's first job is sitting for two giant dogs. I feel like this experience scarred her far more than it should have. 

Stacey acts incredibly weird and shady throughout the whole book, and then it turns out she has diabetes and was worried they would think she was weird. Kristy assumed she was anorexic. This book caused me to believe I was both diabetic and anorexic for some time.

Going back to Watson and Kristy's mom - so at the beginning of this book, it says they have been dating four months. I think the book takes place over the course of a month. And by the end of the book, they are engaged. Seems fast to me, but I guess when you know, you know. Also, they combine the families for dinner one night, where they have fondue. I want to have a fucking fondue party!

This book was the first mention of Mrs. Porter, aka Morbidda Destiny, who is Watson's next door neighbor and his daughter, Karen, is convinced she is a witch who put a spell on their cat BooBoo. Her younger brother Andrew just goes along with it; he seems pretty easy going. But I'm not going to lie, I agree with Karen - MD seems pretty goddamn witchy to me. 

Best character

I gotta give this one to Kristy's mom. She is a badass single mom taking care of four kids, then she nabs a millionaire. But when he proposes, she makes him wait before she will accept. Kristy acts like a little snot bag during a lot of this book, and her mom just deals with it but still lets Kristy know that she is loved (even though Kristy was acting like a giant douche).

Worst character 

Claudia's first BSC job is for Jamie Newton, but Mrs. Newton failed to tell Claudia that THREE of Jamie's cousins would be there, too. Bullshit, Mrs. Newton. You didn't want to share that information beforehand, because the kids were fucking jerks. Epic fail, Mrs. Newton. 

Say hello to your friends!

My obsession with the BSC (The Baby-Sitters Club) happened quick and fast, before I even realized what was happening.

For Christmas in 1989, my mom gave me a copy of The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #3: Baby-sitters Winter Vacation. I had never read one of these books, nor had I asked for it, but it was wrapped up under the tree and it took me no time at all to read the entire thing, absorbing myself in the lives of Kristy, MaryAnne, Stacey, Claudia, Dawn, Mallory and Jessi. 

The one that started my obsession. 

Obsessed is not even a strong enough word to describe how I was feeling. I quickly started at the beginning and caught up to where the series was. Then, every month, I waited impatiently for the next book to come out. I would then convince whichever parent I was with to drive me to the Mall of the Bluffs so I could run into Waldenbooks and buy it for $3.50. I remember sitting in the backseat, trying desperately to read while being driven home, even though it was getting dark and I had to depend on streetlights. 

I got my friends and my sisters obsessed with the series as well. I tried to start my own club with my friends, but it never got off the ground financially. Instead,  we just assumed the roles of the girls and began signing homework with our "club" names. I remember the day my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Funke stood up in front of the class and told us we had to use our real names on papers, not our BSC names.

Somewhere around 1993-1994, I grew out of the BSC and began to get more interested in normal teenage girl things. But the club and my memories of it held a special place in my heart, and they still do. 

Which brings me to the point of this new blog. I have been silently collecting the books for the past several years, and I have a rather large collection. So why would I not share these jewels with the internet? Each week, I am going to review a BSC book, as an adult woman, and see if the magic is still there. I'm not exactly sure of the format I am going to use yet, but I guarantee it's going to be entertaining as hell. So buckle up, BSC fans, cause things are about to get interesting around here.